Couple Catches Massive 800lb Alligator

Jonathan Smith loves to hunt alligators.'It is the thrill and the adrenaline rush,' he told The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg, South Carolina.

Smith and his fiancée, Melissa Davis, went hunting for an alligator on the first day of the season and they bagged themselves quite the catch. At around 3 p.m., they spotted their prey on Lake Marion.

We saw the alligator and he went down,' Smith said. 'Melissa caught it when she threw a large, pink treble hook with an anchor rope attached to it.

'Once she snagged the alligator, I grabbed the rope and hung on until he tired out,' he said.

'This big animal pulled us around for quite some time,' Smith said. 'I would say he pulled us around for a couple hours. He struck at the boat several times. He tried to bite the boat over and over again.'

Finally, after attrition set in, Davis shot and killed the alligator which was 12 feet 10 inches long and weighed 809 pounds with a bow and arrow.

This was the ninth gator that Smith has captured. The couple plans to stuff the alligator at a taxidermy and to donate the meat.