If I wanted to catch some giant alligator gar...

This winter, what would I do?

Have boat, will drive down maybe.


How and where would I go about that??

I hear trinity river in Texas is the place to be.

I know nothing about it but I have seen a frayed chunk of rope used as a lure and thought it was pretty cool.

That works for common and spotted gar, but I believe the alligator gar can hit like 200 lbs, and eat small dogs and stuff.

Was watching some videos and they look wild.

This dudes a guide

Ill watch these this weekend.

Thanks!

No problem, I actually think your pretty well set up with mos tof your gear. Lotta these guys in Texas who target gar alot sees to like using musky style rods. Think that guy's legit just uses a musky set up alot along with this bait runner set up

I kind of figured its the same class of gear needed.

Plus my boat would work just fine down there on the rivers and such.


Great big freshwater fish are fu!

You know now that I think about it....I wonder if you could get some action casting them big musky baits of yours for garb

I saw a video of a guy using a soft plastic jig style lure called a bondy bait. Like a rubber...thing with a spinner blade off the back.

They were getting them on it!

Gator's are protected in Mo, must be released unharmed immediately. In Ill, Only 1 per 24 hr period.

Whatever happened to the plan to sic alligator gar on the asian carp?

The Trinity River is considered the best float for trophy sized gar down this way. That being said there is a guide set up at Choke Canyon Reservoir that takes some giants too and can prolly turn you onto a wild hog and axis deer hunt. They are invasive so no closed season- just what ever you have to do as a foreigner LOL.

From what I understand winter is the slow time for gar down on the trinity.

That might be my issue...my time off is during the winter.

That might be right but the other fishing picks up considerably. That was one of the lures of Texas to me, I can hunt fish, and trap the same day and spend that night in a tent mostly all winter long.

Message me b4 you come down I can turn you onto a good place to est and maybe some Corb Lund & Cory Morrow tunes. You will want to come back every winter LOL.

Will do, but you have to promise to turn down the thermostat a bit for this northern boy

I would be looking at the Trinity in Texas

Next I would be researching somewhere on the MIssissippi

… ride on down catch them all… they mess up my catfishing

Last time I looked some sections of the Trinity River are closed certain times of the year. I believe that’s closer to Dallas Fort Worth area, but maybe not. Sabine River border between Louisiana and Texas is also another good
river for big gator gar. Musky gear for five and six footers is about right but I’d want something considerably heavier when they start getting eight , nine , ten foot long. Don’t believe I’ve ever heard of a 200 pound musky lol. Hope you catch a big one. my nephew hooked and got up alongside the boat after about an hour. Boat was 12 feet long he estimated was at least 10 needless to say a 12 foot boat. He didn’t try and land him.

Are they fit ta eat ?

And, as I understand it, that's prolly a baby.

Interesting

Evening Hutchy,

Its pretty much like Hoss and Savell said. Big rivers and big lakes, but there are some that are known for it. I fish a lot in the Brazos watershed and for fun we'll try to catch some gar. I've never caught giants though. Most of them are 4-5 feet long, but still impressive. 70-90 pounders. Worth hanging the head on the fence post.

When I used to work for the state, we would do alligator spotlight counts on Choke canyon. Lots of times we would see really really big alligator gar while looking for alligators. Choke has some dinosaurs; particularly around the areas of Daughtrey WMA. Lots of giant dinosaur alligators too though. No way I would ever swim in that lake!

Interesting you brought this up, cause one of my buddies just sent this to me today. I can't verify it, but regardless its a Giant SOB. Says it came out of Toledo Bend.

Unreal ^^^

Chauncey the little pond with the tent camping was enough to convince me I'd never swim at Choke Canyon. Yikes there was a gator there that had eyeballs about 15" apart and he did not respect personal space LOL.

On the way to that park gate is where the outfitter I mentioned had some photos of giant gar posted at the bait and tackle shop. If I remember right he offered both rod and real or archery fishing trips. Lots of what I'd call giants.

12 feet 9 inch long Alligator Gar was caught by the Albright family in 1957 on Big Cypress Bayou above Caddo Lake and was well over 300lbs.
Caddo Lake is a 25,400-acre lake and bayou (wetland) on the border between Texas and Louisiana, in northern Harrison County and southern Marion County in Texas and western Caddo Parish in Louisiana.

A friend of mine hunts monster gar on the Nueces River in Texas every March. He catches some monsters! He also gets several large catfish every spring.

… any much bigger than that break off

… I’m catching catfish in a lake River channel and the gar will break off hooks and also chew up caught catfish… I imagine if a man geared up for gar he could get some biggins in that spot … they hit live bream and goldfish

wats it take to gear up for them? how difficult would it be to hook up my boat, head south, and catch a few? do you need steel leaders?

… I have no idea what the people that target them use for tackle… but anybody can ride down and fish them with a Texas nonres liscense … they’re a nuisance … lake Livingston… north end river channel

… as for as limits and boat registration goes… I have no idea… I’m not into politics …but every now and then game law thinks I should be lol

That does look like fun!

Looking up the regs Lake livingston and the trinity river you can keep one fish under 48 inchs and that has to be reported to dnr with a phone ap. I was getting interested in a do it yourself trip till i found that

… probably why there’s so many of them now…..we used to shoot them all night with bows

… dang carpet baggin Yankees ruined it

600lbs hollow core braid is the new leader of choice apparently. Got some 300bls off of Amazon to try on these little ones

My plan was let it drag the boat around with a steel leader on a spoonbill set up. Then shoot it when I got it up to the boat if it was a monster.