Galveston Bay Garfish

[JMiller]

I am taking an interest to target and catch big garfish out of my kayak in Galveston Bay. The past couple of days I've hooked three and actually got lucky and landed/released one about 5.5-6 feet long on a Gulp. I've seen a couple in the area that are pushing 8 feet long, just absolute beasts. Does anyone know a good rig/setup for catching big gar?

Is there any saltwater regulations for garfish, or does the freshwater regs still apply (1 for daily bag, no limit for length)? I'll be releasing 99% of the ones I land, but if it's small enough, I might retain it.

[serrano408]

There is a gar that hangs around sylvan beach area right of the boat launch infront of the cut. He scares the crap out of me when i see his back pop out the water you need to go catch it he looks well over 6ft

[Flatfisher]

Guru,
I can't speak to the regs, but here's something I've heard of for terminal tackle for gar. Take a short piece of nylon rope. Fray 2 to 3 inches of it on one end, attach the other end to your line. To fix the bait close to the frayed rope, I guess a fish hook would have to be incorporated. Anyway, the idea is the gar gets its teeth tangled in the rope and the "hookset" is more sure than with a fish hook.

Good luck. There are some beasts out there.

You might try taking Vincent along as attractant.

[Lagoonfisher]

Been fishing galveston my whole life and have never seen a gar. I know there out there...just never seen one. Can't imagine trying to target them and be too succesful?

[jimithing]

Guru,
I can't speak to the regs, but here's something I've heard of for terminal tackle for gar. Take a short piece of nylon rope. Fray 2 to 3 inches of it on one end, attach the other end to your line. To fix the bait close to the frayed rope, I guess a fish hook would have to be incorporated. Anyway, the idea is the gar gets its teeth tangled in the rope and the "hookset" is more sure than with a fish hook.

Good luck. There are some beasts out there.

You might try taking Vincent along as attractant.

you may want to watch it with the rope lure, the thing is its become a little controversial in that if for any reason the roper lure were to break off your line while the gar is still "hooked", the rope may end up killing the gar because it is so effective at tangling the teeth. not only that but even if you are able to keep it attatched, you might as well keep it because again, the rope is so hard to get out if tangled good enough. usually what professional gar guides do is use fish carcasses/peices (something pungent, carp is what they use in freshwater) put it on the end of a treble hook with wire leader and throw it out. freeline it (a reel with a clicker is very good for this) and let the gar pick it up and run (usually 50-100 yards), when they stop to finally eat, feel the bait being chewed up and set the hook, you may miss a few because of their hard boney mouths but at least you dont needlessly kill one with the rope.

[redfishfan91]

I bet they give you a good sleigh ride! I know a guy who was pulled a little more than a quarter of a mile in his 21ft boat by a 6 1/2 foot alligator gar! Good luck though it will be a lot of fun!

[kwil]

I went right over one hiding in the grass in Christmas Bay yesterday. Couldn't tell the length, but he was way bigger around than my thigh.
He apparently didn't see me...which was fine by me.

[Rob Red]

Never Fished for the but caught a few while fishing for catfish back home on the Guadalupe.
We use to go Bow fishing for the im some slous of that river. They love to come up to the top of the water when its hot .

My dad would fix the up in little bit size fish nuggets. Althougt its falls in the trash fish catergory it was pretty damn good.

You will need a good pair of tin snips to clean and gut. We would take a skill saw and run it down the fishes back found this to be the easiest way to open em up.

[Bartelbtuna]

My dad would fix the up in little bit size fish nuggets. Althougt its falls in the trash fish catergory it was pretty damn good.

I saw gar steaks in the fish window right next to yellowfin and sea bass at the HEB in sienna plantation. Guess they can't be too bad.

[Forever Fishing]

I've caught the longnose gar in fresh but still haven't really targeted the Aligator Gar. Here's some useful information.

Topic 6: Longnose Gar
http://texaskayakfisherman.com/forum/vi ... hp?t=99643

Topic 8: Alligator Gar
http://texaskayakfisherman.com/forum/vi ... p?t=100964

[lendre89]

I know they are found in the bayou vista/highland bayou area!!

[GlennO]

My dad and grandpa used to take a red shop rag and loosely wind copper wire around it till it was kink of funnel shaped and pull it through the water... the gar would bite down and the wire would tangle thier teeth/mouth... it was extremely effective but I don't know about how legal it is now.

[vincent]

awesome....you kill it....

[TommyGun]

I remember wading the spillway up in trinity bay as a kid and seeing big 6 footers roll next to us. Never really thought anything about it.

Now that vincent been brutally attacked by the monsters twice, I'm bringin' my 9 and bustin a cap.

[Ricky T]

When running redfish trips at night in Trinity Bay years ago we would catch them fairly consistently on live mullet. Could always tell when the tide stopped moving if the gar moved in. They were hard to hang unless they swallowed the bait. We used kahle hooks and lost a bunch.

Couple things I noticed after hanging and hooking thirty or forty many June, July, August periods. Quite often on the hookset the things would jump completely out of the water. Amazing sight in the moonlight.

And the other thing we figured out after catching a bunch is that pound for pound they are the puniest fighting fish in the sea. They might make a short powerful run, maybe two, but then it's like reeling in a sack of mud. They are good head shakers and will contintue to do that throughout the fight and especially when you get them up to the boat which can break off light stuff. We'd catch 30 and 40 pounders consistently and up to 50 to 60 on occasion. Big babys. They look mean and weigh a lot but fight like a sissy.

I'd eat a few each year and consider them palatable. Mixed with proper amounts of seasoning and vegetables, fried gar balls are good.

Consistently hooking them would be a challenge. The best I can say is let the thing run a LONG time when he picks up the bait. That's with live or cut bait. With artificials it'd be tough.

[Liquid]

Congratulations on catching the gar from your yak.

Looks like fun, I want to give it a shot.

[let's go]

Me and a buddy used to catch some big ones off Sylvan Beach on down to Seabrook Flats using live finger mullet under balloons. Like has been said, they are fun for the first few minutes and then it turns into work. He used to sell them to some school district down in that area after cleaning them with a hatchet. So if you went to school in the Seabrook/Kemah area in the late 70's you got a taste of gar on "fish Friday".

[Liquid]

Thats a good story about selling them to the school.