Dude. Mix in a period every once in a while.



I'm glad to see that the word is out on the bowfishing forums to come here again though.

me

question 1 iv been looking for gator gar!!!

question 2 not me i never will its cruel and its not fishing!!!!!

question 3 i dont know of a negitve effect but im sure someone else might, and for the record they are not trash fish there common carp and buffalo.

As far as the bowfishing stuff goes - According to the bowfishers, they actually target very few Alligator gar, so I don't see why they would mind, say, having a tagging system in place for the rare occassional alligator gar they do see, and shoot.

Especially when you consider an important fact that seems to have been lost in these discussions. At least one of the TPWD regulation options ( if not all ) is clearly targetting commericial fishing! Alligator gar are often very severely overharvested by commericial fishing, and to me, that seems to be the crux of these regulations, not bowfishing as some seem to think it is.

Anyway, bottom line for me - The state of Texas says they ARE in decline in Texas. The state of Texas also says they are in severe decline in some states, and have completely vanished in other states.

The state of Texas is simply suggesting several possible options to protect one of our oldest and increasingly rare native Texas fish from the sort of overharvesting that has wiped them out in other states.

I should think all Texans would be behind that.

Also, folks, let's not turn this thread into another tiresome "bowfishers vs nonbowfishers" flame war with regards to bowfishing. Stick to your opinions on the possible regulations, and keep it civil. It's all good so far, but verging on not so good, so let's keep it civil, and non-argumentative.

Since it seems some of you haven't even read the regulations carefully...here they are. Keep in mind, these are three seperate options that may be proposed, that could be combined, or submitted individually. Text taken directly from TPWD's site:

Targetting Commercial harvest of Alligator Gar.

Potential Commercial Fishing Regulation
Alligator gar taken from Texas public waters would no longer be allowed to be harvested or sold commercially. Other gar species, such as longnose gar, would be legal to be taken for commercial purposes.

That, to me, is the most important option.

And the two Recreational fishing options:

Potential Recreational Fishing Regulations � Option 1
Harvest of alligator gar would be limited to one fish per day and only alligator gar 7 feet or longer would be legal for harvest. Harvest of other gar species, such as longnose gar, would not be limited.

Potential Recreational Fishing Regulations � Option 2
Harvest of alligator gar would be limited to one fish per license year (September 1 through August 31) and persons who harvest an alligator gar would have to have in possession an alligator gar tag, which would be affixed to any alligator gar harvested. Tags would be available on request from any license outlet. Harvest of other gar species would not be limited.

Keep in mind, under both options, it is still legal to harvest alligator gar! Albeit with several new restrictions designed to make sure this native species maintains a population in the state of Texas.

look we want to still be able to harvest gator gar and ill be happy to have a one fish a day limit but make it like 5 and a half foot or something smaller than 7 foot gator gar over 7 foot are RARE! i am happy that the commercial fishing is ending and ill be happy to stand by you and fight them but when it starts infrindging on my multi-thousand dollar hobby im gona take MY side just relax the length on the gar is all i see thats wrong

And that's a valid opinion. You should have expressed it first rather then getting on a rant about unrelated matters such as bowfishing for catfish, lol.

Like I said, folks...stick to your opinions on the topic, keep it civil, and everything will be fine.

Not sure why 'bowfishing' is even mentioned seein as how we have this little rule that states something about not mentioning bowfishing in this section.

But since it has been mentioned, the bfers are going nuts over on bowfishing country. Once again people who fish for carp are being labeled as ANTIS, CAGGERS, tree huggers and so on. It's unfortunate that bfishing is a blood sport and the general population doesn't go for that. Eventhough I don't agree, bowfishing will eventually be banned because the general population doesn't agree that animals should be killed for the sake of killing. Carp fishermen will get blamed for this by the way.

Justin or whoever, if you want to delete this post, feel free to. The pain meds are also truth serum.

Your seeing long nose gar and probably a few spotted gar, alligator gar are not that common, even rare now. We used to bowfish back in the day so to speak but don't anymore, we didn't eat the fish so I didn't see the point in killing them. This regulation has kind of taken me by surprise, definitly a change in TPWD's position. Before I think these so called trash fish were not protected since it was percieved they were predators to the largemouth and other sportfish populations. I really have no preference whether these regs are adopted or not, but you can bet if they have made it this far to public comment they plan on instituting some sort of restrictions.


I have and am an avid bowhunter, and have on two occasians seen dozens of trash fish left at the dumpster or floating around the ramp where someone dumped them at the end of the day, it kind of changed my mind about bowfishing.

So Badassbaits, what does that matter with anything what it's called? Are you saying that since it's a fish it should only be pursued with line and hook? I don't get your logic.

Starless, you say that Texas says this and Texas says that, but that is not true, the only data that I have seen presented to TPWD was from an out of state lady, Georgia or somewhere.

Also, from what I say it was commercial fishing AND recreational fishing being limited. There is not a population problem where gator gar are found. This is like saying let's ban striper fishing across the state of Texas cause there aren't any in my pond. Sure there are bodies where there are very few or none. Restrict these areas, just as individual water bodies restric bass or any other resource they have. Do not make it state wide.

Me, and on a regular basis I might add.
I love fishing for Gar, Carp, and Buffalo so much that I now make and sell Tackle For Gar, Carp, and Buffalo. Check out my website. I have a few of my catches on there as well as a link to my youtube page with some videos of me and Gar I caught.

http://www.snaggletoothluresandrigs.com/

Dustin

Let em live and maybe they'll do something about those dang dirty ol' carp you guys say are overpopulating everything.

Your seeing long nose gar and probably a few spotted gar, alligator gar are not that common, even rare now. We used to bowfish back in the day so to speak but don't anymore, we didn't eat the fish so I didn't see the point in killing them. This regulation has kind of taken me by surprise, definitly a change in TPWD's position. Before I think these so called trash fish were not protected since it was percieved they were predators to the largemouth and other sportfish populations. I really have no preference whether these regs are adopted or not, but you can bet if they have made it this far to public comment they plan on instituting some sort of restrictions.

[quote]
No they are Gator Gar, its not hard to tell the difference when you know what your looking at. Yes, some people are slobs and they do things that make the fishing community as a whole look bad. It makes me sick to my stomach to see fish that are floating at the ramp or left on the boat launch. But it also makes me sick to see lure packages,empty worm containers, spools of line and fish fish remains that someone caught and cleaned laying at the dock too. I dont curse every hook and line angler when I see it though. I think research on these great animals should be conducted, BUT I dont agree that basically restricting their harvest right off that bat is the right way to go. Every Gator Gar I shoot goes in my freezer.

Seems like alligator gar do not compete as well in open water, so the impoundments that greatly increase numbers of most fish do not benefit the alligator gar the same way. On the same token they must be an easy targets for bowfishing being very large and generally swimming on the surface in rivers.