New 2007 Record Longnose Gar. 19lbs-7ozs And 58" Long!!

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

I just got home from Longnose Gar Fishing with my buddy from Mike Patton Auto Family, Chris Smith. It started out a little slow with a lot of fish surfacing but not that many taking the rope. I did manage a couple of nice Gar though. One was 48" and 15lbs-6oz and another one little smaller. Mean while Chris was struggling with getting a good bite although he did hang a very nice one but it managed to free itself from the lure after a brief encounter of hope that Chris would land his first Longnose.

We left that area and drove to a spot I thought for sure Chris would have a great change of landing his first Gar but to no avail. I caught one more pretty nice Gar about the same size as the 15lb er I landed earlier.

We then left that spot and drove to "Old Faithful", the spot where I caught my biggest Gar to date. The wind had gotten up pretty good by then and I didn't feel like we would have any luck, but I was wrong. I guess the wind was blowing bait fish against the island pennisula and was able to land my biggest Longnose Gar of the season, 19lbs-7oz and 58" long! I was thrilled to make such a nice catch but also feeling pretty bad for Chris who still hadn't land a single Gar all day.

After attaching another rope to my line I was able get us back into position when finally Chris yells, "I've got one"! This one was snagged nicely by the rope and the fight was on! Chris's first Gar was a very impressive 48-49", 15lbs or so Longnose Gar. I'm guessing because I was so excited for him that I forgot to weigh and measure it, but I've got the pictures! Over all it was a very successful fishing trip and I'm so very glad I was able to have a great day Gar Fishing and fellowship with my friend Chris.

Passing Up Big Gar For Bigger Gar-What A Great Day!!

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

What a great day of Longnose Gar Fishing it was today! It was one of those days when you can select the Gar you want to catch while passing up those that many people would love to be catching, even I would love to be catching on certain days. I had two fish that went right a 50 inches long but I'm not sure of the weight. My scales were on the blink because there's no way that biggest fish went only 8lbs-8oz! Back to Walmart I guess.

This the the prime time for Longnose Gar Fishing when the Gar are about to go on the bed and they are swimming in tandem all over the shallows. I was practically plowing through them being selective of the ones I wanted to make a cast at. Both of my hands are cramping and tired from clutching those big beaks and trying to hold on to them as they whip like crazy right when you least expect it.

I also saw a black Gar in the same area that I saw one last year. Of course my rope was in the water and I couldn't retrieve it in time to make a cast. I never saw it again and the rascal was only about 12ft in front of my boat when it surfaced. That one would have went on the wall!

Fathers Day Gar Fishing Trip

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

I went Gar Fishing On Fathers day with my two kids Neil And Shelley. With all of our busy schedules it's tough to get on the lake together but I'm glad we were able to fish together on fathers day. Neil and Shelley haven't ever gar fished before so I knew they were in for a real treat. Shelley started out the day with a nice 38" longnose, her first ever. I handled the first Gar to show them how it's done. After that they were on their own and they done a great job teaming on a release together without my help. Then Neil caught one. It wasn't as big as Shelley's but still a nice catch for his first. Now it was time for dad to get a little action. We had a tough time getting the big ones to bite but I did manage to catch a decent size Gar after all. When all was said and done we caught 4 Gar total and I had a great day out on the lake with Neil and Shelley.

The first picture is not a Wooly Mammoth holding a Gar. Although they are both prehistoric animals only the Gar is the prehistoric beast in this picture. The other is just Neil, my son. He just needs a hair cut about as bad as I did when I was his age. I have to look at my high school senior picture to put things in perspective when I look at this picture. Well Neil, I had to cut mine and you're hair cut is coming soon.

Love, Dad.

A Much Needed Week Off!!!

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

I took a week off from the grind and went camping on West Point Lake last week. It was nice to get away for a while to relax and soak up some nature. The only bad thing about camping on West Point is that all of the camp sites with water and electricity hookups are on the south end of the lake and the Gar are on the north end. About a 10-15 mile ride by water to get to them. I started out fishing for Hybird Bass but it just didn't do anything for me. I guess when you're use to catching big Gar like I've been catching this year no other fish seems to match up.
So away I went burning up expensive gas and heading for the Longnose.

After arriving at the first spot I immediately landed a very nice Longnose. I didn't measure the fish but I took it to Highland Marina to have it weighed. It was 15lbs-3oz. The people who worked at the marina were amazed at the sight of a big gar. They never see anyone bring in Gar so it created a little excitement for them to witness such a fish.

The next day Timmy, my stepson, and his friend Joey Grizzard went Gar fishing with me. Timmy wanted to introduce Joey to Gar Fishing. After trying my main honey hole where I caught the big one on Thursday with no results, we took a ride to another productive spot. I usually catch smaller Gar there but this time was different. After catching a couple of 6-10 pounders I snagged another great big Longnose. It had a real heavy beak and must have weighed about 16-17lbs and measured 55 inches long. Of course I left my at my camera at the campsite. Joey was so amazed at the sight of such a big Longnose Gar that he dreamed about big Longnose Gar all night, woke up watching fishing shows the next morning only to be disappointed at seeing fish get caught that didn't match up with what he had witnessed the day before with me and Timmy.

