04/15/2023 Sanchez Park Ormond Beach FL

[witch1031]

A coworker told me he always heard the crabbing at Sanchez Park was good.  My daughter and I decided to go check it out, we're also looking for places we can take my mom who is 80 and getting chemo (lots of shade, bathrooms, easy access for her walker, etc.).  There is a dock that has multiple access points.  It has a handrail but the dock is barely 4' wide and it hugs the shoreline.

We setup at the end of the dock closest to the boat ramp (a mistake, there was a lot of boat launching going on).  I got my chair setup while my daughter was getting our gear out of the car and I heard a huge splash.   Lots of fish jumping so I didn't think much of it at first.   Got two traps in the water and after about 5 minutes pulled one.   The chicken leg was stripped to the bone.   Huh.   Rebaited and about 5 minutes later pulled the other trap.  Chicken stripped to the bone.   And I heard another big splash and realized it was UNDER the dock.   Looked around a bit and realized it had to be a gator(s), probably young and more than able to strip a chicken leg in minutes.   Caught one 3" male, threw it back and realized we were really too close to the shoreline which had lots of palmettos and scrub.   A perfect hiding spot for alligators.   As a FL native I have a healthy respect for those prehistoric monsters.  When we heard the third big splash and saw baby fish leaping to get away from whatever was under the dock, we packed up and got the [Sam Hill] out of there.

I do not recommend Sanchez Park.   Unless you're confident you can outrun a gator (I cannot).

[SHELLFISH]

Sorry to hear of your experience at Sanchez! So unfortunate!
Did you get the list of your uncle Als crabbing spots I sent you?

[witch1031]

Yes I did get it, thank you.  I was hoping for a good day at Sanchez but the proximity of the gator(s) was unexpected.  My daughter was pretty freaked out to see the bait stripped so fast.  I'd consider going back and trying the other end of the dock away from the boat ramp another time but now I realize that Sanchez is where all the boats I see around Tomoka Park launch.  I like a quieter spot, if I can find one.