Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: skyarrow on February 09, 2010, 07:29:18 pm
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my friend emailed this to me hope yall like
Don't ya' just love a good fish story?!! No rod 'n reel here folks, this was taken with fishing bows & arrows. I had no idea that alligator gar got this big... even in Texas !
Here is a blow by blow account of what took place when Keith Riehn and Robin Parks landed a Sam Rayburn record Alligator gar.
After sitting awhile on some rolling gator gar, we decided to move to a different spot for longnose. Just after we switched our Retriever reels for spin-casts, a big one rolled out behind us, like it was sticking his tongue at us for giving up. So...I said, "Let's make one more pass thru there, and then we can get out of here."
Halfway thru that pass, we looked down and saw an absolute monster right in front of the boat, only about 1 foot deep! We both said "Oh my God!" at the same time and both shot the fish at exactly the same time. Both were perfect hits right behind the gill and the fight was on! I was very nervous trying to fight the fish due to not having our Retrievers on.
I did my best to stay on the trolling motor to follow the fish on 3 different runs. The power those fish have is awesome! Just as we began to worry that one of our lines was wrapped up, the fish floundered to the top, about 15 yards out. Keith jumped down and grabbed a 3rd bow that did have a slotted Retriever on it and put a 3rd arrow into the fish. With that line, he hauled her right to the boat-side while I put bows 1 and 2 on the deck and scrambled to get the gaff ready. Soon, the gaff was in the fish and we could actually take a look at the fish
WOW, I couldn't believe the size of the head. I knew the fish was a giant before we shot, but man, this was just breathtaking! It took a while to get her into the boat. We literally could not drag her over the side. I was just about to concede to the fact that we would have to tow her to shore when it came to me to try the very back of the boat where the free-board was less. Finally, both of us managed to grunt and strain enough to get her in. Unbelievable, at least to us!
Pending Sam Rayburn Lake record and BAA World Record Alligator Gar. 8'2", 244.5 lbs, and 44.75" girth.
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thats incredible :o
my first thought was "how many bows do ya think you could back with that?"
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thats incredible :o
my first thought was "how many bows do ya think you could back with that?"
indeed
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i found the video of them landing it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtAxJttYnwA
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I think we're going to need a bigger boat......;D
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good lord. looks like it could eat someone
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DANG...! What a fish!
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Now That's a GAR!!
The biggest Gar we got out of the Brazos river back when I was stationed in Texas was about 5 feet long.....
Up until now, I thought that was big gar.....
Wow, thanks for sharing that.
Would it be OK for me to post that story on another forum?
There are a lot of guys there that would really appreciate it.
Steve
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WHOLLYWUHEH :o dats a big un :)
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np if u want i can forward you the email that i got it from
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good lord! im pretty sure my arras would bounce off of that fella. man. bet someone had enough gar balls to last for the rest of their life offa that big sucker!
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That there's a lifetime supply of arrowheads ;)
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what from the scales ???
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Yeah, what from??
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I saw that scales were used in one of the TBB books. Shoot, with that thing you could back ten bows and have a lifetime of arrowheads.
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I was thinking about trying to make a primitive archery set to shoot alligator gar with. Curt Keller from Texas goes after them and sent me a few scales and a piece of skin with the scales on it. Primitive technology would have a problem getting through the scales. The belly scales would make good micro blades for arrows. Curt has shot a few pretty big ones but I don't know if he has landed one near that size.
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np if u want i can forward you the email that i got it from
Thank you, that would be appreciated.
Steve
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Holy uckfay! Could you imagine seeing that thing if you were swimming?
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the funny thing is just about every lake has one or two. these guys got lucky to see and shoot one. m my friend has jugged one almost this big in the river close to the house it was almost 7 feel long that was the trip when he decided to start shooting them in the head after he clubbed it and it stopped moving he tried to load it in the boat and then it came back to life lol a whole boat full of gar and a big one thrashing on the side lol it almost sunk him ;D
Holy uckfay! Could you imagine seeing that thing if you were swimming?
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what from the scales ???
Yep, the Seminoles sometimes used large scales as broadheads. Check out " Encyclopedia of Native American Bows, Arrows & Quivers, Vol. 1, pg. 71"
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the funny thing is just about every lake has one or two. these guys got lucky to see and shoot one. m my friend has jugged one almost this big in the river close to the house it was almost 7 feel long that was the trip when he decided to start shooting them in the head after he clubbed it and it stopped moving he tried to load it in the boat and then it came back to life lol a whole boat full of gar and a big one thrashing on the side lol it almost sunk him ;D
I can relate to that. On my first Gar fishing trip, Tommy shot about a 3 1/2 - 4 foot Needle Nose. It went limp in the water. Tommy hauled it in and lifting by the arrow and the tail, he tossed into my end of the 12 ft flat bottomed boat. As soon at the fish hit the boat he went ballistic!
Tommy still likes to tell the tale of my Danish Jig trying to avoid that fish. Those little needle teeth sticking out of his mouth cut the heck out of my boots. We both had a 357 Mag, but the fish was in the boat!!.
While I was playing hop scotch gar style, Tommy managed to get us to the shore of the river.
Using the line attached to the arrow that was still sticking through the fish, he hauled it up on the beach. Where, promptly I shot it in the head 6 TIMES!!... (Not taking any chances with that baby....)
Tommy laughed saying he wished we had brought a camera... I guess the look on my face was something to behold... He teased that I probably could see in the dark...
After that, we would shoot all of them in the head while they were still in the water, and leave them on the side of the river for the scavengers.
Damn, you guys are bringing back some fond memories.
Thanks for sharing your stories.
Steve
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what from the scales ???
Yep, the Seminoles sometimes used large scales as broadheads. Check out " Encyclopedia of Native American Bows, Arrows & Quivers, Vol. 1, pg. 71"
and the karankawa indians here in texas also used scales from fish as broadheads since fish were there main diet