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Keith pulls a poor man’s tarpon out of the first gut. This weekend was a ladyfish-killer weekend with the Austin Fly Fishers down on Padre Island National Seashore. No ladyfish were actually harmed in the making of this trash. Presumably because they are rumored to taste bad, oily– hmm… smoked fish spread anyone?
“Salad”, “moss”, “algae”, “vegetation”, whatever you want to call it… they don’t eat a lot of it, normally. No, that’s for those asian carp. The germans like their aquatic insects, freshwater crustaceans, minnows and the occasional egg by preference. But sometimes, food is scarce, and the germans get hungry. It looks worse on your leg than it actually is. Yup. It’s really nothing more than water and moss, as funneled through the wiley fishcarp.
Hey! Mr. Longnose Gar Fish, jump and dance for me Why don’t you throw that rope fly so I don’t have to hug you Hey! Mr. Longnose Gar Fish, hold real still for me We’ll take that nylon from your teeth and I’ll be seeing you
Rope flies and river gar make a pretty good combination, at least from the angler’s point of view. The gar tend to have a bad attitude about the whole thing. Imagine milling around your favorite hangout one day when you notice a guy cutting up a dripping barbeque brisket for free samples. When you wander over he puts a slice in a paper towel and you thank him and turn away. Mouth watering, you bite into your brisket only to find out it’s really seven inches of nylon rope. Yeah, the gar hates that, too. The fish in the picture was 15 pounds and mad. Flossing a gar is plenty of fun with two guys in a boat with lots of tools and gloves, and more or less doable when you’re solo. However, I don’t recommend it when you’re paddling by yourself. Longnose gar and kayaks go together like sex dolls and Quakers.
Found some carp in central Texas. Threw a cast net over this one and then posed it next to a fly rod to make it all look, you know, legit. I have always been fascinated by fish with teeth. Enter the choupique. That’s pronounced SHOO-pik. AKA dogfish, grinnel, cypress trout, or– just plain old bowfin. I’ve only caught a couple, and none of them have had the bright colors, the chartreuse fins and mouths. Hit up Google Images for some really weird colorations (try “bowfin spawning colors.”) Bass fisherman hate them, for destroying their plugs, of course. As it turns out, bowfin are pretty feisty on a fly.
However the teeth are not quite as impressive as, say, a barracuda. In this close up you can’t even really see teeth.
Besides having a bunch of great nicknames, bowfin are strong fighters, and you can occasionally sight fish for them in shallow water.
Got a call from The Young Jedi; man has been bustin a cap on some carp on the flats lately. One day in 2006 we bolted out of work early and went straight to the lake and I showed him the joys of lead core on a running line and he got his rod bent alright: The sunglasses were my spare for people that didn’t have the right sight fishin glasses, but I’m not claiming that straw hat. The Young Jedi got the last laugh, though, when I landed my fish we discovered why it had been helicoptering through the water towards the boat.
And you thought you missed this week’s episode of Pimp My Gar. To the tune of “Beth” (Kiss):
Gar I see you hiding Just a few more days |
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