Hunting & Fishing GAR!!!

HonkeyMcGee88

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Oct 27, 2011
363
15
36
TX, USA
So this summer I got hooked on gar fishing and went out several times over the summer. Seemed like every time I went I would catch one a little bigger than the time before. We'll I decided to go out one more time before it got cold down here(not a fan of cold 20 min boat rides), and before hunting season got much farther underway. Well it was a slow morning but I finally hooked up this bad boy, my best catch to date, 6ft on the dot. Barely managed to get it up for a few seconds to take a pic of just myself holding it, the picture doesn't quite to it justice.

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Put up a pretty good fight. Didnt time it but I think it took 5-10min to tire it out.

These things come roll on the surface all the time and some people do bow fish them. It actually looked like this one had been hit with a few shotgun pellets. Nothing penetrated its scales though.
 
PG normally when I'm in the valley it's not for fishing and this creek is only half an hour from the house.

hedspace a lot of people consider them trash fish but they are very good eating. They have a texture and taste somewhat like chicken. The smaller ones are better eating though.
 
That's a nice one! I have stuck a few with the bow but not that big. My buddy guides on Amistad and caught the new lake record this year it was a beast I cannot remember the exact size but I think it was around 8'. I saw one in Port Lavaca one night trout fishing that would eat that 6 footer I never new they lived in salt water too.
 
Man, that reminds me of vacationing on Lake of the Ozarks (Mo) and seeing those damned things jump completely out of the water while we were waterskiing.

We stayed at a resort on the lake that had fishing piers jutting out into the lake with a lighted end. Well the lights attracted the bugs, which attracted the Mallard ducks and on the 2nd night there, a Gar came up and gobbled a full-grown male duck.

Chomp, quack, bubbles.

'bout crapped my 13yrd-old pants.

Suffice to say, we made the waterski pickups in the boat really quick after that. Was summer of '77.