Nueces River spring trip #6 - Starts now

[SaltwaterSlick]

Talked to Tim this moring and he's pretty dang excited!! Sure hope he gets that fish mounted! though,...$$$$$!! I text'd GarGuy with the measurements to get an estimate on weight. I caught a 7'-7" in late August after it had spawned out and this one seems to be just like it only pre-spawn... I estimated it at 230# or so... Waitin' to hear from Steve on what he thinks... We tried weighing mine and it pegged a 200# scale so not sure exactly but it pegged it pretty easily, so I bet 230 is close or maybe light...
Having said all that, big gar are a lot like big hogs... most of us way over-estimate their weight.

[SaltwaterSlick]

Just got a text from Tim and then saw in the post above that they released it and it swam away...
That's great too if it was still alive and viable... plus saved him a LOT of money!!

[RiverRat1]

90” 40” girth. We released it alive. Saw it about 80 yards out briefly surface

Swam away strong. If we see it dead or almost dead this evening we may have it weighted at TPWD in Mathis. Not easy to move around though.

Tonight is our last night of fishing.

[rut-ro]

finish strong

[GarGuy]

That's a dandy. I think she will go 235 right now. Maybe a little more. They are full of eggs and the flesh is dense this time of year. Most girth measurements are taken on hanging fish. Pre-spawn hanging, the girth might be closer to 50 inches at belly. Not uncommon for a big fish to have 35 or 40 lbs of eggs.

[Yorkshire]

wow - nicely done

[RiverRat1]

This morning was super slow. Only had one 12 pound flat and a 7 pound blue. Been here so long the river wildlife stopped flying or running away from us. Deer sat on bank as we idled by 30 yards away.
All lines are now in and boat pulled out of water. Boat got slightly slimy

Thanks for following along. I'll try to post more pictures once I get home.

[bsills]

Thanks for taking us along

[SaltwaterSlick]

You knocked it out the park on this one Tim!! Next year, you gotta get that big flathead you're lookin' for!! Congratulations to you and your "crew" on some fine catches of big blues and that monster gar!! Gonna be tough to top this trip!!

[jshouse]

awesome

[RiverRat1]

Trip memories so Paul and I don't forget.

1. Rain will stop in 30 minutes! It didn't stop for 3 days
2. "Dull hook, no barb" (inside joke)
3. It only takes one, and then another, and then another.
4. Hitting 100's of gar with lower unit (about one every 20 seconds while on plane)
5. Ring tail cats in trees late at night far down river. Took a while to figure out what they were.
6. "We don't have a line here"
7. "I hate this line!" Then it catches two lake record catfish
8. While idling the boat back in the dark Paul was gaffing small gar out of the water just one after the other. Gaff wasn't sticking it as it was dull but it was fun.
9. Driving through thick fog around midnight. Paul heard bigfoot and we heard all sorts of strange noises.
10. We got to visit Roy's down near PINS. I could shop there every day!
11. The bridge was being re-built and they had a huge crane. We drove up with the big gar and were going to ask them if they'd use the crane to weight it LOL First time they were actually busy though.


Special thanks to the following:
1. Canoe1 - Giving us big shark hooks as once we found out they worked we got lots more.
2. Garguy - I finally made a lasso after your post. We didn't have it when we had the big one on the line but since I had made one days earlier I just made another real quick.
3. Saltwaterslick - For taking my phone call after landing the big gar.

Next year I need some guys who love fishing like this as my back still hurts. Need cast net throwers!

[RiverRat1]

[TXfisher37]

You would’ve hated that line too if you were the one climbing into a sticker bush twice a day…

Worth it though

[GarGuy]

I saw an article where a client of kirk Kirkland caught one this week almost exactly the size of yours with a certified weight of 251lb.

[Canoe1]

I saw that, it was a bit bigger in girth, but only like 0.5” longer