OK, I know the standard blog post is a recounting of a fishing adventure, but this is a pre-fishing post for a change. I'm down in Texas at the moment and faced with an unknown beast: alligator gar.
We've got to drain a pond this week that a few of these prehistoric beasts call home, and I'd love to hook into at least one before I have to figure out how to safely hand-transfer these bastards to new water. My Dad and I threw a bunch of spin lures at them today, and while I can see them on the surface they don't even take a second look at what we were hucking. They're burly looking, about 3' in length, and sound like a drowning toddler when they stir the water.
Too many how-to sites are suggesting bowfishing, and one even suggests bringing a .22, and I'm wondering if anyone on SolidHookups has experience straight up fishing for these beasts. I'm wary of landing anything that "bites aggressively in self-defense," but these guys look they'd put up a bad-ass fight. Any suggestions for how to fish them before I resort to a rifle?
7 comments:
Hi mate,
Get hold of Rob Oreilly at Hipwader.com oreilly@hipwader.com He catches them on fly and is extremely knowledgable about this species.
chet, i know foukal and pete did some "research" on the mighty gar when they were on their bikes.
hey simon, nice to see you here, thanks for the tip. tight lines to you in finland!
Thanks guys and your welcome.Use the blog as a reference there are tips,tricks etc etc regarding all things pike on the fly.Will be stopping buy here from now on to see how you get on although by the looks of the fish you are getting you're going about it the right way.
old man rivers is correct, foukal and i did some research on the mighty gar. our results as follows:
first off and most important, you don't go fishing for gar, you hunt for gar. whether you use a fishing rod or bow or .22 or tank or end up drifting live human...we never actually caught a gar, for some reason foukal didn't want to let me drift his sexy/hairy/monstrous ass for the beasts...
saw a 200+ lb gar on the wall of some store in arkansas...
they can be caught on the fly using these techniques: http://www.fliesandfins.com/article843.html
a gar is always the most absurd looking thing around, even when you are with foukal. (haven't hunted for them with nissen yet, so this statement is not set in stone).
While blasphamous, a weightless rigged sluggo is tough to beat.
I remember reading an article in Field and Stream a few years back about alligator gar fishing on the Mississipppi in the early 1900's. From what I remember, think they used to use small mammal carcases and shit to pull in fish upwards of 7 feet. Apparently, nobody has seen the real big ones since the 30's when fishing pressure increased a bunch. Good luck and watch ya fingaz!
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