OK so I'm nuts for wanting to do this. But I still want to undertake the challenge of 'gator gars on fly. Where do I start? 10wt 12wt? Rope flies? Just regular old baitfish patterns? Maybe tied on circle hooks. Poppers? I am open to suggestions.

What can you tell me about the Trinity River, L. Sam Rayburn, or L Amistad?

i've been thinking about this for the last month or two and its definatley possible.i dont know much about alligator gar though. the state flyrod record is really small like 10 lbs. i was thinking about chumming them up with shad or some cut bait and then throwing out a big shad looking streamer. this should work it how we would flyfish for sharks in california, and a 12wt should definatly be strong enough as long as there werent alot of snags.

Oddly, I've caught gar on a big Chartreuse & White Clouser on the Red River! Like a 2/0! You just never know...

use really big flys, and it don't matter if they float sideways or upsidedown.. gar are real suckers for a easy meal.. I know they really like panfish and small carp. I think I might try it to!

I'm also interested in trying for some Gator gar. The rope flies are not going to work for large gator gar because the teeth have too much space between them. Nothing like the close spacing of the teeth in spotted, short and longnose gar. So my thought is that chumming and using larger streamer flies will be required.

This is my 1st reply to this forum so let's hope it appears correctly

TexAngler

make sure that the hook is SHARP. That is one tough old mouth.

All the big fly suggestions are sending you down the wrong path; watch the way a gar eats, big flies (well, big hooks rather) will just not make contact. Think of smaller hooks, size #8-#1 and they have to be razor sharp.

You may catch one on a big hook, but for day-in, day-out, I believe you are much better off with a #6 on the end of your rod. 10,12 weight are overkill unless you are fishing to 100+ pounders and most people over-estimate the size of gar 2 to 3 times at least. A 30# gar is very large... a 100+ is extremely large...

Check FOAL. In the Fly Tying section there is a receipe for a "Garish Gar Grabber" or something like that. It uses a chemically sharpened hook and dyed pantyhose to increase the odds of landing the gar. I have used it with success on Choke Canyon for Alligator Gar.

garish gar grabber from http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw/110998fotw.html

so were is a good place close to dallas to start looking for some good sizes gator gar, and do you think it would be easier to fish from shore or a boat?

Excellent stuff. Can't wait to get down there and check it out. I am definitely looking for the bigger ones so I'll be fishing with a big stick. I've seen videos of gars 'laying up' like tarpon do in the back country and I was wondering if they could be tempted in a similar fasion?

Hunt them by sight like a bow hunter but get 'em with the long rod instead of the arrow. It's a lot easier to do catch and release with out an arrow sticking out of the fish's back.

Nkam - I like the way you think! Too many people these days want to kill these amazing fish. If you manage to hook some up on a fly, make sure you have a camera! We'll want to see the pictures!

I think stinger hooks are not allowed by IGFA rules if that concerns anyone. The state rules for a record may be effected by stinger hooks also. Just catching and releasing any of these gator gar would be a hoot.

TexAngler,
The whites at somerville are going nuts.. it's the best time of the year to catch them with the fly... see you at the meeting Thursday?

use a 10 wt will be good use go to the trinty river they have some there you can see them best time is at night