Movement, says the Philosopher, is a sign of life and that in mind I loaded a couple of rods in the rig and moved off to the lake. Yes, I was alive, but what about the fish? Good question. Soldier's Bluff, once a reef in a vast inland sea, shone under a fierce Texan sun, teenagers did backflips into hot water, all was alive, but the fish weren't moving.
Don't get me wrong, I tried, with worms and shad but no, our piscine enemy were lying low, immobile, playing dead. So much for this game of soldiers, I thought grimly to myself, and moved to another location, across the dam.
Boom, right out of the gate a ferocious Drum pulled rod #2 along the fishing pier. Off I ran, alive, picked up the rod and reeled him in. Good fight, well done fish. He went back, living, to fight again another day. Next up, Gar.
The thing about Gar, if you're me, is they're easy to get on but hard to hook. You see, they'll play with your bait and drop it if you attempt a premature hookset, which tends not to work because of the bony toughness of their long prehistoric beaks. So what to do?
Try a small #6 hook, baited with frozen shad, on a 12" leader weighted with split shot beneath a small float. If you're smart, unlike me, make that leader steel. Launch the shad near the Gar, he'll see it, move in and it.
Watch the Pleistocene creature gobble that bait fish down; seriously, let the fish do its thing, give it line, allow it to pretty much eat the shad and then run with it. It'll run, allow some 8 seconds into this then set that hook.
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Wow. Stand up, rod double, line out, leaping, thrashing, diving, running fish action. Just a lot of fun. But word to the wise. I say again, if you're fishing from some kind of pier use a steel leader, otherwise the fish will bite through your line as you haul him up, which is what happened to me today. Still, good fight, great result, thank you fish.
Back at the Compound we're reflecting on this real-life parable. It's the Feast of SS. Peter & Paul, who followed Christ and became fishers of men.
Tight lines,
LSP
Sounds like a great day, Parson!
ReplyDeleteNorthern Pike and Muskellunge require steel leaders, too. They're more like a "Freshwater Barracuda" than a Gar, but you have to let them run with the bait, too. Let 'em run, when the lines goes slack count to 8, and set that hook!
I used to make lures for gar by taking nylon cord, the type with very thin filaments, and fraying it out. The gar hit that and get their teeth meshed into the cord. Slip sinker ahead of the cord for weight, wallah!
ReplyDeleteHi LSP!!,
ReplyDeleteCome on down!! 23/24 July 2022 the Lakeside Beacon Lounge Gar Rodeo!!!!! Manchac, La.... Take the I-55 to the Manchac exit(15) go south on the service road across the bridge and there you are!!!! Go to the "Gators Den" page FMI!!! Last weigh in is at "High Noon" on the 24th and then the "After Party starts!!!!!"
I'll Be there!!
Last year the big khouna was 134 lbs. and the total for the 5 fish weigh was over 500 lbs.!! See fotos on the page!!!!!
skybill
drjim, I'm sorely envious of your Northern fishing. Going after pike and Muskellunge sounds like serious fun.
ReplyDeleteGar, I think, are more placid in the catch but I'm just guessing.
I've tried that, Wild, a few times, and guess what. The gar wouldn't hit the lures, damndest thing. Frozen shad, onnit all day. Huh.
ReplyDeleteskybill, thanks for the invite! I'll be there if I can... 134 lbs... whoa.
ReplyDelete