On a calm, hot summer day in 1995, two young, but long-time anglers walked down “The Cottage Road”, winding their way through the floodplain forest and its towering jungle of wood nettle and Giant Ragweed on their way to the banks of a backwater slough of the Mississippi River.  Toting as much gear as they could handle, their half-mile, mosquito-embattled journey ended on the banks of a deep slough with strong current. When they got there, they both noticed the glass-like surface of the river dotted with the circles of surfacing fish. They both wondered aloud, “What are these fish surfacing all over the place?” Not waiting around, they both tied on lures and started casting at the surfacing fish. After a half hour of trying different lures and different retrieves, Dave Roe, the elder of the two anglers finally starting getting hits on his lure. Dave’s younger brother, Bob, then tied on a similar lure and tried a similar retrieve. He, too, had multiple hits on the lure retrieved slowly near the surface. Finally, after an hour of trying, Dave landed one of these mystery fish and they both looked at each other in disbelief shouting in stereo, “GAR!!??” And thus began the 15-year quest to master these fish that has now become Garmasters.  

Our mission at Garmasters is to educate and bring awareness to this great prehistoric fish. We hope to help remove the stigma of “rough fish” that has beleaguered these wonderful fish for years.  By sharing our stories and experiences, we aspire to create a feeling of respect for this hard-fighting, great tasting fish that is as challenging to catch as the most wary “game” fish.

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