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The Eight Foot Long Alligator Gar and Other “Fish Stories”
My first big bowfishing adventure outside my home state of Wisconsin was in pursuit of alligator gar. My long time bowfishing partner, Todd Witkowski, and my son Corey both accompanied on the trip. The trip started about three months before our departure day. I did many searches on the internet and talked to other guys who had also gone after alligator gar. We got brand new AMS slotted retriever reels, and when the first week of April rolled around we loaded up the van and were off.
Our destination: Falcon Lake in Zapata, Texas. We made the twenty-seven hour drive straight through surviving off of Kwik Trip hot dogs and other available convenience store amenities. After arriving in 
Zapata we met up with Robert Amaya, the owner of Robert’s Bait and Tackle. Robert let us camp behind his store and also served as a valuable source of information regarding which parts of the lake were the best to find the gar we were after. Once were unloaded we decided to scope out the lake. With only four hours of daylight left, we hoped that maybe we would get lucky.
We spent approximately two hours following the shore line shooting long nose gar and carp, but none of the alligator gar we had hoped for. We decided to go into shallower water and get along the edge of the flooded underbrush and as soon as we did we saw it. There was a large tail fanning back and forth, and then you could see the outline of what would be considered anything but an average size fish. Todd and I both stood for a second in awe before Todd pulled the boat closer and shot his arrow. It hit its mark and the water sprayed everywhere as the fish took off.
Having never shot a fish this large, Todd held on to the 120lb test line a little too tight, and the fish broke off. Todd sat down in the boat, shaking like a leaf in a wind storm, and I will never forget the look on his face when he looked up at me and said, “Holy… that fish was eight feet long!” I burst out laughing and informed him that it wasn’t that big, but it was a big fish.
About a half hour later we came upon another gator gar sunning itself on top of the water. Todd slowly trolled the boat closer and at about six yards I sent an arrow into the fish. The arrow passed all the way through him, but as soon as I applied tension to the line the sharp scales of the alligator gar cut the line. We decided to call it a day.
Once we got back to Robert’s Bait and Tackle we discussed the day’s events and decided we needed heavier line. We removed the 120lb test line from our retrievers and replaced it with 300lb test line instead. After a long and eventful afternoon of shooting, we ate a little supper and listened to Robert tell us stories of the big fish he had seen while growing up on Falcon Lake. He also used a map of the lake to point out spots where he had seen gar while guiding bass fishermen. Robert had spent about two hundred days a year on the lake, and his knowledge proved extremely useful. In fact, if anyone ever plans a trip to Falcon Lake in Texas I strongly suggest stopping in to talk with him, it will be well worth your time.
The next morning we awoke to a beautiful day without any wind and plenty of sunshine. Before we left Robert stopped us to ask a favor. He knew of an old commercial fisherman down on his luck with a broken boat motor and no money, so he thought that maybe we could give our gator gar we shot to him. We took down the commercial fisherman’s number and hit the water.
We weren’t on the water very long before we came across our first fish of the day. I made a perfect shot, and it took about ten minutes before we gaffed the fish and pulled it into the boat. It was a nice six foot, one hundred pound alligator gar. There were high fives and celebratory dances made on the deck of the boat before we resumed our hunt.
Soon we came upon another nice gator gar, but this time it was Todd’s turn to put an arrow into one of these great fish. Ten minutes later we had yet another six foot gator gar in the boat. The decision to change our test line was obviously paying off. Since Todd and I had both gotten a chance at the gator gar we had dreamed about, it was now twelve-year old Corey’s turn. We cruised around the shallows until Todd spotted a large “V” in the water about sixty yards away. We trolled towards it and a smaller gator gar came into view. Corey made a perfect shot resulting in a four foot long sixty pound fish.
We decided, with three fish in the boat, we had better head to shore before our prizes of the day began to spoil. On the way back we came across another large gator gar cruising on top of deep water. Todd took the trolling motor and slowly got us into position so that I was able to make a great shot. The fish dove down and it took me a few minutes to get it back to the surface again where Todd could make a backup shot. With two arrows in the huge fish, we were confident that the fish was as good as ours. It took another fifteen minutes before we had the fish in position alongside the side of the boat ready to gaff. The gar seemed tired. Of course once I tried to gaff it however he exploded with a burst of energy that tore the gaff hook right out of my hand. The fish dove deep once again. The next time the fish was alongside the boat I was more prepared. When I got the gaff hook into the gator gar’s mouth, Todd quickly jumped down to help heave the massive fish into the boat. The fish was huge, definitely the biggest I had ever seen. It was the trophy I had been after measuring six feet, ten inches long and weighing a ridiculous 175 pounds.
We made our way to the landing and unloaded the fish into the old commercial fisherman’s truck. Although he didn’t speak much English, his expression assured us he was grateful.
The rest of the day was relatively uneventful and we only took two smaller gator gar. We decided to call it a day. We cleaned our two small gator gar and cooked them for supper. They were delicious! Now our stomachs were full and it was time to call it a night so that we could make the most of the following day.
The next day mirrored the previous, windless and sunny, and we were excited to get back on the water. We spent most of the day shooting longnose and shortnose gar. It wasn’t until late in the afternoon that we came across our first gator gar of the day. As we were easing our way closer to the fish another gator gar joined the first. We could not believe it, two gator gars together. Todd and I both drew and I noted, “I got the back one on the count of three.” We both started counting, “One….two….three!” Our arrows released and mine struck its mark while Todd’s glanced off the back of his fish. We ended that day with two gator gar in our boat, and again loaded both into the commercial fisherman’s truck at the end of the day. In return he brought us watermelon and fried fish, both of which were graciously received.
On the fourth day of the trip, Corey scored big with a 7’2”, 195 pound alligator gar. Todd had moved to the bottom of the boat, so Corey stepped into his spot. He no more than got up on the platform when a huge gator gar appeared from out of the flooded timber. Corey snap shot and connected. I made a “hail Mary” shot and also connected for the backup. The fish thrashed in the underbrush until our lines became tangled. For fear of losing the fish, Todd quickly got a third arrow in the fish, which allowed us to cut the other two lines so the fish could make it to open water. The fish again became tangled and broke the float off the line. All hope was lost. The biggest fish of the trip had just escaped us, and now we had to retie lines and floats. Once all was well again regarding our equipment, we started to make our way out of the brush. I looked off to the side into some trees and suddenly something caught my attention.
There were two arrows sticking up out of the water. We quickly headed over to the arrows, and there it was, the fish we had thought was lost forever was slowly swimming through the trees. I drew back for a long shot, but it hit the fish. After another long fight we muscled the fish into the boat, another trophy alligator.
On the fifth, and final, day Todd connected on another monster fish that was 7’4” long and weighed 205 pounds. Throughout the trip we had given the commercial fisherman thirteen alligator gar, which he then sold. We found out later that the money was enough to get his boat motor fixed.
We left Texas with a cooler full of alligator gar fillets, a handful of great stories to tell, and memories that will reign up there with some of my best. “That fish was eight feet long,” I still laugh when I think about it.
