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trophy alliagator gar tag #13334609 11/07/19 02:16 PM
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oklahomabowfisher Offline OP
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I'm looking for some suggestions on the best place to launch a boat and bowfish for alligator gar on the Trinity river. I drew out a trophy alligator gar tag from the TPWD but i'm not to familiar with the Trinity. We live across the Red River in Hugo, Ok.
Any info would be greatly appreciated. I would also be agreeable to hiring a local guide to come along for some local knowledge. I would provide the boat and all of the gear. I'm just lacking the local knowledge. Thanks in advance

Re: trophy alliagator gar tag [Re: oklahomabowfisher] #13334746 11/07/19 04:03 PM
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jaymzinsa Offline
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Good luck but I don't think you're gonna get much support on this forum to help you harvest a huge gator gar, especially with a bow. Makes no sense to me why anyone would want to kill one of these magnificent beasts but to each his own.

Re: trophy alliagator gar tag [Re: oklahomabowfisher] #13334752 11/07/19 04:08 PM
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As previously pointed out in your other thread, bow fishing threads are not allowed in this section. See the top of this section.

Re: trophy alliagator gar tag [Re: jaymzinsa] #13334774 11/07/19 04:24 PM
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you are probably right

Re: trophy alliagator gar tag [Re: oklahomabowfisher] #13334784 11/07/19 04:31 PM
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Re: trophy alliagator gar tag [Re: JJ4MEL] #13334786 11/07/19 04:32 PM
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oklahomabowfisher Offline OP
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Should I post them in the open freshwater thread?

Re: trophy alliagator gar tag [Re: jaymzinsa] #13334804 11/07/19 04:45 PM
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Granted, it is just an egotistical trophy, but we do harvest all of the meat and eat them. They are delicious. I know that it may seem savage but these are hard targets and we are very conscious of that fact. I drew the tag and I am following the regulations set forth by the TPWD. With that said, I can still see why some people might not like it. Bow fishing these large gar does have a 100% mortality rate but studies have shown that rod and reel fishing mortality rates are as high as 50%. The way these large fish are caught is to let them swallow the bait into their stomachs. Once the fish is caught, the line is cut and the fish is released. The difference is that I have one tag for the entire year. Rod and reel fishermen will catch and release many fish in one trip. Who knows how many of those fish die. Just sayin

Re: trophy alliagator gar tag [Re: oklahomabowfisher] #13335017 11/07/19 06:56 PM
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Could you cite your study with the rod and reel mortality? I'm genuinely interested as I was unaware there had been any studies to that effect.


Catch and release. The dream - to catch one of every species of Freshwater fish in our great state! If only I can resist Carp...
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Re: trophy alliagator gar tag [Re: oklahomabowfisher] #13335054 11/07/19 07:19 PM
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I did a search for hooked gar mortality rates and found nothing. Assuming for discussion sake that the 50 per cent mortality rate is correct, that is still better than 100 percent for a bow harvested gar.

I have no issues with anyone legally taking any type of fish. Good luck on your trip.

Re: trophy alliagator gar tag [Re: oklahomabowfisher] #13335362 11/08/19 12:30 AM
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Originally Posted by oklahomabowfisher
Should I post them in the open freshwater thread?


I’m not sure. There isn’t a bowfishing place on here and I wasn’t aware this was such a touchy subject on here! Not being able to talk about it under this forum is like not being able to talk about juglining or trotting under the catfish forum because people don’t approve of the method or downrigging under the hybrid/striper for the same reason...just silly. Makes no sense. I’m not a big advocate of harvesting Gator gar any more after finding out the 200 pounders my buddy was killing at Amistad was over 70 years old after being aged by a biologist, but with that being said if the good biologist of Texas say it’s safe for the population through these newer regulations then who am I to judge no matter what method you use? Especially if you plan to harvest it as you have said. Plus you’re right about rod and reel...sounds better but the guys that catch them let them run with it for a few minutes before setting the hook so it gut hooks them from what I have read and heard and surely has a significant mortality rate I would imagine. I would think bowfishing would actually be safer as you could shoot it in the tail and release it with a small wound. My friend started doing this when he was a guide and didn’t have clients. He said he sees them every so often with a scar from a chunk out of their back from boaters accidentally running over them so a small puncture wound to non vital area likely wouldn’t harm it...

