JEM Watercraft

I took my daughter on her first river camping trip. She never has paddled before and was alittle nervous so we took my wifes Ultimate instead because it is rock solid. A good friend and his little boy went with us and once we got to the river I told Hannah to go paddle around and get a feel for the boat and in just a minute she was gone. A perfect natural. So we get the boats loaded and off we go to battle the fierce south wind for a few miles.





We get to our site finally and get camp set up. It was a pretty long paddle with the wind howling.





As soon as baits hit the water drum were all over us. the catfish never did show up, but we still had a great time.





The gar bite was on last night. We had run after run after run,but could not get a good hook up. I am still learning this gar fishing . We were using cut drum and the heads of drum for bait.







Finally at 4:15 this morning I got the hookup I had been waiting for. Made several 100+ yard runs and there is nothing you can do about it except hold on.



I eventually won the fight and got the Gator on the bank. It is by far my biggest ( for now).















We had a great time and the kids really enjoyed it also. As great as it was to catch a really big fish the highlite of the trip came this morning on the way back when Hannah paddled up to me and said " Hey Dad when can we come back".



I am going to order some good leader material from Leadertec and also make a noose to help land these big fish. I know there is a gar well in excess of 150 in this area.

That is one big, mean looking fish. Remind me never to swim in the Brazos. How heavy do you estimate that one to be?

what a great trip!

G'day Darrels,

Great report and piccies mate. Thank you for sharing.

That gar looks like a crock! congrats on the catch and release mate, well done.! Are your drum any good to eat?

Ya know what? the best part of your post for me was the remark of Hannah asking to do it all again. It won't be long before she wants a boat of her own

Oh yeah, what are your thoughts on the Ultimate. Matt as a S&G version very similar to it and I know many are interested.

CONGRATS,nice report and pics. Looks like the kids had a great time

Mike

craiggamesh,
Ron used to guide people for these and has alot of exp. with them and estimates its weight at 125 pounds. But there is probably one in excess of 250-275 somewhere in the river.

hairymick ,
freshwater drum are very good to eat. As far as the Ultimate, it is a extremely stable boat. Even going into 25+ MPH wind to track well. It is pretty fast and glides very well. It does resemble a croc or alligator. Thats where they get their name of Alligator Gar.



PS: Dont reach in to get your hook back.

I had the world record for a few years,bowfishing, 8 ft 5in 49 inches around 230 lbs
my biggest was a 270 lber caught on a rod and reel. There are some in excess of 300 lbs.
They are a blast to catch
Ron





This one weighed 215 7ft 2 inches

He can have it

Mike

Good lord!!!!!!

I've been sturgeon spearing (you have to live up nawth to fully appreciate what that is) and we gotten some big ones. But sturgeons are basically lake bottom vacuum cleaners and don't have any jaws to bite you back with!!

I sight fish for needle-nose gar with nylon rope and carolina floaters. Awesome fun when they're on. And the best thing . . .

NO HOOKS!!!

Makes it really fun to fish with kids. Never got one that big, though. It'll convert anybody if you find a good spot! I've had 'em pull me and my canoe all over the place.

Jbo