Monster Gar in Texas

[gregm]

Check out this monster from Sam Rayburn:

http://www.aimlowproductions.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=31

No wonder the Bass down there are big with monster's like this swimming in there. This was taken via bowfishing and had to be hauled out of the boat with a backhoe.

[Ole Spike]

What a monster!:tdo12:

[waterfoul]

Wonder how old that fish was?

[enfield]

Da-yum!!

[sgtschultz]

I need to change my boxers.....:yikes:

[spendit]

I won't be swimming there anymore :yikes:

[Gone Fishing Jr]

Wow, that things huge.

[fishineddie]

ugliest damn thing i ever saw..there was an article on them in outdoor life a few months ago,there are only a handful of anglers who target them..it also said how the older fisherman back in the day used to catch them and break thier beaks and throw them back or cut them open and throw them back,what a shame...it truly is a "MONSTER" though..

[gregm]

They're very cool fish. Actually living dinosaurs. Gar haven't changed in millions of years. They have found fossils of gar that have been aged to be in the same time as T-rex etc... and they are largely the exact same fish.

[fishineddie]

holy crap i just noticed the bows next to the guys... how the hell did they get that thing in?????

[gregm]

A Backhoe!!!

If you go to the main page (aimlowproductions), it has some more pictures, they had to use a backhoe to get the sucker out of the boat. I have no idea how they got it IN the boat to begin with, unless they just towed it to shore and used the backhoe to lift it up, kind of like "old man and the sea" ;)

[stinger63]

I knew gar got big but I had no idea that they got that huge.I even caught what I thought were monsters weighing 30-40lbs but this fish weighed 244lbs :yikes: I can only imagine the appetite this fish must have had and how many pounds of fish or whatever else it ate to been able to grow that big.I bet that lake suffered a drastic reduction in water fowl population also.I wonder if there more of those monsters swimming around in that lake or others in that area.I guess that had big baseball bat as well or something to subdue the beast and I wouldnt have put that monster thing in any boat either.I would have towed it in to shore.

[waterfoul]

Somewhere in Texas there is a "ditch" lake that has a good crop of HUGE garpike in it. Saw a special on Discover or ESPN or something like that a while back. HUGE fish, like the one in the picture. These guys used WHOLE chickens for bait... dead and rotting... caught them on musky type tackle.

[gregm]

This is an alligator gar which grows to massive sizes (like the one pictured). The gar we have in the upper midwest are Longnose and Shortnose Gar, which don't get near as big. Most lakes in South Texas are full of these monsters. Rayburn, Choke Canyon, Toledo Bend, Fork, etc... I don't think these fish are as aggressive as a muskie, so I don't think they eat waterfowl, mammals, etc... but I bet they do put a hurt on smaller fish, gar will also eat dead stuff too. Could you imaging what a 244 pound muskie would eat? Dogs? Kids? Canoes??? :yikes::yikes: :yikes:

[amon]

I commend you on this awesome catch. That's a huge take. I have to say that it is truly the most disgusting, shiver inducing, blood curdling beast I have ever seen and I would simultaneously puke and crap my pants if I had that thing on the other end of my line. I thought my 44" muskie was big but jeez....