Biggest Longnose Gar To Date - A Fat 22lbs-3ozs & 51 Inches Long

Selling Cars and Catching Gars!
Ask For Donnie Hinkle "West Point Lake Gar Grabber"

The Gar Gods were smiling on ole Donnie today!!! Today I'm a happy man! I landed the biggest Longnose Gar I've ever caught on West Point Lake to date.

I took Chris Smith from Mike Patton Auto Family Gar fishing with me today. I try to take Chris at least once a season. My way of thanking him for all the help he provides me with throughout the year with computer stuff.

The day started out pretty good with several nice Gar landed but as the day grew on I kept seeing good-sized Gar and I would tell Chris, "That's a nice Gar but it's not what I'm looking for." You see, after catching a few nice Gar I always settle into a big Gar sight-fishing mode. I will comb the waters for the largest Gar I can see and toss a rope at him. So after Chris and I both caught a few nice ones we started cherry picking.

We changed location on numerous occasions and at one spot I hung what would have been the big Gar of the day. After a few huge line-stripping runs I was able to work the Gar to the boat and suddenly it charged beneath my boat and broke the line off. I was pretty upset for two reasons. One, I had my drag set way to tight and I should have played the Gar longer until it gave out some before trying to boat it, and two, I know that there’s no way the big Longnose will survive. That's 3 Gar this season that have broken off on me. I'll have my drag set lighter from now on to prevent this from happening again I hope.

Now for the good stuff! After fishing this location a little longer we changed places and went to the spot where I've caught my biggest Gar of this season. I know I always have a shot at a nice one there. After being on location for only a few minutes I saw one surface and I said, "man, that one has a head like a buffalo." The big Gar was moving away from my boat, not the most ideal cast to make but I did make a good cast and the Gar circled around and launched himself at my lure and the fight was on! This big Longnose Gar striped more line from my reel than any this year and I was afraid that it had the line in it’s beak like the last one that broke off earlier, but to my surprise it came straight back to the boat and made a hard fight seem easy, for a moment that is. After a few more brief runs and with the help of Chris Smith who shoved a glove onto my right hand I grabbed it's massive beak on the first attempt and held on for dear life as the Gar nearly shook my shoulder loose from the socket. When I dragged it into the boat I knew it was a Longnose Gar of a lifetime for me on West Point Lake. Chris got two good pictures of it then on the last shot where I was holding the Gar underneath it's head and gut the beast started cutting up, I dropped it and then it shook itself to freedom back into the water to where it came from. What a blast is all I have to say and I'm sure my face in the pictures shows what a thrill it is for me to catch a big Longnose Gar like that one.

Thanks to Chris Smith who helped me land my biggest Longnose Gar to date as quickly as I did and for taking the pictures that would been very difficult to do so alone. Thank you Chris!

Julie and Debbie Out Fish Me!!!

Selling Cars and Catching Gars!
Ask For Donnie Hinkle "West Point Lake Gar Grabber"

I'm a little upset at today’s Gar Fishing trip. I let two girls out Gar Fishing me.

After I got started in my usual winning ways, landing a few nice Longnose and on my way to another great day of out fishing the competition in my boat, it suddenly all came un glued! Julie Lands a nice 14lb-10oz Gar and takes the lead. You would think I would be able to overcome this travesty, but oh no; then my wife Debbie takes the lead with a nice 15lb-50 inch Longnose. Only 10 minutes later Julie takes the lead with a very nice 15lb-11oz whopper that measured 52 inches long! Julie just out fished me all day with big Gar after big Gar, all day long! I'm not sure I'm taking my daughter-in-law Gar fishing with me anymore. What do ya'll think I should do? Leave a post below and tell, should I take her again or not. I think not. My pride is way too big to get beaten by a Gar girl again.

Check out the pictures and a couple of videos on GAR GIRLS. Look to the right for the link.

Gar Bite! This Is Why We Wear Gloves!!!

Selling Cars and Catching Gars!
Ask For Donnie Hinkle "West Point Lake Gar Grabber"

This video was taken on a Gar Fishing trip my daughter Shelley and I made on Tuesday May 13th, 2008. Shelley just happened to be taking a video shot while I was landing this Gar when it suddenly struck at my hand like a rattlesnake! It kind of startled me because I've never had one to intentionally bite me before. On this particular day all the Gar were very aggressive and I left the lake that day with a back injury either when I snatched my hand back from the Gar or while trying to tame one on these brutes in the boat. Anyway here is the video and I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

Click Image To View The Video

Gar Fishing Is Heating Up On West Point Lake!!!

