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My daughter and I were trolling (dragging crankbaits) at Sardis this afternoon and trollled RIGHT up on about a 6' alligator. We got to about 2' from it when it made a huge splash and went down. I had always heard about alligators being this far North, just never personally saw one. As a matter of fact, it's the first one I've ever seen anywhere in the wild. My daughter actually told me what it was because she got a great look at it, I just got to see the splash and parts of it as it went down. She indicated the head on it was about 16-18" long and by her description the eyes were about 6-8" apart if that helps with size confirmation. She was no more than 4' from it as she was in the middle of the boat and it was about 2' or so from the boat.

I was wading eagle back in the early 80's and saw something in the water that didn't look "right".....well, I tapped it with the end of the rod and it slowly sank....then popped back up. I touched it....it "floated" back up....I looked around the small tree and there was an eye connected to it. Hence, it was about an 8 foot alligator. I'm pretty sure I walked on water that day and I can remember my Uncle laughing as I damn near drowned myself getting back to the boat. That was the end of my "wade" fishing in fresh water.

I never thought that there would be alligators 6 miles south of highway 90....but there are some 12'+ alligators out at cat island in the marsh...Some of the biggest I have ever seen.
Barq's

There's definitely some gators at Sardis.

When I worked Quitman county a guy brought in a picture of a nest near Crenshaw.

They were seen regularly in and around Hwy 1 near Moon Lake, too.

Two years ago their was a juvenile gator hanging around the tallahatchie river boat ramp below the weir. Ten years ago their was about a 9 footer that lived in the pond up at the marsh project. I have no problem believing that there is one somewhere between. What area of the lake did you see this one in?

North side of the lake a little West (towards the dam) from being directly across from the mouth of Clear creek.

Saw no gators this morning. I did see 16 keepers though.
I don't doubt they're in there.

Wingman wrote:When I worked Quitman county a guy brought in a picture of a nest near Crenshaw.

They were seen regularly in and around Hwy 1 near Moon Lake, too.

One of my first few years hunting with my uncles we were hunting a Cypress Break south of Moon Lake somewhere. As I'm wading waist deep in water, that looked prime for a gator, and kept telling myself these logs and things I'm bumping into under water were just nothing. They pull out a phone and show me a picture of a gator that had been hit by a tractor on the road we drove the boats in on. Then they kept getting sticks and bumping them into my legs on purpose. Needless to say, I was a little jumpy that day.

They say Gaters are in back waters if Enid. And some around quitman county what I don't understand is why don't the thrive and we see them everywhere?

I think they are thriving, it's just taken them this long to migrate north. The first one I saw N of Hwy 82 was in the yazoo river just south of Greenwood. That was about eight or nine years ago. Have spent a lot of time on the river in the past and that was the first one, but now if your running lines and keeping you eyes on the shore, it's not uncommon to see one almost every trip. My uncle had a run in with one squirrel hunting in Malmason I believe it was about five years before that. I know they have killed several during the season around Greenville during the recent seasons that were really big as well. They are pretty common along the rivers in East MS as well.

My in-laws live 4 miles from Sardis dam. They have seen gators off and on for years. The damn things are everywhere down here.

Don't know about Sardis but yes sir they are on moon lake. My family has a good bit of land on and around the lake and I have seen them there since highschool. Not in any great numbers but they are there. There is a 10 footer that hangs around the yazoo pass area near the outing club.

There's one that stays in malmason . I've ran him out several times before setting up to duck hunt.

They are further north than you think. We see them up around Pickwick and Wilson lake in NW Alabama.....

Lots of reports of the around here lately too. One of the most recent was less than two miles south of the TN line.