We were fishing well up in Flag Creek off the Cooper today. My buddy thought he was hung up, maybe on a drifting limb or something. It seemed to hang in the water but would move, too. He got it close to the boat, then it decided to shoot under the boat and the jighead popped loose - MANGLED!
Gamagatzu 2/0 3/8 oz. jighead. I’ve straightened one slightly in 3 years on a fish. Other than that, they’ve been bullet proof.
I do, he doesn’t. He had it tied directly to the jighead and it didn’t break the braid, just spit the hook and it came up bent. I’m not sure how a ray could put that dent in the lead neck of the jig right where it bent.
Our only other thought was maybe a 3-4 foot gator?? We saw them several hours later everywhere at low tide, but we didn’t see any before or after this incident (high tide). No bubbles, either. The dent wasn’t sharp, more like a pressed puncture about 1/8" deep.
I couldn’t imagine a gator eating a tiny mm, though, unless he did it on accident maybe.
Like the pic, Matt. We were thinking that and worse! LOL
I’d suspect a small gator. Especially if you’ve seen some in the area. I’ve had them smash artificial lures a couple times fishing for bass. I’ve never had one stay hooked. The hook pops out and the lure was mangled. I got a good look at them before they got off, otherwise I’d have scratching my head like you. They did exactly what you described. Act like dead weight, ignoring the line pressure. When they finally figure out they are hooked, they take off in a burst of speed.
Gators eat lots of small stuff too. They are opportunist feeders. Doesn’t surprise me one bit one would grab a jig with a minnow on it.
id agree with ray or gator having hooked both. i hooked a massive ray at folly pier that moved me slowly along the pier until it got to the breakers then took off like a rocket under the pier to snap my line. also had a smaller gator grab a frog lure i was using for bass and it was mostly dead weight coming in, but went nuts once it got close to the dock before spitting out the frog. id see a stingray taking a mudminnow before a gator, but definately the gator bending a jighead better than a stingray. i say pick whatever one makes your story sound the most interesting
Gator. We caught a 4-ft gator on a mudminnow this spring in a creek off the Cooper. Got the bite marks in the floating cork; they look just like the dent in your jig head. Acted the same as everyone is saying, with just a steady weight until he got close.
I’m going with gator. I’ve hooked big rays and shark before and have never gotten the jighead back. From the bluntness of the dent (and strength of the indent), my guess is he bit it until it bored him then he let it go. Its actually a raised crater around the dent
Some stuff you hook is amazing. I’ve been steady freight trained a few times by big things. They bit it and just kept going like nothing happened. No tug, no struggle, just “see ya!” It would be amazing to see what is going on under the waves some time.
I’ve had a small gator take my mm jighead back in Flagg. Just after you get back to the woods where the boat ramp/broken down dock… I was very glad the hook pulled because I had no idea what I was going to do other than get it close and cut the line. There are a lot of gators back there… another time two of them got real close to each other and I don’t know if they were going to mate or fight but the larger one was roaring and doing the back vibrating shaking thing. Since it’s at best a foot from my gunnel cap to the waterline I figured it was time to move. It’s really nice back there, sometimes I go back there just to see how far I can get back into some of the feeder creeks.
