The spring of 2012 was unusually hot and early. By mid May, the boat had been in the water for eight weeks, and some of the best spring trout and crappie bites had already come and gone… The gar began to stir.
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It was amidst a sunny, week-long, heat wave, that on the morning of May 14th a noisy blackbird outside an open window woke me earlier than expected. A sound and solid sleep through the night and fresh air energized, I felt eager to face the day.
My good friend Mike was to be waiting at a nearby Timmies, and come time to depart I slipped from the house and into the truck. Before shifting gear, a sudden urge came over, and I rushed back inside and downstairs to grab my Backroads Mapbook. It was not the book I was after, but pressed neatly inside its pages was an OFAH Record Fish Registry Form, which a month earlier I had printed offline and filled out, “most” of. To confess, it was a rarer moment of optimism.
Once picking up Mike on route it was obvious he was excited to fish gar again as well. The previous week he tried it for the first time, and by the end of his day he had caught and released his personal best, a 16lb & 7oz, 52-incher. Quite an exceptional initiation…
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… The spring of 2006 was when I was first introduced to fishing gar. A few online friends had been chasing them for a couple years, and viewing their fishing reports sparked interest in this relatively elusive and mysterious fish. Living up north at the time, the possibility to regularly pursue gar would really only happen once relocating back home here to the south in 2009. It was then, that a second chance with the gar did happen one day. I hooked my first four fish, and they in turn hooked me.
Come spring of 2010 I was ready to fish but some steady work up north called me away. Unfortunately, that meant only three gar outings would come to fruition. The bite then was just heating up too, and the experiences building together nicely when the season had to end. When 2011 arrived, days for fishing opened up big-time. A secure job with a great schedule allowed for about 100 hours for gar during the season, and with vast amounts of water to search them out, it was game on.
That time on the water in 2011 was exceptional. My father came along one day and caught a 16lb & 6oz, 53-inch personal best, and during a day out with my good friend Pat, I released a personal best, fat 50-inch, 16lb & 7oz gar we aptly named “Crocsocks.” Two fish within a couple weeks which if had killed, kept and registered would have broken the current Ontario gar record of 15.79 pounds held by Rob Jackson.
Time and experience continued building better results and before long a days fishing meant passing up tonnes of 3 to 4-footers, in search of 4 1/2 to 5’s. Many hours on the water became experimental as well, following through with different approaches and lures, and even dabbling with the fly rod a little.
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… Back to 2012, the gar season was finally in full swing. The play schedule was pretty well wide open for two months, and with several friends and family along during different days, time on the water was simply a joy for us all.
Again, Mike had released the big fish of the spring so far, before we ambitiously set out once more on the chase.
About 11:30am we were cruising the shallows looking to sight fish. Traveling the shoreline I spot a good solid shadow and move cautiously to better position the boat for a cast. Mike’s eyes are fixated on the big fish as well.
A clear shot and free of debris, we are about to cast when the fish begins swimming towards the deep. We let a couple go and just miss the mark, the fish seemingly unaware of our first attempts.
The boat now slides in behind and we creep after, keeping the fish at twelve o’clock and in good range for Mike and I to both make easy casts from the bow. Time is of the essence, for the fish continues to swim for deeper waters.
We both let lures fly together, again and again, and on my third crack the gar’s head snaps quick and directly to the right stopping my lure in it’s path. Huge set to drive the hook, and the fish tears off on it’s first reel peelin’ rip. Mike unbeknownst to me is preparing to shoot a video.
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Camera rolling we capture the fish steal a few good solid runs. Nervously laughing while playing the fish I’m calling it out as we go… “I’ve never had a gar do that!” “That’s over twenty pounds.” “Should be filling the livewell.” “That’s my biggest gar Mike, that’s my biggest, I think?” Until the fishes snout was firmly in grasp my knees were shaking. I held it there in the water while looking around to make sure all things were readied in the boat, while at the same time with my other hand driving the MinnKota pedal and bow towards the shore.
On deck we first laid the fish into a dry net and hung it for a weight, settling the scale firmly at 22 pounds & 11 ounces. Fish laid flat we took a length measurement and noted the gar a hair over 54 inches to the tail tip. Mike was readying the camera for photos while I snuck a quick weight on the net, two pounds exact, making the fish 20lbs & 11ozs. But, I couldn’t leave it at that and felt I had to know the fishes true weight. Suspended on the scale there was no bouncing around of any numbers, the gar held like a brick on 20 pounds & 4 ounces. So with that, I quickly came to realize quite a big and special personal best had just been caught.
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A few incredible photos taken, my best gar at 20.25 pounds was official. For an angler who lives to chase big fish this one was a solid achievement. To have my good friend Mike alongside too; someone who understands and shares a similar passion for fishing, made it all that much more perfect.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a154/Bunx/Bunx%20Album2/Gar10_zps8f7dec3c.jpg
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Measurements and photos finished, the gar was back over the gunnel in short order. Gripped snout and supported belly it seemed a long time I just held the fish there in the water. The livewell had not been turned on at all, and after a short silent pause Mike was ready to ask the question. “You’re releasing the fish?” “I have to,” I replied after some thought, “I have seen bigger… and until I catch one of those fish I’m not killing one after another.” There are truer giants swimming, have seen a few maybe pushing near sixty inches and guessed to be 25 pounds. In some years ahead, possibly this returned fish will be an equal to those, and I’d rather chase after records than look over my shoulder having any lesser record chased.
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From the moment they’re hooked they are all in for as quick and easy a release as possible. Even any other potential record breakers went back with little hesitation, and I have wondered a time since, if it’s even in me to bother keeping one? What I do know though, is this one gar has a lot more personal meaning than most will ever know, and Mike, my father and a few close others were rather surprised that the OFAH Registration Form did not get completed on this day… As it turned out, our catches just a day apart, Rob “RJ” Jackson of Ottawa caught another and new record setting fish of his own, a gar that hit the scales at 54-inches and 20.1 pounds….. Hmph! Maybe I should kept mine then?
And so that was it. If another giant lifts over the gunnel sometime, I guess it’ll be then with that fish when fate gets decided. For now, I am happy that this best is still swimming, and looking onwards and upwards in the hunt. Afterall, that’s truly the best fishing experience to keep.
Tightlines to record beaters and thanks for reading…
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Bunk
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Late entry summer 2015:
On July 19, 2014 and two years after my fish… the Ontario Record gar was bested again by a shorter 51.5-inch Ottawa River fish that weighed in at 21.2 pounds.