Been there a few times. It's a good run from 21. Nice fish there still.

This is an older picture of mine from the earlier days of my guide service, summer of 2013 I believe. I wanted to bring it back up because I have a history of not putting much commentary into my posts or back story. I had these two young men along with their Aunt and Uncle during the heat of the summer of 2013 when we were experiencing a bad drought. The banks of the trinity river were torn to pieces by all the wildlife traffic caused by various critters trying to find some form of relief from the oppressive heat as well as the acute lack of moisture anywhere except the river channel. It was not uncommon to see over 20 deer and pigs per day as well as numerous birds and other baked or fried critters depending on your choice for cooked animals. Moving on to the point of this post, these two young men were sweating it for all they were worth but they were not complaining a bit. We had caught several smaller fish on the day but we were looking for something better. We set up on a spot I had caught in a few times before with some conveniently placed shade trees and set back to the slow bake in the shade while our baits tempted the local residents. We got a lite bite on one rod and went to get it, while on the way to get that rod another went off. Uncle's turn was up and he got runner #1 and I handed #2 to one of the 14 year old young ones. Uncle was having an easy time of his fish, however young one with run #2 didn't move anything when he set the hook, and it became immediately obvious that there was something more to his fish. Big fish on! This young man followed my guidance to the t, making no mistakes but the fish was strong and he couldn't turn it, the big alligator gar took the line under the boat and along with it bent the rod under the boat snapping the 10' heavy action rod like a piece kinnling. The young man did not panic however and held onto the rod as well as kept his cool while I cut the eyes from the damaged section of rod. I never had to put my hands on any part of the rod besides the broken part, the young man kept his cool, dealt with the adversity and got his fish beside the boat. I got my snare around the fish and got her landed. 85.5" long and 35.75" around made this fish nearly two feet longer and 50#s heavier than the young man that caught her. I think the picture explains how he felt about it . I am still exited about this trip and it was five years ago.
Dawson

This fish was 68". Not exactly the monster everyone hopes to get but this is an example of an average sized fish. Average runs about 54" to 70". This fish was about 85#.

It's amazing how fast and strong a fish that size is! People have no idea until they hook into one

Landscapes too