I took my daughter Shelley and her fellow Mike Gar fishing recently and we all snagged a pretty nice one. This was Mike's first Gar ever.
When I was asked to take two young boys Gar Fishing along with their father I didn't hesitate to say yes, although in my mind I WAS a little hesitant. As you know Gar aren't your normal garden variety fish, with needle sharp teeth and a bad attitude to go with them, one slip up this fish can make you bleed, a little or a lot!
I found out pretty quickly however these were not your garden variety youngsters either! Since discovering their grandfather and friend Jerry booked this trip for them they have been on the internet studying my website along with many others. I quickly found out during this trip what they had learned when Sawyer and Max both began to quote facts they had had gathered during there studies. These two boys had whipped themselves into a frenzy and were determined to have success and I've got to say, so was I after meeting them!
In the beginning we had to delay our trip right of out the gate due to an early morning lightning storm. Jerry and his wife Jackie, dad Jason and the boys stayed at Jerry and Jackie's house during he storm while Jerry and I stayed in contact by cell phone until the storm got well away from us. Living only a few miles from the boat landing, after I gave the all clear call the whole family drove over in a matter of minutes then we loaded up and said see you later to grand paw and grand maw as they waved us off.
You see, many years ago Jerry and I sunk a boat together in his private lake. Jerry would tell it that I sunk him in a boat but who cares about the details the way I see it. I just know Jerry and Jackie had to be a little nervous so I was nervous for the both of us to tell you the truth; not to mention the teeth aspect!
Anyway, back to the trip. since I wanted Sawyer and Max to catch a Gar so badly I had Jerry to get the boys to catch me a coupe of bream from their lake to use for cut bait. As you may know I normally only use homemade nylon rope lures but I was afraid the boys couldn't cast we enough; I was wrong. The cut bait was rather ineffective while trying to cast too but Sawyer did catch a nice blue cat. We just couldn't get to the rod fast enough with our lures in the water too so we went back to using rope again.
After to boys learned the routine they started getting a few bites but they were a little over anxious at first, pulling the bait too fast when the Gar hit. Not only that but with the high wind it was virtually impossible to see the Gar through the chop on the water but we fished on.
I've got to tell you, I was getting a little discouraged but the boys weren't! No matter how hard the fishing was or how hot it got they stayed after it harder than I've seen many grown men.
After moving around and finding the right spot our persistence finally paid off. Both Sawyer and Max both got a Gar in the boat and and got there picture on my website! Forget the teeth, these two kids were not the least bit afraid of these fish as you can see by the photos and I'll beat they can't wait to do it again.
Jason, Sawyer and Max are welcome to come along again no charge this year to try to increase the size of their catch too, just call me at 706-298-6958 and let's try to plan it, what do you say boys are you ready to catch a big one now?
