Thanks. What a relief. I'm still staying out of lakes in Oklahoma:-}
Posted on 11/03/2008 9:30:11 AM PST by Prunetacos
Why you shouldn't swim in lakes in Oklahoma!!!!
A very large alligator gar : the fish was caught in Broken Bow Lake, Oklahoma 8' - 10' and weighed 327 lbs
This is why people just disappear from the lakes in Oklahoma! And yes, this is for real."
Every large reservoir in the US has the same myth, sometimes they say the cats are as big as vw beetles. It’s all bunk.
Thanks. What a relief. I'm still staying out of lakes in Oklahoma:-}
Nope, it actual tastes like $hit. I have eaten one before (at least some of one). I caught it at Lake Summervile in Texas at a Boy Scout campout when I was young.
We have huge catfish in Tennessee, also. A friend of mine was scuba diving in an abandoned rock quary that’s used by car thieves to dump stolen cars after they’ve been stripped.
He said that he saw a huge catfish inside the cab of a pickup truck that was at the bottom of the lake; probably big enough to be a state record.
I said, “Why didn’t you grab that catfish and wrestle him to the surface?”
My friend said, “Well, I would have, but he rolled the window up on me...” ;)
Fletcher J
What meat I could scrape off the sides I made fish patties out of with lot's of spice.
When we fished for gar in the bays around Corpus Christi we would use a trible hook with 8’ of 80# to 120# single strand wire leader. Thread a 6”+/- mullet head first so the treble hook is flush around the bait’s head and twist the leader to a swivel. We would have a 6 oz to 10 oz egg sinker sliding on the main line.
We would fish in areas where fresh water drained into the bays. You let the gar take the bait and wait until after he has run with it three times; that is when they swallow it. You can’t hook them in the mouth as it is too boney. They will not run far from where hooked but do put up a good “tug or war” type fight. They also roll a lot, worse than catfish...
More like chicken ass. It's very bony fish like a saltwater catfish or croaker. Then the meat you do get off the bone is steaky and very tough. You have to take a mallet to it before it's cooked just so you can chew. In short, it's nasty. Also don't let the size of this fish alarm you. they are harmless to humans as far as I know. I swam with some big 'uns growing up, but they never bothered us.
LOL. I’ll have to remember that one for next time.
My uncle used to scuba dive at a lake in VA. He quit cold turkey after he saw a catfish that was large enough to eat him.
He's a good storyteller, but I believe him in this case, because he used to like to dive in the lake. No more.
There are lakes? ;’)
It still does not explain why I should not swim in the lakes of Oklahoma.
Your link says Giant Alligator Gars. Those aren’t alligator gars.
Catfish can get darned big - see a bunch of records here:
http://forum.kayak4fish.com/viewtopic.php?t=7987&sid=929b7adac317adee17880862120e9616
Used to have an acquaintance that “noodled” very large catfish out of their hidey holes in the Missouri River. A truly crazy man.
“Those aren’t alligator gars.”
You didn’t hear it from me
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