13-Foot-Long, 920-Pound Gator Caught In Central FL Lake

ORANGE COUNTY, FL — A massive 13-foot-long gator weighing 920 pounds — the second heaviest on record in the state — was caught in an Orange County lake.

“I had fear like I never had before,” Capt. Kevin Brotz, who runs Florida Gator Hunting, told WESH about hunting the gator. “I've lived here my whole life, and I think about gators, but I've never really experienced this.”

Brotz has hunted nearly 1,000 gators throughout his life, but this most recent reptile was “an absolute needle in a haystack,” he told WTSP.

He caught the gator with the help of two friends over several hours. The boat “swamped” as they pulled its body onto their boat, he said. “We had probably a foot of water in the boat. It was just chaos.”

In a Facebook post, Brotz wrote, “Amidst a (four-hour) fight that could have easily went wrong at any point. Cool heads prevailed.”

He wrote in another post, “Still can’t believe we tackled this beast.”