OMG! Look what my arrow found!
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June 8, 2009 10:36 AM
[#1]
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Guide Girl
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We headed back to lake Amistad to compete in the TBA
Bow Fishing tourney, and to do some scouting Thursday and Friday. The lake was
rough and saw another boat sink at the ramp. LOL. Butch and I competed as a two
man team (yep, I'm the only girl as usual) , and another friend Chuck, competed
as a two man team with our youngest boy Mat. I think there were 10 teams of 2
and 3 man crews.
It was tough fishing and tough waters so we tried to get
away from the wind and waves and headed to a cove with alot of caves we looked
at Friday.
No little fish to be seen. I mean, those 10-20 pound Carp and Gar,
which normally may be considered a big fish, but not today!
It was 2AM
and just like that-there IT was. I couldn't believe it! I couldn't talk either I
just shot! All Butch heard was a huge gasp for air and looked up and it was on!
A ride of a lifetime was on the other end of my arrow! I had shot what every
bowfisherman may hunt to arrow for 30 years before being successful-or not. The
huge, prehistoric Alligator Gar.
It was something else, just me and Butch
out on the water at 2AM, chasing what was on the other end of the arrow and we
didn't know for sure exactly how big this Monster was, but we were on one hell
of a ride. Butch chased the beast using the 101thrust trolling motor from one
end of the lake to the other. The first time we got close enough, Butch backed
up my shot with his Horton Ascent and none too soon. The fish jumped when the
arrow struck, and my arrow came out. Butch was hanging on to my beast with one
arrow.
I reeled in my arrow and there was a tangled mess tree debris and
another line, and I couldn't do anything to fix it, so I just reeled in as much
line as I could and arrowed the beast again, knot and all. We were hanging on! I
figured we needed more arrows and line so I jumped off the fishing deck, handing
Butch the two lines we had in the fish, jammed my bow under the deck steps, and
was grabbing bows.
Being I'm left handed and Butch is right, it was a fiasco!
I looked up and Butch looked like a stage coach driver, with two reigns in his
hands. I grabbed the first bow and it was a rightie. Butch is yelling for me to
shoot it again and I couldn't! So, I took over the reigns and he shot another
arrow into the beast and the ride was on again. The next bow was my other leftie
and I got up on the deck again and shot a sweet shot close up into the back but
dad gum! When the fish jumped again, I watched my arrow submerge into the depths
of the lake. The safety stop had broke. I was standing there, looking at my 200
pound test line in shock.
Another bow! It's right handed so I tried to get it
on deck and the string bottle fell off. Argh! In all, we went through 6 bows,
and had one hell of a tangled mess on the deck, but we tired the fish out and
got ready to load very carefully, using a metal lasso that slips over the head
and behind the gills. You never gaff a Alligator gar, especially this BIG!
I
rode the beast from the deck holding onto the three lines we had in it and had 2
of the bows wedged to not go into the water. Having my usual leather left handed
glove, I certainly missed the right one as this was unfolding. I have a good
case of rope burn on the right hand, and a huge ugly bruise inside my elbow from
string burn. Ouch! I am beat up tonight!
Butch got down below and I stood
on the deck and carefully pulled the beast to breech the top. She was tired, but
still fought. Back and fourth, I pulled her up and she struggled. I just played
her.
Finally, she breeched and Butch carefully got the lasso around her head
and behind her gills. It was time.
I got off the deck and grabbed the 4
arrows in her back, and we tried to lift her out but it wasn't happening the
first try. We regrouped and went for it in one heave ho. You talk about excited
when the fish hit the inside of the bottom of the boat! Butch and I stopped and
looked at each other for a moment. Then, I probably woke the dead when I started
screaming and laughing in celebration! We hugged and laughed at what we had just
accomplished. I had more of a beast than I ever thought in the boat. She was
twice as big as I had thought.
So, after a long rest and regrouping and
rigging all the bows back up for just in case, we didn't have to fish hard
anymore, knowing I had the money fish that would help us take the Biggest 5 in
the bottom of the boat. What an adventure! What a ride! I got to share this
spectacular adventure with my best friend as we shared the hunt and experience
of a lifetime. We did it!
So, back at the boat ramp at the end of the
tourney ( an hour early, boat already loaded ha-ha), Butch and I won the money for the Biggest 5
fish, and Chuck and son Mat won the other category of most numbers with 88 fish.
My big fish weighed in at 200 pounds and 7 foot 8 inches long. 20 pounds shy
of the record. Another expense at the taxidermy!
Equipment was a Browning
Barracuda bow, a Horton Ascent vertical bow and MUZZY fishing rigging. AMS reel
with 200 pound test line.
-
A Family that Hunts together, stays together.
(unless they leave me home!)
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