Just 65 miles south of San Antonio, TX lies Choke Canyon Reservoir. This man-made reservoir, which provides water for Corpus Christi and surrounding areas, was completed in 1982. It has since become known across Texas as the home of the Dinosaurs. If you talk to anyone in the know about bow fishing for trophy alligator gar, Choke Canyon will undoubtedly be mentioned. So when I got the invitation from my buddy Kendall and his cousin Kolby, I dropped everything and headed South. In order to make a two day/two night bowfishing run to choke canyon.
Choke Canyon Bow Fishing Dreams
This is a trip I have been wanting to do for years! To say I was excited would be an understatement. I spent the day before my Thursday departure reading up on the location and reviewing some insane bow fishing videos on YouTube. I also tried catching as much sleep as I could in preparation for some long nights on the water. Judging by his past excursions to Choke Canyon, I had a good feeling about our chances of success. But as with all things, “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry” and this was no exception.
I arrived at the ramp a few hours before dark on Thursday and jumped straight into the boat. Due to a strong wind that day, we decided to try the river outflow first. We pitched bass baits while searching for hot spots to return to after dark and It quickly became apparent that this was going to be a much harder trip that expected. Overcast conditions, misting rain and low water levels plagued us from the start. All of the holes Kendall and Kolby had fished in previous years were feet above the current water levels.
The main channels had barely submerged logs and trees that severely restricted our travel corridors and most of the creeks running into the river where merely a few inches deep. To top it all off the visibility was closer to chocolate milk than water and we could only see a few inches down in much of the river.
Clear Water for Better Chances
We determined early that our best bet for a successful night was to find water clarity. With this in mind, we started to scope out any location with a significant hydrilla presence. The added filtration and reduced water turbulence makes areas around hydrilla mats much clearer than the surrounding river water. Right before dark, with our new plan in full swing, we began to see some positive signs for our night. Even managing to blow-gun and arrow a few spawning spotted gar off the tops of the weed mats! As dark settled over the lake, I was confident we would manage to get on some fish… and we did… kinda… We spent hours patrolling weed mats and chasing water clarity.
With the water levels so low, there was very limited fishable territory. We spent hours shooting spotted gar, tilapia, and carp, but the alligator gar remained elusive. Around 1:30AM the weather took a bad turn. With constant wind and sheets of misting rain on our backs, we decided to pack it up and try again in the morning.
A New Day with New Odds
Waking up was rough, but a quick stop at the local taco shop had us back in business pretty quick. We went to the main lake and decided to start off looking for rolling gar. Unfortunately between the overcast and muddy water, our search was for naught. While we did see a few rolling monsters, we were unable to get anywhere near close enough to make shots. By noon we switched over to bass fishing with the bows at the ready, just incase. This ended up being our saving grace and by far the best decision of the trip. With the wind direction and the muddy water we decided to try some of the deeper points along the leeward side of the lake and man did we hit the honey hole!
From the first cast we were on the fish! Kendal and Kolby’s knowledge of the lake and bass fishing experience came in clutch and fish started hitting the deck one after another. Within minutes we knew we had found a solid school of feeding fish, we smashed the spot lock button and began what I can only describe as a true slay-fest. The trick on this particular day was to cast onto the shallow point and drag your worm off the edge slowly. It didn’t seem to matter what color or pattern you threw, so long as you hit the shallow to deep water transition line. I started with a 7in Texas rigged purple and black power worm. This has always been a confidence bait for me in muddy water conditions and it did not disappoint! My second fish of the day weighed in at 4lbs 2oz!
Bass Fishing Insanity
Whenever the bite would start to tapper off, we would simply use the trolling motor to position at a new angle on the point and WHAM! The bite would be back on. It was some of the most action packed bass fishing I have ever experienced and the best part, was that the fish sizes were all over a pound and averaged closer to 3lbs!! we managed to stack up a quick 70+ bass in the three hour bite window. Our largest of the day (caught by Kendal) weighed in at 7lbs 12 ounces! And we landed 10 fish in the 5lb+ class. It was absolute insanity!
With darkness came a strong winds (20-30knts) and driving rain. Not to be defeated easily, we stayed out and braved the weather to no avail. With the wind continuing to pickup and whitecaps forming at the boat ramp, we high tailed it back to camp and called it a night. While Kendal and Kolby still had a day to burn on the lake, my prior engagements called me back to San Antonio late that night and put an end to my dinosaur hunt. While this trip turned out nothing like I expected it to, the end results where the same. I came to Choke Canyon bow fishing dinosaurs and ultimately that’s what we ended up catching, it just wasn’t the species I expected.
