Brazes Bend State Park, a few minutes drive just west of Houston, had just reopened after having been closed to build up fish stocks for the last seven or eight years. I could just see a huge seven-pound bass hammer my top water Zara Spook frog lure as the sunsets low on the trees, and as night approaches and critters begin to stir. That’s’ it! My mind is set to go. I phone my buddy, Mike, down the hall. I grew up with him in Deep South Texas along a river called the Arroyo Colorado. It’s near the lower coast of Texas, which is another story I won’t start now. Mike had already been to the Brazos Bend State Park however, and he is surprised to hear I want to go so late in the day. I inform Mike that the sun sets at about 8:30 tonight and we could get a couple of hours fishing in and still be home in time for dinner.
We rushed home, traded our monkey suites for wading gear, and headed out for the state park. The park is a beautiful swamp with old growth forest nestled along the Colorado River, and it is packed with wildlife. We arrived in good time and the park was nearly empty, except for a couple of well rounded old black women fishing for Sun Perch with cane poles, and doing a fine job of it. As I near the water, one of these sweet ladies warns me of the dangers in the water. "They is crocks out there and they looks mighty hungry”. True, as it was, there were many signs posted around the lakes, “No Wade Fishing – Beware of Alligators”. It was a hot day so I stripped down to just wadding shoes and shorts and began to work from the bank tossing my tasty lure to the edge of the water over tall cattails that were quit a nuisance.
Soon after I caught a couple of small bass and an alligator curious about, the activity of the fish splashing aroused a gator. This gator was only about four feet in length and posed little threat compared to the fourteen footers I had seen in other parts of the park. So I threw the top water lure out again and the gator turned for the kill. Having never fished around alligators before, I was intrigued as to whether he would strike my lure. Sure enough, he did. The fight was short as he rolled cut the light line on the reeds. I learned my first lesson: it would cost me about five dollars a fight if I were to continue letting gators get my frog.
We had several bass now for dinner and I wanted to catch some perch, as the sun was getting lower. Mike and I decided to move to another end of the lake where the park wardens couldn't see us. Mike had brought his camera and was getting shots of me fishing with an alligator fifty feet from where I was standing. Eventually the gator moved on and we kept on fishing.
