For the Winters

 

Only an hour per tie!

Does anyone know how to fish for dinosaurs?

OK, I know the standard blog post is a recounting of a fishing adventure, but this is a pre-fishing post for a change. I'm down in Texas at the moment and faced with an unknown beast: alligator gar.

We've got to drain a pond this week that a few of these prehistoric beasts call home, and I'd love to hook into at least one before I have to figure out how to safely hand-transfer these bastards to new water. My Dad and I threw a bunch of spin lures at them today, and while I can see them on the surface they don't even take a second look at what we were hucking. They're burly looking, about 3' in length, and sound like a drowning toddler when they stir the water.

Too many how-to sites are suggesting bowfishing, and one even suggests bringing a .22, and I'm wondering if anyone on SolidHookups has experience straight up fishing for these beasts. I'm wary of landing anything that "bites aggressively in self-defense," but these guys look they'd put up a bad-ass fight. Any suggestions for how to fish them before I resort to a rifle?