Was a fresh and breezy evening. When our buddy Rosendo pulls up to the house, hops off the truck and shouts, “Listo pa la pesca!?” At the same time opening his truck bed, showing us an ice chest with fresh bait. We then hear little Junior (6 years old) say “Listo Garcia?” Also seeing his daughter Valerie (8 years old) sitting in the back seat. After a little conversation and without hesitation, we get our gear ready and head off to the back waters of the Arroyo Colorado River.
After driving almost an hour to the private ranch we have permission to fish. Capt. Jr Garcia, Rosendo Rosales, and Myself start getting our lines ready, cutting up 6 inch carp in half, and 8 inch tilapia in half. Meanwhile Rosendo’s kids, little Junior and Valerie, are scouting the water for fish. This was the first time they seen this area.
Once we all throw in our lines, I notice little Junior cutting bait and baiting the hook for him and his sister Valerie. Soon as he was done, he first throws Valerie’s line sets drag and places in rod holder. Right after he throws in his line doing the same. Pulls line out to make sure drag is set right and just waits. Scanning the water every 5 min with his flashlight. Watching all the little Gar chasing the small bait fish on the top of the brackish water. I took a minute to appreciate how much these kids love fishing. At that moment I was determined to put them on fish.
Passing time talking and asking the kids what they are trying to catch. Junior first answering without thought, “a gar!” Valerie right after responds, “a cat fish.” As we continue the conversation about how much they enjoy fishing, catching and eating different types of fish we hear the sound of a reel. Zzzzzzz! It’s Junior’s small rod! Without hesitation he picks it up and starts feeding the fish line. (This is what we do for the gar. You have to let them run.) Soon as he felt the last hard bite, he tightens the drag and sets the hook! Bam! The fight is on! Little Junior fighting to bring in the fish.
After 5 minutes of fighting this fish he manages it up to the bank where we can see it. Capt. Jr Garcia gets in the water and wraps his arms around the fish and brings it on the bank. And there he is, a 3 ft 10 alligator gar. The smile on little Junior’s face was priceless. All of us in wow, because little Junior had no leader! Straight line to hook on his small catfish rod! The fact he managed to bring in that nice size gar without losing it was awesome! Talk about experience. Like we say, it’s all in the angler. Only this angler is 6 years old! His dad taught him well.
We get done measuring and putting the gar on our Stinky Pants Stringer to stay live. Since he’s allowed one gar per day. He decided to keep this one. Being that it was under 5 feet. It was not a bad thing. Of course for us, The Gar Hunter, we release any gar over 5 ft. CPR the Big Gar is our motto!
We reset our lines with new bloody bait. And after 20 minutes we get another run and hard! The boys had taken a break so it was just us girls, Valerie and I. So I quickly said to her, “I’m going to set the hook for you, and your going to take over the rod.” She agrees w a big smile. After about 2 minutes of letting it run I set the hook! Man did that fish pull back real hard! Now even more excited knowing it’s a pretty good size fish, I passed the rod to lil Miss Valerie, soon as she grabbed it, it pulled her forward a bit and the fight began! She had the biggest smile on her face fighting that fish hard and proud! The fish was so heavy that she had a hard time keeping the rod upward. I started to help her bring in this heavy fish. Soon as it gets closer it gets snagged by a tree. Almost losing hope that she wouldn’t get it untangled I told her, “it’s ok, we’re going to give it a little slack to run away from tree and bring him back.” By that time the guys had ran up to us not knowing what was going on at first. I tell them, “she has a fish but it’s on the trees.” Her dad Rosendo, starts helping us shining the light on the line so we can see where it is.
After some fighting and pulling, it comes out the trees. Fighting it all the way up to the bank we finally see it’s a 3ft 2 inch catfish! The smile on her face got even bigger. She wanted a catfish! But I don’t think she was expecting one this big. I was Soo happy and proud of her for fighting this fish as hard as she did.
Not too long after measuring, putting it on our Stinky Pants Stringer, and taking a quick break. About 20 minutes. We got another run! This time on Rosendo’s rod! A heavy pull and quick hard run gets us all on our feet. But suddenly stops. After a few minutes of nothing. He figures it dropped the bait. So he sets the hook just in case, doesn’t feel anything til it gets closer to the bank. Then it starts to fight harder. When he brings it back to the bank we notice it’s another alligator gar. Only this one is a bit smaller than little Junior’s. He brings it in nice and easy. Measuring 3 ft. 4 inches Another perfect eating size gar. Adding this catch to the stringer. Bringing it to a 3 ft 10in gar, 3 ft 2in cat fish and a 3 ft 4in gar. 2 out of 4 man limit on gar and a catfish. Not bad for just 2 hours.
We start to notice the time was getting closer to curfew. So we begin loading up everything and making sure to clean the area before we leave. After that we have ourselves a little photo shoot. With the kids and their catches. Both smiling ear to ear. I can honestly say this trip was definitely one for the books! This family had a goal of fish in mind and to put them on in an area they had not been to. Was an amazing feeling. We are always up for giving a family an experience they’ll remember forever. In hopes that the legacy continues. The children are the new generation of fishing and the outdoors. This trip showed us how much we can instill in our children and show them how to become better anglers and hunters. It also makes bonding time that much sweeter when we see how much they learn and accomplish. Let’s teach them all we can! Stay safe and don’t be afraid to get outdoors! Hunt Drink Fish! Tight lines and bloody baits! Follow us on Facebook by clicking this link! The Gar Hunters. For a discount on RPP Outdoor Apparel use discount GARHUNTER for 10% Off Your Entire Order!
