Ever Seen Godzilla of Gators?

Gordon Swygert says that with the help of two of his friends, he was able to trap and capture the giant alligator Thursday night on Pack's Landing, near Rimini.

He believes he was on the Clarendon County side of Rimini at the time.

It all started with a will to kill some gator Thursday night.

"We rounded the bend and the big gator was on the point," said Gordon Swygert.

Adrenaline racing, Gordon, Darrell and Steve inched closer to grab the gator.

"We pulled out our rods and snatched the gator into the boat," Swygert said. But determined to live, they say the gator snatched back!

"We shot him with a pistol. The next time we got him to the edge of the boat, and that didn't stop him," he said.

It took four hours of wrestling before these friends could finally take a picture break with their nearly 14-foot, 800-pound friend.

"Then we put a noose around his neck and tail then secured him to the side of the boat and towed in," Swygert added.

They named the creature "Godzilla," and her x-rated first impression is still sinking in.

"I couldn't say my first reaction on TV," Swygert's friend Darrell said.

"It's crazy. Creature like that coming out the water that close to your boat?" Garrell pondered.

The sport is what brings these friends together, but their new buddy may be what keeps them lurking these waters this season.

"My adrenaline was pumpin', especially when it first came up out the boat," Garrell said.

Swygert told News19 that he had been fishing in the area two weeks ago when he saw the gator. He returned Thursday night, and found the reptile.

The alligator measured a total of 13 feet, seven inches, a South Carolina record.

Officials at the Department of Natural Resources estimate that the animal weighed at least 850 pounds.