<p>Hey guys, ive done a cruddy job at staying active around here but here's a report I think yall may enjoy!</p> <p>I just moved to northwest Arkansas to start a new <a href="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-admin/post-new.php#" id="_GPLITA_6" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; text-transform: uppercase ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important;" title="Click to Continue > by buyfast">job<img src="http://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: 10px ! important; margin: 0px 0px 0px 3px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; text-transform: uppercase ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important; vertical-align: super ! important; width: 10px ! important;" /></a>... its nice because im now only 3 hours from my brother in OKC and he is 'close' to our favorite alligator gar spot on the Red River between Texas and Oklahoma. This weekend we made a day and a half trip to try to catch a big alligator gar or two... and even though the gator gar didnt seem to be around, other monsters most certainly were!</p> <p><img alt="P1060661 - Copy (3)" class="alignnone wp-image-1417" data-mce-="" height="508" src="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1060661-Copy-3-1024x730.jpg" width="713" /></p> <p>For nearly 2 days we soaked baits and pretty much just fed the local turtles... no gator gar were surfacing, no significant runs... just totally uncharacteristic of the Red River that I know. I hope its something simple, I understand the area had dealt with a bad drought and only just saw a lot of rains. Hopefully shallow conditions pushed the fish elsewhere and now that the water level is on the rise the fish will soon <a href="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-admin/post-new.php#" id="_GPLITA_7" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; text-transform: uppercase ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important;" title="Click to Continue > by buyfast">return<img src="http://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: 10px ! important; margin: 0px 0px 0px 3px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; text-transform: uppercase ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important; vertical-align: super ! important; width: 10px ! important;" /></a>. Either way, we only saw a few alligator gar roll, but the longnose gar were still very much present and happy to bite. </p> <p><img alt="P1060647And4more_tonemapped" class="alignnone wp-image-1412" data-mce-="" height="507" src="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1060647And4more_tonemapped-1024x737.jpg" width="704" /> <img alt="P1060648And4more_tonemapped" class="alignnone wp-image-1413" data-mce-="" height="532" src="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1060648And4more_tonemapped-1024x767.jpg" width="710" /></p> <p>I did not spend a great deal of time trying to catch gar because most of our <a href="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-admin/post-new.php#" id="_GPLITA_1" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; text-transform: uppercase ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important;" title="Click to Continue > by buyfast">free<img src="http://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: 10px ! important; margin: 0px 0px 0px 3px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; text-transform: uppercase ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important; vertical-align: super ! important; width: 10px ! important;" /></a> time is spent trying to collect bait with castnets and stuff, but we started seeing longnose gar that looked like they were 6 feet long... freakishly massive longnose and I just had to put <a href="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-admin/post-new.php#" id="_GPLITA_2" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; text-transform: uppercase ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important;" title="Click to Continue > by buyfast">lines<img src="http://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: 10px ! important; margin: 0px 0px 0px 3px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; text-transform: uppercase ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important; vertical-align: super ! important; width: 10px ! important;" /></a> in the water. I always save little chunks of baitfish just for longnose gar... a couple years ago I caught a longnose gar that was over 5 feet long (61 inches!) a once in a lifetime catch... or so I thought.</p> <p><img alt="P1060728And4more_tonemapped" class="alignnone wp-image-1430" data-mce-="" height="508" src="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1060728And4more_tonemapped-1024x750.jpg" width="694" /> <img alt="P1060726And4more_tonemapped" class="alignnone wp-image-1429" data-mce-="" height="510" src="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1060726And4more_tonemapped-1024x755.jpg" width="692" /></p> <p>My first few gar were pretty standard sized fish in the low to mid 40 inch range, but I did catch a respectable 50 incher and 53 incher... a trophy by any standard... but frighteningly, I consider that small in this river. There are longnose gar in there that I am certain would push not only state records, but I truly think teh world record swims in those murky waters. Its like <a href="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-admin/post-new.php#" id="_GPLITA_3" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; text-transform: uppercase ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important;" title="Click to Continue > by buyfast">winning the lottery<img src="http://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: 10px ! important; margin: 0px 0px 0px 3px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; text-transform: uppercase ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important; vertical-align: super ! important; width: 10px ! important;" /></a> to capture one of the true giants, because of the sheer number