BowfishTexas.comKilling Spree - Pictures of my boatPictures following a fan motor build upFrequently Asked Questions about Fan MotorsPictures of different types of garWhat to do with all those dead fishPictures of The Mudkat and its ownerDelta Dog's Boat and PicturesMinn. SportO's PicturesArchery World's ForumThe Bowsite's ForumMudshark Archery's ForumSully's Bowfishing Stuff and ForumFishing pictures - rod and reel fishingThese are off-site files and videos - not necessarily for bowfishingOld retired picturesBowfishing VideosSend your emails with this buttonCustom Marine ConceptsBuilding of an aluminum shooting platform

 

7 foot 2 inch Alligator Gar

This is an Alligator Gar that was 7 feet 2 inches and weighed 142 pounds and was taken on June 12, 1991. It was taken out of the Colorado River near Columbus, TX. The guys in the picture are, left to right, Robin Beuhler, myself (Robert Peebles), the gar, Timmy Beuhler, and Keith Klump. Keep in mind this was many years ago and I was a cool 21 years old.  This picture was taken about 5PM, about 17 hours after the fish was killed. That explains some of the discoloration in the gar which had been hanging up all night and day.  I still wish that we had a better camera than the Polaroid that was used.

This was one of those great summers where I was home from college and working construction with these two guys. We entered the river about 7:30PM while it was still light and boated over to a creek mouth. The 16ft Jon boat was owned by Robin's brother, but Robin made several modifications to it. He added a deck with and Honda generator and lights. We started up the creek with the lights going. We had some luck over the next few hours, taking some 2-3 ft gar and a couple carp. We traveled what seemed like 4 miles upstream until we got to a point in the creek where it was impossible to pass. There were just too many trees over the water. But as it turned out this was a gar haven.

For the next 30 minutes or so we saw several 3-5 footers and one long nose gar that was no less than 6 feet. Of course we got so excited we all missed him. At about 10PM we started heading back downstream toward the river. The going was much faster and we saw only small gar and several large carp. 

Somewhere in here Timmy shot his first fish! I believe it was a 2 foot gar, not bad for an eight year old!

Around 11:30 Robin and I were on the deck, Keith and Timmy had had enough and were sitting near the back. Keith had shot through yet again and did not feel like retying his line again. I think Robin and I saw it at the same time, coming toward us and just off to the right on my side. Apparently the gar also saw us and turned to the side and gave us a great broadside look. I remember saying, "Oh Robin" and we both drew at the same time, counted to three and released. I could not believe it, we actually hit it! Robin's was near the tail and my arrow was closer to the head.

I have never had anything pull quite like that. That gar shot away from us and toward the river. By now we had turned off the trolling motor and the gar was pulling the entire boat. The gar would tire and get closer to the boat then it would see us and find a new burst of energy and off he goes again. It was all we could do just to hold onto our bows. The thing that concerned us the most was that we were now only about 100 yards from the main river and you could tell that the gar wanted to get into stronger deeper water. I remember thinking that we would have to cut the lines and tie bottles to track the big beast.

Keith grabbed Timmy's bow and notched an arrow and after about 10-15 minutes of playing, the gar came close enough to the boat for Keith to shoot. Timmy's 30 lb draw just wasn't enough though and the arrow bounced right off and he took off again. Then Keith re-tied an arrow to his own bow. The gar got closer and Keith buried the arrow about 6 inches into his back. It is a good thing, because Robin's arrow was about to fall out and mine was getting worked loose.

45 minutes after the first shots, the beast had enough. The problem we now faced was that we forgot the small baseball bat we had just for this purpose. We did have a gaff that Robin made and worked very well. Robin grabbed the gar with the gaff by the bottom lip and lifted his head over the side of the boat. This revealed a huge mouth and numerous large teeth. It was definitely an ominous site, so much so that Robin asked Timmy to bring the oar to him and Timmy would go no where near the beast.  I think I had the best seat, on top of the deck holding all three bows. Keith grabbed the oar and broke it over the gar's head with many blows. It did not seem to slow him down much.  Finally we pulled him in the boat and he was seat to seat, diagonally! He flopped a couple times and I thought he was going to break the boat in half.

After about an hour of 'lump in your throat' action, we were all exhausted. We headed straight for the truck and to Keith's house. We hung him on an old swing set and used his father's old cotton weight scale. It was all of 3AM before anyone left the house and because no one had a camera close, we had to wait until the next day to take pictures.