Quote Originally Posted by jimmydee1 View Post
Fishin at Reelfoot Lake in Tiptonville, TN. last year, I had three (count em 3) Cottonmouths drop out of trees into my boat. For those of you who aren't familiar with a Cottonmouth - the get about three feet long, big around as a canning jar, very poisonous, extremely aggressive (they try to get in your boat with you on purpose), and always seem to have an attitude. After the third one dropped, I trailored my boat, cleaned my self up, if you know what I mean, and haven't been back there since.
I'm with you Jimmy - I grew up at Lake of the Ozarks, which seems to be cottonmouth (aka pit viper) and copperhead heaven. My wife and I were fishing off of the bank at Cheney reservoir here in Kansas a couple of years ago and saw a nest of Cottonmouths on the shore - about 5 of them all bunched up together. I wasn't sure if they were cottonmouths or just water snakes at first, until I saw them swim to the catfish feeder (cottonmouths swim with most of their body on top of the water, while water snakes swim with most of their body just below the surface). I am not a fan of them either - if they are actually brave/aggressive enough to go catch a catfish for dinner, I'm just gonna let them have the territory for a while! Needless to say, we packed up and left once we knew what they were and now I keep a flatnose shovel in my truck if we decide to fish that spot... LOL