Well, For the 2nd time I tried fishing for alligator Gar in the backyard rather than running way up the creek.

I Started the day by fly fishing for Buffalo, I only saw 3 and could not get any one of them to take the flys.
For most of the day I watched Alligator Gars at about 5-6ft long surface. I thought..... "I'll fish for them tomorrow."
I thought that till I saw a few Alligator Gars surface that would have pushed 8ft long. That's when I started to fish for them.

A few hours passed, no bites at all.
Till my indicator float started to bob, and move about. "It must be a crab. It's not biting like a gar"
After about 5 minutes of my float bobbing I decided to reel it in so the crab would stop biting. So I started reeling, then I pelt pressure so I set the hook only to have a fish take off! So I set the hook again to make sure the fish would not get away, and after a short scrappy fight, this nice little 3' 2" Alligator Gar was banked with the help of my brother (Caneycat on the forums).



And I wanted a good head on shot of the gar, but My goofy brother got that camera to close to the fish. Oh well, at least you kinda see the teeth.


That was the only fish banked for today, and it was not all that big, but it was my first Gator Gar from my back yard!
I had fun, and that's all that really matters in the end.

Till next time, and good fishin'
Golden Ghost

way to go Golden Gar....lol.....thats freakin awesome!!! great pics and congrats

Thanks Bubba!

I forgot to say I'll be fishing for them again tomorrow. But this time I won't be fishing with cut eel. I'll be bringin' out the big guns..... Cut bowfin!

GG

Nice fishy and pixies.

What's the advantage of bowfin over eel?

I like the bowfin because it's much tougher then eel (and more fun to catch, too). and you can cut them in to bigger chunks.

GG

Awesome fish! I'm envious, wish I had someone around here I could reliably catch them. Need to put together a trip.

Thanks Starless!

nice im jelouis congrats

Nice Fish! Bet that was a blast hooking into that fish!

cool fish. i have never caught a gator gar before.

way to go man

One question....8 ft long?!?!?!?!?!?! If that's not a slight exaggeration...a line taken from Jaws... "We're gonna need a bigger boat!" lol...

GG you are an impeccable angler! You never cease to amaze me!

man, more jealousy from up north here.... DFW is all about a bunch of wild-goose chases to "alligator gar holes" that are either:

1) entirely devoid of any gar species or
2) full of spotted gar or
3) full of longnose gar

not that i don't like those other species... but still, it would be nice if there were some actual places to catch gator gar up here. my guess is too many fish killers in one place.

Thanks Guys!




I feel good about the 8ft estimation. I would not have posted it if I did not thing it was true.

Dustin

cool looking fish it almost looks like a longnose/gator gar hybred with those markings on its tail...

Good job GG!

They can go 8 foot easy! Seen some monsters on the red river. We hooked into one about 150lbs and fought it for 20 min. It pulled the airboat right off the sand bar and eventually broke off. They are serious jumpers!

Thanks guys!

They are the 2nd largest fish in America (second only to Sturgeon).

GG

No place to catch Alligator gar in the DFW area?
Are you kidding! You must not have caught the segment on In-Fisherman last weekend about fishing for Alligator Gar in the Trinity.

Unless it was different segment, those were not caught anywhere near DFW. IF it is the same segment they were caught above Lake Livingston north east of Houston.

there are some big gar here in the Trinity around dfw, the problem is finding them without a boat for most of us here . I see them when I am not looking for them usually

jukebox is right, they were fishing above Lake Livingston with Capt. Kirk Kirkland.

GG

The rod and reel world record alligator gar weighed 290 lb, and the trot line, or unrestricted division record weighed 302 lb. Both were caught in the Rio Grande River back in the 1950s, and measured a little over 7-1/2 ft in length.


GG, musta been a new world record! go get it!

found this on a website

Even if I did catch it I don't have a scale to weigh it on, and I don't want to kill such a large, rare fish to get my name in a book as world record holder.
Yeah it would be cool as heck, but I'd rather just let it live to fight another day.

GG

Cool pics of the fish and also of the interesting water trike in the background. Ever fish from it?

Thanks!

the "water trike" is called an aquacycle, and no we don't fish from it. it makes a tone of noise.

No I'm not kidding. Also I have been on every goose chase a man could stand. I spent two years looking for A Gar hardcore, following every suggestion and location I could find both on my own research and information from people on this forum. Also in all that time, not one person who would say online they could find or catch gar could show me one gar, nor would 98% of them meet met to take me somewhere... even for pay or for secrecy.

If that has changed in the last two years, fine. However, I beg you to PROVE you can go catch A-Gar on demand in the metroplex. By on demand, I mean, you have to be able to go and catch them, within a trip or three. If you can't do that, it's not a fishery. I can take people to fish for carp, guaranteed. Or bass, guaranteed. Or sandbass, guaranteed.

Alligator Gar in DFW exist, I'm sure, but there is no fishery for them here.

Way to go, GG. I certainly hope you're able to connect with one of those big guys!!! That would be totally awesome. Be sure to keep a camera & a tape measure handy while you attempt to get one! We'd love to see your pic posted here with an 8 ft. gator gar in hand.

Good Luck, & Good Fishin',
LlindeX

GG, are there bigger ones in there? Does it ever get bowfished?

Thanks Guys!

LindeX:
I always have the camera and tape measure around wjile Gator Garin'!



Yes, the bigger ones are in there. I have seen a few that would push 7 to 8 feet long, And Thankfully it's never bowfished. Or I have not seen or heard of it being bowfished.

GG

i will be there with my bow in the morning


see you there





LOL, just kidding bro


use bigger bait!!!

Well, I lost another smaller Alligator Gar today.

I was using a 10" or so Hardhead Catfish cut in half.

GG

It looks like you are fishing in chocolate milk

???????

the water clarity is not very good there is what he means

i have to agree, but it seems you have tons of fish either way

Oh, I see.
The water is actually pretty clearer then normal.

GG

Water Trike. That'd be a good Forum handle for someone.



Looks like a better casting platform than a tube, and more fun, too.

Yeah, it would be a better casting platform than a tube.
But the tires make so much noise it would likely spook all fish.

But it does go in pretty shallow water, and gives your legs a good workout!

GG

But do the chicks dig it?

Wonder if the noise would call up stripers to get their feed on? How about a water trike based Texoma striper guide service?

(Sorry, Ghost. Thanks for the off topic indulgence.)

Not sure if the chicks dig it. We did have our picture taking by some people in a boat once, and a Game Warden looked at us real funny like.

I have no idea if it would call fish to get there feed on.

No worries about going off-topic for a bit.

I've got a boat if anyone knows where to fish for some... seriously.