Just curious as to how fishing for alligator gar in the fall is, I know most people say the dead heat of summer is the best time. But how is it in the fall like right now with the falling water temperature? Is it worth taking a 2 hour trip to a spot on the trinity? I was thinking of goin in the next week or so. And curious as to whether it would be worth the trip. Also. Would it be better at night or daytime? And what baits should I use? Any help is appreciated!

mad_c1990 i just caught a 40# one yesterday with cut bait on a carolina rig, gar have to eat just any other fish, cold or not, give it a try dont give up

sorry mad_c1990 i meant, gar have to eat just like any other fish

I'll be heading out here in a few. Gonna try for some gar and catfish. Wish me luck!!

Well, went out last night. Fished from about midnight til 7am. Had a bunch of runs. But i think they were longnose. Ended up hooking into my first gator gar around 4am. I'm guessing about 40# or so. Maybe more. But i guess I'll never know. Since he decided he was gonna cut my 200# mono leader with his teeth when I had him 2 feet from the bank. First time I've ever had drag peeled off my abu 10000i I run 250# powerpro braid with 200# mono leaders on all my setups. Next time I'll make sure to grab some steel leaders before I go. Lol. Oh and not to mention he got one of my high dollar team catfish double action hooks!! But what a sight it is to see them torpedo out of the water with mouth wide open!! I'm hooked!!

I know what you mean bro, its totally awesome when they burst the water,but NEVER GO WITHOUT STEEL LEADERS, try to find 200# ones or a little higher, ive had the 180# steel leaders snap like nothing. Good luck on your next fishing trip, by the way what are you using 4 bait?

I use 135# wire.
I like this time of year, not so hot.
Fresh carp or buffalo good.
Forget store bought bait.
Fresh drum or gizzard shad good too.

i have been using 104 pound single strand wire, i believe its strong enough to hold the biggest trinity gar..i could be wrong..same size wire i use for 400-500 pound sharks..i actually have been thinking about going down to somewhere in the 80 pound range..i also have 15 years of single strand wire experience though if your haywire twist are not perfect you will loose allot of strength....
my norm is 69 pound wire offshore, and i have had just about every Tx fish try beat me on the stuff..i used to use 44# and 56# but lost a few tarpon and big kings over 5 foot..

well, it was hard to come by some good bait, but I ended up using what I could get since my boat is down til this weekend. And all i could get was a bunch of hand sized bluegill and some left over large size goldfish from when I started up my aquarium....pretty sure the gar i lost was on live bluegill but i cant remember for sure. Had runs on both though. But when I tried using cut up bluegill or goldfish I didn't get a single hit. All that seemed to work was live bait. Not sure if that's weird or not. But I'm guessing not since gar are predators and mainly hunt for live food

Decided to head out again this morning to the same spot. Got some steel leaders 135# and a couple nice sized carp to cut up for bait. Just got setup. Gonna try my luck for a few hours. Gar are poppin the surface everywhere too

Not even 30 min after setting up had a run. Got my first alligator gar about 5.5-6 ft long. Massive girth. Not sure on weight. When I picked him up I struggled a little bit cuz my back. So my guess is between 70-80 give or take. But maybe one of the experts in here can make a better guess on weight based off the pics.

Caught him on my penn sql30lw with 8ft meat hunter custom. That what is laying next to him for reference

I know for a fact he's at least 5.5 ft long. Closer to 6ft though. But I tend to underguess weights though

Congrats, thats a nice gar, we had 3 runs yesterday but no hook ups, we were using cut bluegill, but we always use cut carp,just havent gone bowfishing lately. sharkBaitTV i believe your right,i must have not been tieing my wire leader correctly,iam now checking all my leader set ups, thanks for the tip

Your numbers look about right to me considering the picks. Nice Fish

Here's a few more pics