of gar infesting the area, surely outnumbering the GIANTS by a ratio of ten billion to one... but I was lucky lucky on this trip! I managed to catch ANOTHER 61 inch behemoth! part of me was mad that it 'tied' my record... but you cant be TOO selfish. The fight of a 50 inch gar is awesome, the fight of a 60+ incher is mind blowing. </p> <p><img alt="P1060660And4more_tonemapped" class="alignnone wp-image-1416" data-mce-="" height="514" src="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1060660And4more_tonemapped-1024x728.jpg" width="723" /> <img alt="P1060658And4more_tonemapped" class="alignnone wp-image-1415" data-mce-="" height="509" src="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1060658And4more_tonemapped-1024x730.jpg" width="714" /></p> <p>We usually toss nets for big gizzard shad and carp suckers, and will sometimes hang baits near the rocky ledges for small buffalo and carp just to keep gar bait in the cooler... but there was FAR more buffalo action than ive ever had in the Red this go around. We couldnt move along the bank without sending dozens of fish scattering, kicking up V wakes in every <a href="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-admin/post-new.php#" id="_GPLITA_5" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; text-transform: uppercase ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important;" title="Click to Continue > by buyfast">direction<img src="http://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: 10px ! important; margin: 0px 0px 0px 3px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; text-transform: uppercase ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important; vertical-align: super ! important; width: 10px ! important;" /></a>.. buffalo were surfacing and rolling left and right, including some that looked giant. In my opinion, the Red River may be the single most underrated, under appreciated or flat out unknown layer of giants in the freakin <a href="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-admin/post-new.php#" id="_GPLITA_4" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; text-transform: uppercase ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important;" title="Click to Continue > by buyfast">country<img src="http://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: 10px ! important; margin: 0px 0px 0px 3px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; text-transform: uppercase ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important; vertical-align: super ! important; width: 10px ! important;" /></a>. I saw smallmouth buffalo, common carp, grass carp, carpsuckers, black buffalo... and then THIS happened!</p> <p><img alt="P1060674And4more_tonemapped" class="alignnone wp-image-1420" data-mce-="" height="515" src="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1060674And4more_tonemapped-1024x768.jpg" width="687" /> <img alt="P1060676And4more_tonemapped" class="alignnone wp-image-1421" data-mce-="" height="512" src="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1060676And4more_tonemapped-1024x768.jpg" width="683" /> <img alt="P1060667And4more_tonemapped" class="alignnone wp-image-1418" data-mce-="" height="509" src="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1060667And4more_tonemapped-1024x768.jpg" width="679" /></p> <p>I caught my first ever bigmouth buffalo, but it couldnt just be average, no... the Red River had to throw something spectacular my way. A 41 inch 50~ some odd pound Goliath buffalo (the OK state record is 54 pounds). I have caught plenty of buffalo, and even though they can get big and look cool, their fight always seems something slow and steady... just pressure, no blistering runs... no changes in direction. This fish, despite its awkwardly lumbering stature, had incredible speed... changed direction, and broke the surface a time or two. I was using medium weight tackle and tiny hooks... the play of a fish like this was exhilarating and terrifying!</p> <p><img alt="P1060703And4more_tonemapped" class="alignnone wp-image-1426" data-mce-="" height="506" src="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1060703And4more_tonemapped-1024x768.jpg" width="675" /> <img alt="P1060701And4more_tonemapped" class="alignnone wp-image-1425" data-mce-="" height="508" src="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1060701And4more_tonemapped-1024x768.jpg" width="678" /> <img alt="P1060691And4more_tonemapped" class="alignnone wp-image-1424" data-mce-="" height="530" src="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1060691And4more_tonemapped-1024x768.jpg" width="707" /> <img alt="P1060688And4more_tonemapped" class="alignnone wp-image-1423" data-mce-="" height="526" src="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1060688And4more_tonemapped-1024x767.jpg" width="703" /> <img alt="P1060686" class="alignnone wp-image-1422" data-mce-="" height="535" src="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1060686-1024x768.jpg" width="714" /></p> <p>We obviously caught several smallmouth buffalo as well... but I wanted more action from the giants, so I kept lines in the water at night time for hopes of another huge buffalo. I missed a lot of fish, but did catch one... a very respectable black buffalo... (I think, anyone care to confirm or deny?) in the mid to upper teens in weight. If so that's all three buffalo subspecies in one day!</p> <p><img alt="P1060717" class="alignnone wp-image-1428" data-mce-="" height="520" src="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1060717-1024x768.jpg" width="693" /> <img alt="P1060713" class="alignnone wp-image-1427" data-mce-="" height="489" src="http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1060713-1024x712.jpg" width="704" /></p> <p>The alligator gar showed up a little late, we saw several fish between 80 to 140 pounds (est) surfacing on day two, but it was just too late. Hopefully I can get enough time to take another stab at them.</p> <div id="__if72ru4sdfsdfrkjahiuyi_once" style="display:none;"> </div> <div id="__hggasdgjhsagd_once" style="display:none;"> </div>