HUGE alligator gar bow fished

:@:@ very high vayafish nice and good teeth :thumbsup2:

Had one in a fish tank many years ago. Mean as f@ck.

Good story.

I was bowfishing just last night, what I'd give to run into one of those bad boys. No compound or bow fishing set up too, that guy is old school, I like it.

Something this size you should be able to harpoon.

Thats one big fish. They are an interesting fish to fillet too with that thick armour.

How to clean an alligator gar - YouTube

Very cool thread, Judah. And these are neat,neat animals.

You know, I kinda got myself in hot water a few years ago down near the Red River a long the Texas/Oklahoma regarding these giant fish . My brother and I and his in-laws had just returned from a night of bowfishing when a boat pulled up to the ramp with not one but four of these giants being towed along side. Each one was well over a 100 lbs..

Now guys, I think by now everybody here knows that I hunt everything I can legally with all kinds of tools and weapons...but this went all over me. Four gar, at over a 100 lbs. ? It takes one of these a century or more to reach that size. We have a limit in our group of one...that's not one per person,but for the group. If someone in our little band takes one monster. That's it. And unlike a lot of folks in that area, we eat the damn thing. Anyway, long story short I asked them if they intended on calling it a season and they saif they'd be back that night . I told them our policy and they told me to go f**k myself and everything went down hill from there.

As many cool species we have available to bowfish , and many that we need to shoot as many as we can such as carp...it just pissed me off the waste.

Aaron, is there a legal limit on Alligator gar?

OMG i have never seen anything like that!! The monsters that we live alongside is incredible! :sharky:

In Louisiana, there is no size limit and no bag limit. Gar in general are pretty plentiful, and the large alligator gar aren't too difficult to find either.. but I'm with Aaron, no reason to waste them, especially when there's a plethora of other fish.. some that need to be thinned out, and others that are a bit more palatable. That being said.. I'd still let the arrow fly on a monster like that, but I'd eat every last ounce.

Aaron, how do you guys prepare gar? Down here we do gar balls.. try to make them taste more like crab meat than anything else Every now and then we end up with a gar or 2 that are gutt hooked on the catfish jugs.. I clean them and bring them to the housekeepers at work. They would take a 3ft gar over 10lbs of the finest bass fillets any day of the week, and they can sure as hell make it taste damn good as well.

In Oklahoma , at least , they're listed as a non-game ,rough fish . Which is both good and bad. Good cause you can target them with a myriad of gear. Bows, spear,harpoons whatever....which is great !! However, it also means that they don't regulate as far as creel limits.

I'm not really to concerned about the ones ,say, 3-4 feet and under; but I'd sure love to see them put a season limit on the giants. In some bodies, they're becoming quite rare .

Quote from Nate

Aaron, how do you guys prepare gar? Down here we do gar balls.. try to make them taste more like crab meat than anything else Every now and then we end up with a gar or 2 that are gutt hooked on the catfish jugs.. I clean them and bring them to the housekeepers at work. They would take a 3ft gar over 10lbs of the finest bass fillets any day of the week, and they can sure as hell make it taste damn good as well.

Nate, we like to take tin snips and cut them right down the center of the back then I'll peel 'em open and remove the backstrap filet . From that point on... it's game on. Broiled, roasted on the grill, bite sized cuts that are rolled in spices with corn meal & flour and deep fried. Poor man's lobster.