Lucky hit.

Something similar happened to me and a fishing buddy on Lake Toho in central Florida. We went hauling across the lake at night to do some night bass fishing. We were out in the middle when we hit something so hard it kicked the motor up and damn near tossed us on the deck.

Micky thought we had hit a log and stopped to check the motor. We looked back in the moonlight, and the "log" was thrashing around on the surface. We did not get real close but that gator looked to be about 12 feet long.

Tom