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 Post subject: Question on safety
PostPosted: Fri Nov 30, 2018 7:51 am 
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Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2015 1:13 pm
Posts: 19
Hello all
We've taken our kayaks down to Florida fishing the ocean back waters and a few lakes.
Now my wife is very nervous about gators and sharks. :shock:
We have never seen either while kayaking.
Has anyone ever had a problem?
I appreciate any info anyone may have.
Thanks


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 Post subject: Re: Question on safety
PostPosted: Fri Nov 30, 2018 1:52 pm 
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Joined: Fri Oct 25, 2013 8:58 am
Posts: 53
Hi Bob,

I live in Southwest Louisiana and its FULL of gators around where I fish. I usually only night fish when gators are most active. They are literally all over the place. Probably there during the day too but with a headlamp their orange eyes glow so bright even from quite a distance that they are easier to spot. They can be very curious but never like to get too close to me. I have even tried "chasing" a few to see how close I can get to them and they always swim off. Most of them have been under 8 foot with the majority between 3-6 foot. Any bigger than 6 foot I would keep my distance and you will be fine. Never had experience yet with sharks as I havent taken it out in Gulf YET. Tell your wife she will be fine as long as you dont corner or harass them which im sure is EXTREMELY unlikely in her case...lol.


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 Post subject: Re: Question on safety
PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2018 12:05 pm 
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Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2015 1:13 pm
Posts: 19
Thanks so much, i was hoping that was the case I love fishing and just paddling around in the sun.


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 Post subject: Re: Question on safety
PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 4:37 pm 
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Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2017 1:58 pm
Posts: 36
Location: Merritt Island, FL
I kayak fish nearshore in the Atlantic every day conditions prrmitting. Caught many sharks (not on purpose) have never had a problem yet. I find Manatees more intimidating because in spring they sometimes confuse a kayk with a cow in heat. Not funny!!

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 Post subject: Re: Question on safety
PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 11:59 pm 
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Joined: Sat Apr 26, 2014 6:01 am
Posts: 249
Location: Orlando!
Don’t bring your dog where there are gators and you should be fine. I fish the MINWR a lot from my kayak and canoe. Big gators, sharks. I steer clear of the gators but it’s harder to avoid the dolphin and manatees. Especially the manatees. Never had an issue with dolphin other than getting a little too close and spooking the fish off my flat. Manatees on the other hand, can cause problems. If they feel cornered in shallow water they’ll go berserk. If you accidentally bump them as they’re coming up for air it can spook them, and they’ve been known to flip kayaks in a panicked reaction, though rare. Sometimes they get curious and follow you around, noodging your boat. Those things can and do happen but if you have a little understanding “inconveniences” are easily avoided and it adds to the overall outdoor experience.


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 Post subject: Re: Question on safety
PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 5:07 am 
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Joined: Sun Dec 24, 2017 8:55 pm
Posts: 82
Location: Cedar Key, FL
I'll co-sign that the only time I ever had fauna cause me concern in a kayak, it was due to manatee.

I was in Pine Island Sound just behind Captiva Island and I stumbled into a mating herd in shallow water. Normally this type of mating activity is easy to spot and avoid (they churn up the water heavily), but this herd seem to erupt under me.

I've seen evidence of larger shark action (good sized chunk of a tarpon head) but I've never had an encounter with a shark in a kayak that wasn't related to a fishing line.

I'm rarely in fresh water these days, so I don't think about gators much, but lot's of folks kayak in the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge near Cedar Key and I can't recall ever hearing of a gator encounter that wasn't the product of human stupidity. They really are easy to avoid.

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 Post subject: Re: Question on safety
PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 6:23 am 
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Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2017 1:58 pm
Posts: 36
Location: Merritt Island, FL
Yes, manatees usually easily avoided, but they appear to have similar social structure as elk during breeding season. There’s the main herd of cows and breeding bulls, but younger satellite bulls are in an outer perimeter a couple hundreds yards away from the main herd/breeding activity. I steered clear of the breeders once, not realizing the young bulls were
laying in wait for their opportunity. They chased me down and picked me up. I got lucky and didn’t get dumped. Took a while to escape the fools.

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 Post subject: Re: Question on safety
PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 10:00 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 29, 2017 12:28 pm
Posts: 7
I think she probably needs to be told about all the snakes in the freshwater/brackish.


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