'He was massive': Mississippi alligator hunters catch 13-foot, 650-pound giant amid storm

A Mississippi alligator hunter was on his last hunt of the season and looking to catch almost anything, but a thunderstorm, a chance sighting and grass tangled in his boat's propeller put him on a massive gator that is one of the biggest caught this year.

"It was my last night to hunt," said Kyle Mallett of St. Martin. "We really hadn't seen anything big, just little gators. We'd caught some little gators, but nothing we wanted to kill."

The hunt wasn't going well and then it got worse. A thunderstorm blew in and forced him off the water. Mallett said he left the marsh he was hunting off the Pascagoula River and went to his cousin's camp to get out of the storm and dry off.

When the storm passed, he and hunting partner, Matthew Brooks of Biloxi, returned to the marsh and saw eyes in a canal.

"We eased back in there about 400 yards," Mallett said.

Alligator startles hunter

Mallett said the two couldn't find the alligator and had turned around to leave the canal, but grass had fouled the propeller on his boat motor. He stopped to untangle the grass and at one point turned around and realized the gator had surfaced right off the bow.

"He was literally 3 feet in front of the boat," Mallett said. "It startled me.

"I'm looking at this giant gator right at the front of the boat. He was massive."

The alligator submerged, but the water was clear and only about 3 feet deep. So, Mallett could see him. Mallett said he grabbed a fishing rod and snagged the alligator behind a front leg.

"He went nuts and took off," Mallett said. "All I could do was hold the fishing pole and let him take line."

Davis called his cousin, Jarrod Davis of Hurley, who was also hunting, for help and all the while the alligator was slowly taking line. To make matters worse, the alligator had gone under a log, so Mallett couldn't follow the gator.

And, of course, it began to rain again.

"It was pouring down rain and lightning," Mallett said. "It was kind of frantic. At one point, I thought I'd never get him."

A 13-foot, 650-pound alligator on the line

Davis arrived along with hunting partner Josh Williams of Hurley. Davis was able to locate the alligator and got a handline on him. Mallett then tied a buoy to his rod and reel and tossed it in the water so he could retrieve it later. Mallett joined Davis and hooked the gator with a rod and reel.

"We basically had him at that point," Mallett said. "He rolled and rolled. When we got the snares on him it was basically over."

However, it wasn't quite over. They still had to get the giant in the boat.

"It took us another 30 minutes or so to get him in the boat," Mallett said. "Getting an animal that big in the boat is hard. We were all worn out."

The alligator weighed 650 pounds and measured 13 feet, 3 inches. Mallett said if things hadn't unfolded as they did, he would have never caught the gator.

"If there wasn't grass in the prop, we would have already been out of the bayou when he popped up," Mallett said. "It was like it was meant to be."

Do you have a story idea? Contact Brian Broom at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com.