Crayfish Snake

Thank you Ashley for pointing out I was mistaken. But I did not just assume that because it was in the water. From my experience I've seen three species of snake that love the waters here. About 95% of the time it's a banded water snake. I was not familiar with this snake and made the wrong identification. Now I believe your suggestion of crayfish snake is the most similar however this snake was well over 36 inches. Any other ideas?

Ashley, the student showed no indication of it being a cottonmouth just because it's in the water. Infact, callawa37 is very upset now for reasons I will not tell.

Just because this snake was found in the water doesn't mean it is a cottonmouth. The head is long and skinny and this snake is too thin to be a cottonmouth. With the quality of these photos it is hard to be certain it is a queen snake, it could also be a crayfish snake, but it is most certainly not a cottonmouth.