Selling Cars and Catching Gars!
Ask For Donnie Hinkle "West Point Lake Gar Grabber"

Gar Fishing is really heating up on West Point Lake folks! Today I took my daughter Shelley with me. Many of you probably that last year we both caught a black Gar exactly 1 month apart from each other. Well I've got to tell you, Shelley is a very patient and good Gar Fishergirl and today she out done her dad one more time with the Gar of the Day. This brute weighed in at 16 pounds 8 ounces and measured 52inches in length. I pulled up a distant second with my biggest at 15 pounds and 3 ounces and 50 inches.

The Gar today were highly aggressive. The big one that Shelley caught was snagged around the head with no rope in its mouth. When I went to reach for the big Gar it reached out and tried to take a chunk out of my hand! It grabbed my glove and gave it a big snatch as if it was trying to draw blood. All I can say is that the gloves work or I'm quite sure my hand wouldn't be working today if not for the gloves! Shelley caught it on video so after a little editing to try and capture the incident in slow motion, I'll have it up on my website. We ended up with 9 Gar total with all of them well over 10lbs each.

With Gar season getting hotter and hotter it would be a great time to schedule a Guide trip with a chance for a 15 pound plus fish or better!

Just email me at dhink256@charter.net or call (706) 333-3876 to take advantage of the prime time Longnosse Gar Fishing!

Nathan's First Gar Fishing Trip

Selling Cars and Catching Gars!
Ask For Donnie Hinkle "West Point Lake Gar Grabber"

I took Nathan on his first Longnose Gar Guided fishing trip today on West Point Lake. Nathan has wanted to go for a long time and we finally were able to land on a date that would accommodate both of us.

Things started a little slow at first with the cool morning but when the sun got high and the water surface temperature started warming the Gar started rising just below that water surface all around us. I mean some whoppers too!

I snagged the first Gar of the day and what a big ole Longnose Gar it was! It fought very hard including one athletic thrashing jump! When I got the Gar to the boat it had a very healthy set of snappers on it and as I was trying to grab it and close it's big jaws at the same time it made a huge rush right out of my grip and unfortunately cut my line with it's teeth and swam away with a mouth full of nylon. It's very upsetting to see this happen especially considering the fact that I had it for a moment before it broke wild on me. I wish I had have just gotten a little bit better grip on it. This fish would have easily cracked 19lbs+ and 56 inched. Just a massive Longnose Gar. Luckily Nathan snapped some pictures of it as I played it to the boat. What a waste.

Later on I spotted a nice Longnose just underneath the water surface. With the sun getting higher and higher we started seeing Big Longnose Gar all over the place. This was a very fat and health specimen of Longnose Gar that weighed in at 17lbs-3ozed and measured 52 inches long. Nathan was still trying to hone his casting skills as I coached him how to make the right cast. As Nathan continued to lose opportunity after opportunity he quickly realized that it's a good cast at first that gives you a chance but it's also how you present the lure as well.

The next fish was a real fighter that gave the thrill of several long digging line stripping runs. The big Longnose just kept on stripping line from my Ambassadeur 6500each time I thought it would give up. This big boy weighed 15lbs-13ozs and measured 48 inches long and fat, but not as fat as Gar number one.

Now it was time to give Nathan all the opportunities for the big ones because I wanted him to come away with a Gar to remember on his guide trip. He could have caught many Gar of smaller or medium size but like me he would pass on them for the chance for that fish of a lifetime.

After Nathan's repeated attempts at casting at some real monster Gar, time after time he either couldn't get the lure in position or when he did get it there, either the presentation wasn't correct or the Gar would snub it's nose at the rope lure. I don’t think I was a very good coach that day because it was killing me to pass up the big Gar to allow Nathan a shot!

After such an unlucky day of Gar fishing I'll owe Nathan a return visit at no charge to redeem himself. Just let me know when you can go Nathan, because no one deserves the kind of luck you had today! At least you got to hold my biggest of the day, right? Not the same I know Nathan so we'll get great big fat one for you next trip. I think on our next trip instead of wearing sight fishing glasses I’ll wear a blindfold though because it was killing me to watch some great opportunities pass you by but that's just life for a Longnose Gar fishing guide! It takes practice.