Well, the vacation is over now but after one day back at work I got my normal Tuesday off. With Tropical Storm Alberto arriving in Northern Florida and heading across South Georgia it was a cloudy windy day. Not normally a good day for Gar with hardly no sun. But, it didn't seem to matter to the Gar because I caught Nine Longnose with one monster Gar reaching 60 inches long and must have weighed 18lbs. Another great day of Gar fishing in the books!

Pictures below are Alan Bruce, service manager at Mike Patton with his first Gar and the Monster I caught today that was 60 inches long.

Passing Up Big Gar For Bigger Gar

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

Today I found myself passing up big Gar that I would've normally been glad to be catching for even bigger ones. I was amazed at the amount of big Longnose on this spot. Of course I lost one that may have been the fish of the year. It looked to be well over 60" long and very healthy. As you can see by these pictures these were some very fat Longnose gar. One of them was as fat as a football. I hope they're still there Sunday!

A Tough Day That Finally Paid Off

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

I took Chris Smith from Mike Patton Auto on his first ever Gar fishing trip. We started out heading up the Chattahoochee river toward Franklin when I decided to try a spot that prove to be very productive last year. The hunch was right, There were Gar surfacing everywhere. Strangely enough though, we couldn't get a single strike from the fish. The water was very heavily stained to down right muddy and the sun wasn't up very high yet so we decided to go on up river. My hot spot near Franklin was boiling with Gar when we got there but they still wouldn't hit a thing. It was even muddier there so that was when I decided that the Gar simply couldn't see the lures. Enough of this frustration so we made a bee line to clearer water to old fateful as I call it. This spot almost always produces something. I was right. Just as we got there I hung into a nice 8-9lb Longnose. As the fish made a run about 15 feet off the back of my boat it made a huge acrobatic leap into the air and threw my lure from it's beak. Man, what I day I was having. I finally did catch one Gar about 36 inches. By then the sun was high but so was the wind. A front was coming in from the west so I new our day was about to end. Well, up the river we go again to another spot I fished last year. The wind was very strong so we headed toward the back of a cove to get out of the wind. As I began trolling around the bend into the cove I spotted a large Longnose cruising by my boat. I was headed in and he was headed out so I cast out in front and past the big Gar pulled the lure right in front of his face. Bam! He nailed it! Then the fight was on. It was a very nice strong longnose and I was in the middle out a stump and stick-up field. The Gar started fighting like mad and it made a run for a stick-up away from the boat. But it wasn't just any stick-up. It had a wasp nest attached to it! Now I had to back the boat up while trying to stay away from the wasp and try to pull the Longnose back around the tree. Finally it came loose and after a few more runs and a couple of leaps I grabbed it up from the water. It weighed in at 14lbs-14oz and was 47 inches long. I told Chris I was was glad to be able to show him why I love to Gar fish although Chris came up empty. He has a nice camera though and makes a great photographer. I think I owe Chris another trip when it's not so muddy.

First Gar Of 2006

Selling Cars and Catching Gars!

Ask For Donnie Hinkle "West Point Lake Gar Grabber"

My 2006 Gar season began in a Huge way today. I started out fishing my favorite late spring and summer hot spots but there wasn't a Gar to be found. Timmy told me that last week he went up river toward Franklin Georgia to fish for Hybirds and that he saw some very big Gar but wasn't prepared to catch any of them. So, I decided to head up river to see if I could find them. I found them alright. In one place they were stacked up like lumber! They were cruising the bank in about a two hundred yard stretch. I couldn't really spot that big one I was looking for so I decided to blind cast out deeper from the bank. It payed off quickly with a nice 11 pounder. Since fishing deeper seemed to be the key for bigger Gar I continued the blind cast for them. After catching several nice Gar I finally snagged a very nice Longnose. It weighed in at 18 lbs-3oz. Over all a very successful day off. I'll definantly be going back there soon.

Good Day At West Point Lake

Selling Cars and Catching Gars!

Ask For Donnie Hinkle "West Point Lake Gar Grabber"

Took another Gar Fishing trip out on West Point Lake today. Talking about hot! But if you fish for Longnose Gar you know that that's the way they like it.

I started fishing at a new spot I discovered this year. It was very muddy from the runoff of recent rains but I managed to catch two and hung a really big one for a brief moment, but as luck would go it never got tangled enough from the start and swam off into the muddy water about as quickly as I hung it.

Then I moved back to one of my favorite honey holes and caught three more. One of which became the fish of the day. Pictures to prove it!

I then scouted around and discovered another new place I've be missing which was right under my nose. Straight accross from the boat ramp I usually put in at. There I caught two more Gar. Over all a very successfull day when you include the discovery of a new fishing hole.