With all that being said, I would pay a guide and just go with him and let him put you on the fish. They can be extremely difficult to find and if it’s anything like amistad, you may have to go three or four times before you see one. Not sure if you have gone before so I didn’t want you to expect to show up and just see several in a trip....may take a handful of trips just to see one from my experience at Lake Amistad.

Anyways, good luck!


Clay
Re: trophy alliagator gar tag [Re: oklahomabowfisher] #13335407 11/08/19 01:10 AM
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It's a touchy subject here because this is primarily a Carp fishing section, and Carp fishermen go above and beyond to care for their catches. We use knotless nets to prevent scales from coming off or fins being torn, mats or cradles to lay the fish in to prevent damage from the fish dropping/flopping, keep the fish wet at all times and even use antibacterial spray to heal the fish's mouth or any other damage on the fish. Going through all that effort you can imagine why we're so opposed to others that kill the fish for fun.

Onto the topic of Alligator Gar, you don't have to let the fish swallow the hook. One of the top guides for them here threads his cutbait onto a bit of rope that attaches it to a single, 1/0 hook just below the bend and mouth hooks them nearly 100% of the time.


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Re: trophy alliagator gar tag [Re: oklahomabowfisher] #13335520 11/08/19 03:26 AM
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Come to Choke Canyon or Falcon lake, we have some huge gar and plenty of them!

Re: trophy alliagator gar tag [Re: oklahomabowfisher] #13335615 11/08/19 11:58 AM
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Originally Posted by oklahomabowfisher
Bow fishing these large gar does have a 100% mortality rate but studies have shown that rod and reel fishing mortality rates are as high as 50%. The way these large fish are caught is to let them swallow the bait into their stomachs. Once the fish is caught, the line is cut and the fish is released. The difference is that I have one tag for the entire year. Rod and reel fishermen will catch and release many fish in one trip. Who knows how many of those fish die. Just sayin


I have not seen any verified data, but for those anglers using those crazy big treble hooks and letting them swallow the bait/hook and then "setting the hell out of the hook" yah... I could see there could be an increased chance for mortality. Like others have said, there is a growing trend for sport to engage these fish using a single hook, sometimes a very small (extremely strong) hook. The challenge is greater with potentially less long term damage to the fish.

Re: trophy alliagator gar tag [Re: oklahomabowfisher] #13335991 11/08/19 05:42 PM
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Good to know the fish will be utilized after harvesting and i agree, gar are pretty tasty. Didn't mean to imply that you were doing anything immoral or unethical, I keep lots of big fish when I go offshore.. As Respect stated above, if TPWD is issuing tags theres no reason not to fill them. Personally if I was gonna fill one of those tags I would rather catch it on rod and reel than use a bow but that's just my bias.

I'm also glad to hear at least one guide is using rope lures. Years ago before access was blocked, we used to go behind the dam of lake corpus christi when they would release water after a big rain and catch monsters on big jigs tipped with about a foot of frayed nylon and a big chunk of shad. We would heave that huge rig way out into the current and let it drift with occasional rips to get reaction strikes. Once they hit it only took a few seconds for their teeth to get locked up then all hell would break loose once they knew they were hooked. We would catch 5-7 foot monsters till our arms fell off. Man I miss those times, wish I had pics.

Re: trophy alliagator gar tag [Re: oklahomabowfisher] #13336817 11/09/19 04:43 PM
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Originally Posted by oklahomabowfisher
I'm looking for some suggestions on the best place to launch a boat and bowfish for alligator gar on the Trinity river. I drew out a trophy alligator gar tag from the TPWD but i'm not to familiar with the Trinity. We live across the Red River in Hugo, Ok.
Any info would be greatly appreciated. I would also be agreeable to hiring a local guide to come along for some local knowledge. I would provide the boat and all of the gear. I'm just lacking the local knowledge. Thanks in advance


I didn't know you needed a tag .... the state wide limit is ONE alligator gar anyway! ..... BUT, YES, the Trinity river probably south of Trinidad would be your closest place to find a gar over 6 ft long with ease


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