How about panfish and gar

[SteveP]

Hit a local oxbow lake today and found a bunch of big bull gills up in a prespawn feeding frenzy, we sat in the same spot for 2 hrs catching fish out of a section just big enough to park 2 cars in and they were still hitting when we decided to go look at other options.

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After deciding that the blue gills were fun but we were there for carp and gar we went in search of our query. Finding the wind still a bit on the gusty side and the sun at a low angle we had some issues finding the carp. We did fin a school of big gar that were happily feeding in some secluded shallows. a couple years ago we decided that catching gar on a rope fly was just boring so we now use small minnow patterns with heavy shank hooks. It is both fortunate and unfortunate some times that we get fish close to the boat but they have a tendency to shake free just before we can bring them to hand this way. So we hooks 10 or so each but only had one in the boat, luckily it was a decent fish in the 30" range.

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As for carp unfortunately we only found a few tailers and with the low sun angle it was tough to figure out just exactly what way they were facing so there were no hook ups, maybe next time.

Steve

[Darian]

Interesting combo of fish for the day. BTW, those are some good size Bluegill. :nod: I'm curious.... how big do the Gar grow in your area :?: I recall seeing many of them in back water sloughs in Mississippi and Louisiana. Some were in the 5' to 6' range. Mean lookin' guys, too. :eek:

[SteveP]

If I were to go down to the southwest corner of the state I could easily get into some VERY large alligator gar (4'-5' common with 6' no out of the question) but right there 10 minutes from my house they are long nose gar that at most may touch the mid 40" mark, I believe the record is in the 50" range 50# fish. they are skinny fish and most of the time we go for length not weight since we have caught a couple in the 20" range that go 10lbs and then in the same day we catch a 30" fish that goes 7lbs.

As for the gills most of the better gills in the area come from there in the 8" range and I had one that went right at 9. We also have white bass, crappie and LMB there as well, they just were not going to be as easy yesterday as the gills and gar are.

Making plans for a carp/gar only trip next weekend to a national wildlife refuge not far away from here, we'll have 7300 acres of swamp, marsh, drainage canals, creeks and overflow ponds full of almost nothing but carp and gar. Hope to have some more exciting pics for you. Thanks for the comments though.

Steve

[Hairstacker]

Man, those are some nice bluegills! Nice and thick. I probably would have just stayed there catching those. :)

[Blueracer]

Pending Sam Rayburn Lake record and BAA World Record Alligator Gar. 8'2", 244.5 lbs, and 44.75" girth. This fish is bigger than we ever imagined taking and it will be on Aim'N Low, Volume II!

https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=15dbae279a&view=att&th=128758bf970d032f&attid=0.1.1&disp=emb&zw

Gar fishing on Lake Sam Rayburn, Texas

Here is a blow by blow account of what took place when Keith Riehn and Robin Parks landed a Sam Rayburn record Alligator Gar.

After sitting awhile on some rolling gator gar, we decided to move to a different spot for longnose. Just after we switched our Retriever reels for spincasts, a big one rolled out behind us, like it was sticking his tongue at us for giving up. So...I said, "Let's make one more pass thru there, and then we can get out of here."

Halfway thru that pass, we looked down and seen an absolute monster right in front of the boat, only about 1 foot deep! We both said "Oh my God!" at the same time and both shot the fish at exactly the same time. Both were perfect hits right behind the gill and the fight was on! I was very nervous trying to fight the fish due to not having our Retrievers on.

I did my best to stay on the trolling motor to follow the fish on 3 different runs. The power those fish have is awesome! Just as we began to worry that one of our lines was wrapped up, the fish floundered to the top, about 15 yards out. Keith jumped down and grabbed a 3rd bow that did have a slotted Retriever on it and put a 3rd arrow into the fish. With that line, he hauled her right to the boatside while I put bows 1 and 2 on the deck and scrambled to get the gaff ready. Soon, the gaff was in the fish and we could actually take a look at the fish.

WOW, I couldn't believe the size of the head. I knew the fish was a giant before we shot, but man, this was just breathtaking! It took a while to get her into the boat. We literally could not drag her over the side. I was just about to concede to the fact that we would have to tow her to shore when it came to me to try the very back of the boat where the freeboard was less. Finally, both of us managed to grunt and strain enough to get her in. Unbelievable, at least to us!

We got the fish certified at 244.5 lbs, a pending Rayburn record! She was 8'2" and had a 44.75" girth. This day just can't be beat!

[Darian]

WOW!!!! That's a big Gar. :eek: I wasn't aware they grew that large.... I've heard of Gar caught on hook/line but not using archery before. Is it better at night or anytime in the day :question: