Just HOW Big is BIG?

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

When we talk about BIG, we sometimes need a lesson in perspective. I went fishing today and got just such a lesson.

Lately, I've been planning the purchase of a float tube and sold my 10 foot Hobie kayak to fund the venture. But, the purchase was stalled and for now I'm still shore bound. Nevertheless, I got a chance to rethink my "floating" priorities on this morning's junket.

At 56k acres, Lake Murray, SC is where I call home. I live 8 miles from "Carolina's Fresh Water Coast" and it's 650+ miles of shore line. As you might guess, I go there as often as I can manage. It is one helluva resource to have at your back door. But even though I THINK of it as familiar territory, from time to time I am reminded that even its furthest backwaters are daunting, super-sized and mysterious....

Back bay off Lake Murray, SC.

Standing in the rain with my faithful dog, Katie, I was casting my little Beetle Spin from the bank and generally loving the angling life. Then I spotted something swimming in the murky water. Like most of the East, we've had nothing but rain for weeks and the water is like chocolate milk.... visibility is one inch or less. No kidding.

I rear back to cast and IT broke the surface. To be honest, I don't know what I saw. It was 30 yards out and both rain and the muddy water made it impossible to tell. It was big enough to make me question my sanity, though. Visions of me floating tranquilly in a float tube vanished in a flash.

The creature had fins; I could tell that much. At four feet, give or take, it was prowling along minding its own affairs. My guess, if I'm to make one, is for a large catfish. 75+ pounders are routinely taken from the main lake.... ten miles away. However, weeks of swollen creeks dumping into the lake could very well have brought one of the beasts into this back water.

It may have also been a *medium* sized long-nosed gar, which is worse in my opinion. I caught one last year from my kayak that had me pretty shook up. Again, I was flinging a Beetle Spin into some shallow structure - you can see the same shore at mid-center distance of the picture above. 

I cast and started my retrieve when thought I'd hung on a snag... until my "snag" swam off with me in tow. When I had reeled myself up to it - not the other way round - I saw what I had to contend with. What I had hooked was a log with razor sharp scales, hundreds of needle like teeth and a seriously bad attitude. Lets just say I was relieved when it spit my battered spinner back into my lap and sauntered off.

No kidding; it actually sauntered. I felt like nothing more than a bothersome pimple on its @ss at that point. I was in a ten foot kayak and it was half as long as the boat.
 
If you've seen one of these leviathan gar, you'll know that having one at float tube level cannot be a good thing.

If you've NEVER seen one, think barracuda  - a BIG prehistoric, pissed off barracuda with a much longer mouth.

I recently sold a ten foot kayak so I could try float tubing. Right now, I'm checking Craigslist for a bigger kayak...

Hope you got out and thanks for reading. Tight lines and Fair winds!

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Thanks Leo. Now you see my "dilemma of decision." I wanna try a tube, but...........

(heres a little sense of my thinking on this - - )

"I've seen gar in the Cooper River that would scare a gator...".

Oh yeah! I still recall my first monster.

WARNING: RAMBLE ALERT.
This member is about to start rambling. Read further at your own risk.

My first gar in South Carolina, this particular "monster," was a total shock to me. I thought it was a log, idly drifting... until it moved.
I still have a vivid image of the thing. This was off the Deep Step section of the Savannah River in Stevens Creek, Augusta, GA. Those who know the area wont be surprised.

I know, I know; I can hear you now. It IS hard to talk about these without sounding like a "fishing lawyer." For those who haven't seen them it is hard to wrap your mind around.

When I'm afield in the summer, I routinely see 3-4 footers. Once in a while, I will find the carcass of a five footer some catfisherman got ahold of in the dark. They are prehistoric remnants of a vastly different time - they haven't changed/evolved in over 100 million years. Biologists tell us they cannot give them a definite size limit, because - in theory - they never stop growing.

If you watch Jeremy Wades' show, "River Monsters," you know the cousin of the long nose gar is the alligator gar. If you know THAT, then you probably know of the attacks on humans by these fish, too.

Now, I don't fear being assaulted by Ol' Long Nose, because I don't believe that has ever happened. I'm rarely BOTHERED by them, either, except when bad luck has me tossing a bait they take a liking to. We can say the risk is admittedly low.

It isn't me, but them, however, that initiates contact. I remember that I have CHOSEN to be there at that point. So, I err on the side of discretion with this adversary. Toothy, razor sharp "weapons" on big massive fish around a float tube seems like a recipe for trouble of SOME kind.   

Folks in my area kill every gar they catch as a trash fish that destroys fisheries. Of course, they are mistaken; that is nothing like the truth. As with all creatures on Earth, they have their place and their role.
I can't stop this wanton destruction, and I don't endorse it. So I'm not hating on the fish.... rather, I prefer to respect it  - - big time!

[Leo Nguyen]

Best not to mess around with float tubes. Best to invest in something that can haul gears to cover that entire 650+ miles, and offer a bit of protection from the unknown elements..the toothy kinds, or the submerged kinds. Definitely a Hobie peddling system kayak for a moderate travel, with a motor for long range expedition, and paddles for that "In Case Of Emergency".

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Yes Ken Ive considered a Gheenoe. I used to fish out my BILs Gheenoe years ago. He is now in no shape to fish, physically, but is considering selling it to me. For now it is just a consideration.

you know how guys are about their boats... he cant use it but there are too many memories to let it go without a fight.

[Slip Sinker]

beautiful boats... i would love to have a 13fter. very rare up here in the north used.

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

Just happend to have a Gheenoe photo handy my buddy put together for bluegill fishing, he loves it.   LOFR

[Slip Sinker]

Did you ever consider owning a Gheenoe?

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I thought about that, Tony. It wasn't as long as a gar, from what I could see - which wasn't all that much. So gar was a distant choice, even they make for a better story!

But the carp I've seen are bulkier and usually flag their fins when near the surface. I've also never seen them in this back bay and it is my go-to, most frequently visited spot.

This critter was sleek, just beneath the surface and obviously prowling around. While I know carp swim around, too, I've never seen one that wasn't rooting more than prowling.

I could also make out a greyish color, not like the brownish hue of carp. There was dark edging to the fins I did see and I'm pretty sure I spied a forked tail, too. My first reaction was, "Damn! Now, THATS a BIG catfish!!"

I've seen others like it, too, during clear water conditions. I had the daylights shocked out of me last season when a massive one followed my Beetle Spin back from a tangle of logs and brush. That incident occurred  about three miles away.

Pretty sure it was a catfish, after the fact. .

[Tony Livingston]

I'll bet it was a big carp.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Yeah, Bob, I've come to much the same conclusion.

Maybe in a California lake or some freshet trout pond they are the ticket. But around here we also have, in addition, to the gar, water moccasins, big snapping turtles and plenty of underwater obstructions.

Its the South, after all. I don't know what I was thinking.....

[Bob Garner]

i'm not a tube fan , just something about inflatable around things with teeth and sharp hooks . I will stick with either a canoe or boat plus I stay dry