Inspired by a link posted in the “Trouble with John A. Grindle” thread, I began thinking back to fishing for alligator gar in the brackish waters back of Grand Isle, La., over 40 years ago. A ramshackle fish-cleaning plant isolated in the marsh was the site, and although the plant was working and fish parts rode a conveyer belt to fall into the water churning with gar, we never saw a person emerge onto the dock from which we fished.

We used two methods. One is mentioned in the site called http://www.garfishing.com/ and consisted of lowering the frayed end of a nylon rope into the water. They tangled their teeth in the strands and, using the rope as a hand line, we pulled them in. More effective was to make a loop with a kink in it out of piano wire and to string a piece of fish on the loop. When the gar hit it, the fisherman pulled hard on the attached nylon handline, and the fight was on.

It was great fun, and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Lou

Lou,

I enjoyed reading your post and visiting the website. Thanks.

A lot of guys I know are changing their attitudes relative to so called trash fishing for gar and carp. On the Texas fly fishing forums and reports, it isn't uncommon now to see spirited posts dealing with various strategies to fly fish for both carp and gar...one guy I've talked with provides a guiding service for them and has really developed some innovative flys and techniques for the fresh water bonefish (carp) and gar.

I'm going to be fishing the Trinity River in Texas in a little over eight weeks for gar. I'm so excited I can barely contain myself. My Dad and I have a guide all lined up. Bring on the gar!!!!

Lou, when I started reading your Gar fishing techniques, I was afraid you were going to say you had used the "Amos Moses" method - tie a rope around the kid's waist and throw him into the water.

Gar -- no hook just white nylon trot line cord (about 10 in.) unraveled and tied to to the end of wire leader to line to rod. Teeth get tangled in the unraveled cord and the fight is on. I have seen it work. Try it!!

Sorry, I just had to cut & paste this in here.

By Condello:


I be fishin with me cousin Bloody Sam Kidd, when outs a noweir I hear 'im a yellin "Garrrrr, garrrrrrh, garrrrr!! O' course I not give it a second think bein' he always be yellin "Garrr, garrr, garrr" anyways. Sos I look his way an he have him a bloody cod the size of seven ships n seven sails!

That be me story 'n I'm a stickin with it!!

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Make time to be at the Pond Boss convention!

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Posts: 1960 | From: Denton, NE | Registered: Aug 2004 | IP: Logged |

Theo Gallus
Moderator
Member # 1187

Member Rated:
posted October 02, 2005 08:19 AM
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It be like that time playin' Street Hockey when we were but young lubbers; ye didna head me warnin' of "Carrr! Carrr! Carrr!" and were struck by a Montego, a right proper name frum the Caribees. Ye've never been right err since. Arrgh!

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Non carborundum illegitimatus!
(totus res in temperantia)

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Posts: 2364 | From: Central Ohio | Registered: May

Another great story, Lou! Bruce, Sam Rayburn Res, is where the huge 240# gar was killed with bow. The photo was displayed here, I believe(I think you posted it on the Pirates thread) did that get you fired up to go? They are also fished for with rod n reel where the Sabine River empties into Sabine Lake. A 220#er was caught a few years back using a 2# hardhead(saltwater) catfish as bait. They used to get over 300#, but like the bluecat, have been overharvested and killed. There is an old early 1900s photo showing a man sitting next to a 10 footer that came from Moon Lake, Ms.. Doesnt have the weight. Maybe they will cook you up some gar fish balls. Dont laugh until you've tried it.

I used to cross the Neches River every day, and look down from the bridge. There were some absolutely giant gar in the adjoining canals,,, they looked like half-grown submarines.

bobad, mentioning the Neches River made me think about my last post. I edited it. It was not Livingston, but Lake Sam Rayburn (made from the Neches and Angelina rivers) where the 240#er was killed. Did you see the big gar off I-10 bridge in Beaumont or further north?

G A R R R R - G H

Off the I-10 bridge. Scary big gar!

Here in LA, we used to fish the estuaries's of Blood and Tickfaw Rivers where they empty into Lake Maurepas. Man, they had gar in there that could sink a boat.

Ah, Tickfaw. I used to go up to Independence once a week when I lived in N.O., and every Christmas season I would stop and mail all our cards from Tickfaw just to get their postoffice stamp on the envelopes. We got a lot of questions about Tickfaw, and I had a lot of fun making up meanings for the benefit of the city slickers.

When we duck-hunted in the oxbow lakes around Vicksburg as I was growing up, we would put in our boat and run up to the blind. The water was so full of gar that we had to run slow for the safety of whomever was at the tiller. The skeg and prop would hit those rolling gar one after another and kick the motor up.
Lou

Small world. Independence is my home town. Last time I visited, it hadn't changed much at all. I used to practically own the Tangipahoa river. Had it all to myself, because nobody else appreciated it.

Thats because they were over on the Amite , Pearl, Bogue Chitto , Homochitto or the Big Muddy or its many oxbows.

You forgot the Tchefuncte.

It's good to hear those names again. We used to call the smaller oxbows "borrow pits". Some of the best fishing of my life was in those ponds. You never knew what you would catch next... whatever the Big Muddy left in them. That included gar and bowfin.

Bob, this may be an example of how the meaning of things changes from place to place and time to time. "Borrow pits" was the term used by the Corps of Engineers for the chain of shallow pits on the river side of the levee where the dirt had been removed to build the levee, itself. You are right about the diversity of "trash fish" in them. Actually, we pronounced the name "bar pit," and I would have probably spelled it that way, too, at the time.
Lou

Same here, Lou. Had to wonder what people on the forum were talking about at first when they said 'borrow pit'. Man we butchered that name good just like most others with 'lazy' southern speak, leaving out a coupla syllables. :rolleyes:

When I was a youngster growing up in East Texas, we seined crawdads from "bar" ditches beside the roads, for trotline bait.

The dirt from the ditch was "borrowed" to build up the road bed.....

You mean they weren't bar ditches? Heck, I figure the speak police stretched it.

I always thought it was becuse there were so many bars in Texas.

Nice thread killer, PFF

BTW...how do you get the funny grimlins to show up?

burger- Go to:

http://www.smileyarena.com/

Pick out some you like and download to your computer. Move them to your photobucket account and post them just like photos. I wish our webmaster would add some new ones here. I get bored using the same ones over and over.

Here is some video of bowfishing for Gar. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8413050404150499614&q=bow+fishing