13 photos in a collection titled 'A Gargantuan Gar'.
Read more

Danny Vines knew he was hunting for a big alligator, but he wasn't fully prepared for the reptile that surfaced from the murky Trinity River slough. In all its saurian splendor, the gator resembled an aquatic dinosaur from a prehistoric waterway. It was, instead, a relic that grew to enormous proportions equidistant from Dallas and Houston.
Read more

Steve Barclay and Sam Lovell first spotted the big alligator about eight years ago as they navigated their small flatbottom boat along a remote stretch of the Trinity River in Leon County. They knew right away the beast was something special.
Read more

CROCKETT — The Trinity River is a roiling cauldron of mud, uprooted trees and discarded plastic bottles riding the spring flood down from Dallas. Steve Barclay shuts down the booming engine on the custom airboat he shares with brother-in-law Sam Lovell, letting the boat drift with the swift current as the noisy quiet of the river — gurgles of whirlpools, the swish of water through leafy flooded treetops, the splash of fish rolling in the sunshine — closes around us.
Read more

CROCKETT, Texas – Fueled and muddied by the runoff from recent rains, the Trinity River surged like a tidal wave of chocolate milk as it flushed fallen trees downstream. Sam Lovell tied off the airboat bow to a green tree that waved violently as it fought to maintain its tenuous toehold in the powerful current.
Read more

The Dallas Morning News reports.
Read more

Corsicana, TX
Tyler, TX
Spring, TX
Beaumont, TX
Houston, TX - pic, pic
Sugarland, TX - pic

Thanks Lance, Michelle and all the staff for an enjoyable time at Gander Mountain.

Sam Lovell of the Gar Guys recently had the opportunity to take Pearl Silvey and Judy Rhodes of Divas in the Outdoors on a longnose gar bowfishing adventure.  The excited squeals and giggles of delighted outdoorswomen let Sam know he was in for an adventure of his own!  Neither woman was familiar with archery, although Pearl had once shot a crossbow, so Sam thought it might be difficult, but both Divas rapidly picked up the skills needed to send a Muzzy into the Trinity River and come back with a dancing needlenose gar.  The new AMS Fish Hawk bows allowed for excellent penetration even with a low draw weight.  Judy landed more fish, but Pearl had the largest catch of the day, with one monster needlenose weighing almost 55 lbs!  Sam survived, and I think Pearl and Judy are hooked for life. 
pic - pic - pic

Seen in 8 million Japanese homes, The Gar Guys took the Japanese film crew bowfishing on the Trinity River for Alligator Gar to show people where gator gar live in their natural habitat and how we fish for them.
pic - pic - pic
Read more

In the Nov - Dec issue, The Friendship Buck tells the story about Sam's giant 18 pointer that scored 187 7/8 B&C.
pic

Fort Worth, TX
pic - pic - pic - pic

Matt Williams, Daily Sentinel - "The Gar Guys: They rarely go home alone."
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 Gar Guys" go home alone.
Read more

Herald-Press
While the average fisherman is known for telling exaggerated stories of how he caught "the big one," Steve Barclay doesn't need to -- the fish he catches really are big.
Read more

They're a holdover from the dinosaur era and they're lurking all around us... in swamps and streams in East Texas. The Alligator Gar is a scary-looking beast, but for a few brave souls, the bigger the gar and the bigger the teeth the better.
Read more