Florida man goes fishing behind his house. Then his fishing pole helped save his life: ‘Jabbed him and jabbed him’

A quiet fishing trip behind a North Fort Myers, Florida, home turned into a life-or-death struggle when an alligator attacked James Grayson McMicken. The 71-year-old says his fishing pole became an unlikely weapon that helped him escape after the reptile dragged him into a canal.

The attack happened on June 26, 2026, during what started as an ordinary evening outside. McMicken took his bulldog with him, grabbed his fishing pole, and walked to the canal behind his North Fort Myers home. After making a single cast, he said he began reeling in when the alligator suddenly launched from the water. “I started reeling, and it jumped out of the water and grabbed me,” McMicken told local news outlet WINK.

The alligator reportedly clamped onto McMicken’s right leg and pulled him off the bank and into the water. With the animal holding on, McMicken said he relied on survival instincts and his previous experience legally hunting alligators.

He said he first used his thumb to strike one of the animal’s eyes before turning his fishing pole into a defensive tool. “I just took that fishing pole and jabbed him in that other eye and jabbed him and jabbed him and jabbed him,” McMicken said.

He added that the struggle felt much longer than it actually was before the alligator finally released him. McMicken said he had heard that targeting an alligator’s eyes could be a last-resort survival tactic, and that move helped him break free.

McMicken said his dog helped get him him back on his feet

Reports say the attack badly injured McMicken, who said his bulldog helped him stand after he called the dog over and used her support to get himself upright and back on his feet. His right leg was severely torn up, and he used his dog’s collar as leverage to pull himself out of the mud.

Once inside, McMicken’s wife helped clean his wounds before he collapsed from exhaustion. His family later rushed him to a hospital in Cape Coral, where doctors treated deep bite injuries with stitches and staples.

His wife said the ordeal was frightening but credited her husband’s determination for helping him survive. After the attack, McMicken became a topic of conversation among hospital staff, with nurses reportedly amazed by the story of how he escaped.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission responded to the incident and said officers and a contracted nuisance alligator trapper were working to locate the animal involved, according to Gulf Coast News Now. Residents who have concerns about an alligator can call the FWC’s Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286), and the agency will dispatch a contracted nuisance alligator trapper when needed.

Despite the attack, McMicken said he does not plan to give up fishing. He said the experience will make him more cautious around the water, but he remains determined not to let the encounter keep him away. “No gator is going to run me off,” McMicken said.