aug 27 alligator gar

[kidflex]

yesterday myself and toneyc went fishing with capt. kirk kirkland for alligator gar. you might have seen this guy on monster fish and multiple in-fisherman shows. we went fishing with him on june 4th of this year but was unsuccessfull with only a 23 lber. so we were determined to make up for that trip in an attempt to get one over 100 pounds. we met kirk aroung 8 am to launch the boat down a very steep river bank on the trinity river.
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we set out rods with a variety of fresh bait like gizzard shad and carp. after a few hours and a couple of dropped runs toney sets the hook on a nice fish.
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the fight begins.
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after a few minutes we get the fish in the boat where the fish trashes arround violently.
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65 inches long with a 25 inch girth puts this fish around 55 pounds
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now im up next on the rod. we set out more baits and continue to wait. after a few minutes the line alarm begins to sound. we follow the fish as it swims down river then nothing. the fish drops the bait. we decide to move to another spot and drop bait. another fish makes a good run then suddenly stops as she swims under a sunken log and feels tension from the line hanging up and drops it. this would happen a few more times, how frustrating.
we decided to pack things up and head out. we started to get lines in down river. as we were approaching the last two rods i noticed the float moving fast up river and the line alarm goin off at the rod. we did not hear it because kirk had turned the remote sensor off. i grab the rod and follow the fish upstream. this time she was in the middle of the river and not towards some snags. i set the hook.
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the fight begins. this fish wasnt as big as toneyc's but was energetic
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after a few minutes this fish is in the boat.
56.5 inches long eith a 23 inch grith puts this fish at 42 pounds
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smile for the camera
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although we did not get a fish in the triple digits it was still fun. we will definitely go again. i am positive we lost a few fish that were 100 lbs or better on those dropped runs. oh well next time. thanks to kirk kirkland, an excellent guide. we'll be back next summer. brian eckerle

[Armada_4x4]

toothy critters!..cool!

[Dwight]

Where where ya'll at

[Autco]

Can you eat these?

[snapper]

Nice fish and good eating too.

[kidflex]

anywhere in the trinity river is good for gar. dont want to give up any honeyholes kirk has, since this is his livelyhood.

i heard the meat is very good. hard to clean though

[clean air]

I saw his show on the In-fisherman and they boated several in the triple digits but they my have taped for several days.Do people really eat gar?

[coastalbend74]

I wanna see some video or pics of the boat launch????

[kidflex]

he has two shows with in-fisherman. one with a giant 248 lber. they film for two days according to kirk. he has a film crew coming next week to shoot for the show the next bite with pete mania. and another for g3 sportsman coming up too.

the boat launch is pretty cool. about 50 ft high. made of old pipe casing, car rims on a platform. all hooked up to a motor, transmission, and a winch. 10 dollars to launch, a lady at the store runs it. just back your trailer to it and roll boat onto the rollers and hook cable up.

i have more pictures i will post of the boat coming down.