THE
GAR GUYS: THEY RARELY GO HOME ALONE
Matt
Williams, For The Daily Sentinel
Sunday,
June 05, 2005
CROCKETT Steve Barclay and Sam Lovell
have a thing about ugly fat girls with scaly skin and sharp,
buck teeth. They have been known to chase them around for
hours. But it is rare that the "The Gar Guys"
go home alone.
The two men are life-long hunters
and anglers brought together nearly two decades ago by the
marriage between Lovell and Barclay's sister. They have
been living happily ever after in the outdoors ever since.
Some of their fondest memories have
culminated along this lazy stretch of Trinity River, about
15 miles west of Crockett.
It's not a pretty place. In fact,
some people may perceive the winding river channel beneath
the State Highway 7 bridge as nothing more than a chocolate-colored
waterway, too dirty to swim in.
But Barclay and Lovell see things
differently. To them, Trinity River water is holy water
that feeds a passion that both men hold sacred in their
hearts.
"I love East Texas dearly, and
I love to bow fish on this river," says Barclay. "We
were bow fishing here years ago, long before the sport became
popular. I remember paddling around out there in a 10-foot
flatbottom boat with no trolling motor, no outboard or anything.
We would rig our arrows to deep-sea reels so we could fight
fish on a rod after we shot one. We lost a lot of big fish
that way. But we also managed to land a good one every now
and then."
Barclay remembers one particular
trip when he and Lovell shot an alligator gar near the old
lock and dam, due north of the highway bridge crossing.
The shot was a good one. But so was the gar.
The big fish took off like a freight
train and barreled downstream with the tiny boat and two
men in tow. They finished the job about 1/2 mile down river
after the fish finally ran out of steam. Then the real work
began.
"We had to paddle and buck a
strong current all the way back upstream," Barclay
said. "I would hate to think I had to do that today.
I honestly believe it would kill me."
The only scales they could find to
weigh the seven-foot gar bottomed out at 185 pounds. Knowing
what they know now, both men are convinced the fish would
have easily topped 200 pounds.
Plenty of water has passed beneath
the State Highway 7 bridge since the early 1980s. In the
meantime, the popularity of bow fishing has ballooned nationwide.
Only a handful of serious bow fishers
existed 25 years ago. Today, bow fishing is a full-blown
sport backed by thousands of participants, organizations
and tournament trails that pay out thousands of dollars
in prizes to shooters who bring the heaviest load of "rough
fish" to the dock.
Gar, carp, buffalo, drum, shad, bowfin
and tilapia are legal game in bow fishing rodeos. Game fish
such as bass, catfish and crappie are protected from harvest
with archery gear in Texas.
Not surprisingly, bow fishing equipment
has improved dramatically with the evolution of the sport.
I cut my bow fishing teeth using
an old Jennings compound bow with an aluminum line spool
attached to the front. The nylon line had to be rewound
by hand after each shot. Arrows were rigged with one gallon
bleach bottles. The bottle served as a float for tiring
and following big fish too powerful to hold by hand.
Lovell remembers those days well.
He and Barclay used to hunt at night using a single Coleman
lantern to light their path and spot fish under the muted
glow of a full moon.
"We tried just about everything,"
Lovell said. "We've used the Clorox jugs, hand spools
and big Zebco bowfishing reels. At one time we even spooled
our line into coffee cans so we could keep it from getting
tangled up. But that usually turned out to be a mess."
The advent of the AMS slotted retriever
reel has been a blessing to bow fishers everywhere, particularly
those who target trophy class alligator gar that will outweigh
the average man. The reel retrieves line and channels it
into a pint size plastic bottle conveniently located on
the side of the bow. Rigged properly, the line will pop
free of the reel and take a small float with it when it
goes.
"I love those reels, especially
the float system," Lovell said. "It allows you
to get loose from a big fish, catch back up to it and fight
it again. I've seen plenty of those Zebco 808s with the
guts completely destroyed. Something has to give if a big
'gator gar gets to the end of the line."
Just how large do alligator gar get?
Nobody knows for certain. But if Texas state records are
any indication, the fish are at the top of the freshwater
food chain.
The Texas unrestricted record stands
at 302 pounds. The piscatorial giant was caught by a trotliner
on the Nueces River in 1953.The state bowfishing record
isn't far off that mark. Bow fisherman Marty McClelland
holds that lofty title with an eight foot, 290-pounder.
Neither Barclay or Lovell were surprised
when they heard about the tremendous fish that was killed
on the Trinity River in July 2001.
"See that river bend down there?"
Barclay said, pointing down river, about 400 yards. "I'll
guarantee you there are 4-5 fish over 200 pounds between
here and there right now. This river is full of big 'gator
gar, a lot more than most people realize."
Take that as sound advice from someone
who knows. Barclay and Lovell have arguably taken as many
or more taken big 'gator gar out of the Trinity through
the years than any other bow fishing duo.
"It's fun shooting carp, buffalo
and needlenose gar," Barclay said. "But killing
a big 'gator gar is what most bow fishermen dream about."
Barclay said he has taken part in
the harvest of at least 15 fish heavier than 200 pounds,
including the 260-pound brute he and Mark McQueeny of Houston
landed in late April. Earlier in the month, the three men
drilled four fish weighing 160-225 pounds in a 24-hour period.
Amazingly, their fish stories get even bigger.
Lovell and Barclay last spring arrowed
19 trophy gar in only three shoots, four of them heavier
than 200 pounds. They have assembled some remarkable video
footage into DVD and VHS formats to prove it.
The 90-minute video, titled Let 'm
Roll, is said to feature exclusive all-daytime footage collected
during April 2004 on the Trinity River.
"We had originally planned to
film an entire season, but we ended up getting our ‘big
gar' video done in just three shoots," Lovell said.
"The gar were in the river thick during those three
days. We actually got footage of one big 'gator gar surfacing
and pushing two needlenose gar out of the water with its
back to get there. It doesn't get like that very often.
But when it does, it is awesome."
In addition to the entertaining big
gar footage, the video contains a segment on dressing gar
for table fare. Fried or grilled, the firm white meat is
quite tasty.
Barclay and Lovell are licensed commercial
fishermen. They dress every big gar they harvest.
The meat is stored in a large cooler
until they accumulate enough to justify a "meat run"
to the fish market in Houston or Louisiana. Barclay said
gar meat brings a premium on the Asian market, sometimes
as much as $1.70 per pound.
"We're not in it for the money,
though," Barclay said. "We just don't like to
litter the banks by leaving a bunch of dead fish behind.
The way we see it, we're doing the sport fish populations
in the river some good by thinning out the gar. Any money
we make selling the meat helps pay for our gas, equipment
and other expenses."
Lovell said orders are currently
being accepted for The Gar Guys' inaugural video. The cost
is $16.99, plus shipping and handling.
The video can be ordered online at
www.garguys.com, or by writing: The Gar Guys, Rt. 1 Box
154 B, Kennard, Texas 75847. For more info, call 936-546-4860.
