Before going fishing to Alaska, a friendly company of 4 experienced anglers decided to follow our advice and go fishing for the alligator gar to Texas.

Watch our fascinating video about this fishing.

The flight to Alaska is quite a long one, while fishing in Texas gives a fisherman not only the opportunity to get unique trophies, but also to facilitate logistics and acclimatization when changing time zones.

We met at Houston Airport and in two hours got to Simon’s mansion by a spacious jeep, Simon is my friend and a famous chef.

Simon entered the top 10 cooks of his native New Zealand at the age of 20. For his long career he had worked as a chef in restaurants of the highest category on several continents till he settled in Texas.

It is possible to talk a lot about the way he cooks, but better try yourself!

Having unpacked our things and taken a shower in our spacious and cozy bungalows, we came out to the terrace where the table had been already set.

Simon cooked incredibly tasty steaks from the meat of young bulls of herbal feeding, mutton ribs, a salad, and various garnishes. We had some wine from California, and chocolate cake which was also cooked by our host and went to bed.

The sleep in the cozy rooms with open windows gave us strength and energy, and after a delicious breakfast we got into our SUV and went fishing.

Sergey, who had seen the television episode of River Monsters (long-running Animal Planet series) devoted to the alligator pike fishing several times, could not believe the fact that we would fish with the same guide as Jeremy Wade (a television presenter and author of books on angling).

After our meeting with the famous guides, we were divided into two boats and headed towards the Texan river monsters.

It is quite simple to fish for the alligator gar a few spinning rods are cast from the boat downstream. Live bait is a large piece of fresh fish resembling a hybrid of the carp and buffalo.

The strikes did not keep us waiting! And in about two hours each of us got a nice trophy. Our anglers managed to adjust to this specific fishing immediately. The guys were waiting patiently for the ancient monster to swallow the bait properly in order to strike the fish for sure. The mouth of this unique fish is arranged so that, while the hook passes through, there is nothing for it to cling to, till it reaches the esophagus.

The striking was excellent and for two days of fishing we got over 20 trophies, apart from “small” fishes up to 1.3 meter long.

The fighting was going on for about 20 minutes, and the potential trophy used all the possible tricks, such as hiding in the driftwood, jerks under the motor, and jumps at the side of the boat. However, Sergey managed to withstand everything, and finally, we were able to land the alligator gar.

Having measured the fish, we were pleasantly surprised by the size of the trophy. It was 2 meters 20 centimeters long. And a lot of girls can envy the chest girth of the pike. 110 cm is not a joke!

The weight was above 100 kilos, but it is absolutely impossible to weigh such a monster without killing it. Sergey and Valery were taking photos with the trophy even longer than they had been trying to catch it.

After such an outstanding catch, we docked the two boats and had lunch cooked by our solicitous Simon.

While fishing, we had several strikes for two spinning rods at once, and we managed to make a video when Anton and Sergey caught two pikes at the same time! A simultaneous fighting against two river monsters requires maximum concentration from both fishermen and the skipper who is constantly maneuvering trying to avoid overlapping of the fishing lines and driftwood sections of the river, and then is supposed to bring the trophy aboard.

Another amusing event happened when Anton’s trophy struck for three spinning rods at once. Many fishermen would have been perplexed, but we pulled the completely tangled lines to the boat, chose the one on which the gar was, and while I was holding the fishing line with the fluttering fish, our skipper cut the line and tied it up to the forth spinning rod with the help of which Anton successfully finished the catch.

The time flew by unnoticed, the evening came, and it was time for us to go back to the mansion where Simon was waiting for us with various kinds of pizza cooked in a special wood burning stove built by an Italian master. We could not miss such a thing!

I’m not going to bore you with the stories about the next day of fishing and describe another Simon’s menu. The only thing I’d like to tell you is that the striking was excellent and the cuisine was great! But everything comes to the end. The guys were happy with the fishing, and the next day we flew to Alaska where we met the rest of the group, we boasted about our incredible trophies and experiences we had got for the two days of fishing only. Read our ALASKA FISHING REPORT JUNE 19-20, 2017, Learn more about the continuation of our tour which was not less exciting!

We would like to inform you that we have developed an interesting transport scheme that allows us to combine fishing in Alaska and Texas. This very convenient rout will give you the opportunity to fish in two different climatic zones and get absolutely different trophies!

The season starts in the middle of April and goes on till the end of November. The trip can be combined with the fishing in Alaska, Florida, Louisiana, and other states of America, and Canada. It is also possible to combine fishing in Texas with the fishing in Costa Rica. There are direct flights from Houston to San Jose, and the time on board is 3 hours and a half.

See you in the homeland of real cowboys!