The Gar-dalupe...

Gar are notorious in Central Texas for long runs, barrel rolls, missed hooksets and snapped lines. I can't tell you how many times I've been fishing on a soft-lipped day and my lure starts to run and I go for a bass hookset, only to yank back a weightless thread of line without my weight, hook and lure. Gar are the bane of bass fisherman sometimes... but every now and then a bass fisherman will specifically target these and other species, step out of his comfort zone and have a great time doing it.

   I love bass fishing through and through. Throw me on a kayak, send me down a Central Texas river and let me chase Guadalupe bass to the end of my days and I'll die a happy man. But, I can't deny that when it comes down to it, I love fighting fish, pitting my wits against theirs, and seeing who comes out on top. Recently, I had a chance to go see my buddy, who I'll call "Ocho", at his stretch along the Guadalupe River outside of Gonzales, Texas. This length of the Guadalupe is lined with cattle fields, turning the water a stained brown typically, with clarity generally around 1'-2' on good days. Dead falls abound along the banks which are characterized by steep walls on one side, and a flood plain on the other. Ocho's stretch is about 2/3 of a mile long with about 100 yards of usable bank. Add to this the fact that the cows access water at the most convenient bank, muddying it up, that pushes us to an access along a muddy bank with a steep climb to about 15' above the water. This means anything we do is generally going to be laborious and we end up muddy. What a way to spend a Saturday night in early August, where the temps might get below 80˚F.

   I was waiting for Ocho in his driveway when he got off work, adult beverage in hand. After a few minutes of BSing we headed down to the river with our kayaks to try to catch some bait for the night. We had decided, in an effort to fulfill my BFA search, to target catfish and gar since this stretch is difficult to bass fish. We scaled down the muddy bank after a cursory glance for water moccasins and eased in to the water with silence. We were targeting sunfish for bait for a night of fishing.

   With earthworms in hand we proceeded to try to outsmart the perch and managed 5 in about an hour. Generally catching perch isn't a problem on the Guadalupe, but as clarity is mucked up, the ability go the aggressive sunfish to find your bait goes down. After awhile we had decided that this amount of perch and the remaining worms would suffice for the night. Between perch and worms Ocho and I had drug in our fair share of cats, but never a gar. Admittedly, the few gar I have caught have actually all been on Ratltraps (of all things).

   We used 130 lb Dacron line and 3/0 J-hooks. We floated our baits with small balloons and suspended them 1'-2' below the surface across the middle of the river channel as well as near eddies along the bank. We eviscerated the sunfish and used their innards to bait our hooks. Then we waited... and waited...

   Our first run was a blue catfish, about 22" long who quickly made her way to the cooler.

23.75" Blue catfish caught on perch guts

    After a few pictures we focused on our other lines and quickly heard a rolling splash sound. We raced down the muddy embankment to our kayaks and shoved off into the dark. Fighting a large catfish from a kayak is an experience to enjoy. Letting her wear herself out on your rod is an enjoyable experience (need I say more?). By the time we got this gal to the surface I was worn out. We measured her at a hair over 30" and was close to 20 pounds. As we got her to the bank and readied her for the cooler, we decided to look at her innards to see what she was eating. Besides perch guts and perch chunks (what we expected) we found some 6 or 7 corbicula fluminea (Asian clams) and one large bone segment, about 5' long that was sharp as hell and resembled a fish or small mammalian rib.

30" Blue catfish near 20 pounds

   So after nearly 2 hours we had raked in two decent blue catfish and filled our small cooler. We were getting tired. We had promised ourselves a trip to Lake Wood to bass fish in the morning and we had to decide whether to suck it up and pull an all-nighter or to call it a night and hit the sack for a few hours before sunup. Instead, our rod made that call for us.

   A long slow run slowly ticked away the minimal amount of drag set on the Penn Battle II.  Runs were slow and paced with intermittent stops. After a few minutes of anticipation, I tightened the drag and leaned back in to my rod, letting the leverage and the hook do all the work. Sure enough, this caused the fish to make a long and will head shaking run. As my kayak lurches one direction and the other my slack is taken up to bring a nice Long-nosed Gar to the surface and the second she feels air she lets loose with an aerial display which soaked me to the core. She tail-danced like a sailfish, jumped like a marlin, dove like a halibut and fought like a gator, but she was hooked and she realized it. Her realization isn't a sign of capitulation nor does it show a willingness to acquiesce to my desires. So, in all of her toothiness, she decides to make it difficult. She wouldn't stay still once we got her on the kayak and (forgetting our gloves) made us want to race her to the shore. We taped her out at 49.25", just shy of a Big Fish Award. She was the story of the night though and the envy of all of our friends who didn't make it out.

49.25" Long-nosed Gar caught on perch guts

    So don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone and fish. At Texas Kayak Fisherman, the local forum for San Marcos/New Braunfels has a monthly tournament (just bragging rights, winner chooses the following month's tournament) and we challenge ourselves to focus on different species besides bass. 

   Learning the ways of other fish species allows us to form a picture of the aquatic ecosystems we enjoy. All of these fish have their own link in the chain and the exclusion or extinction of one can have a rippling effect on the rest. We may have favorites but one species is no more or no less important than all the rest. We should each do our parts to respect the native species, learn what we can from them and do what we can to protect them.

   So don't let the dog days of summer get you all glum because you haven't caught a bass over 18" in 4 months. Instead, target other fish who are just as fun to catch, are more active this time of year and offer a great adventure for all who respect them.