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.
