Gar?

[fishndirk]

Ok, been fishing backwater cuts in NC, doing real good with catfish until now. The cats seemed to have stopped biting but I have noticed a sh*t load of gar striking the surface. Ive tried to hook em on cut bait with bobber but no luck. Ive heard of the frayed rope lure method, does this really work as good as they say of does anyone have a better method with these gar? Pretty sure their just long nose and spotted gar.

 

[DJ]

Re: Gar?

The frayed rope does work. I haven't done it myself but I have seen it done.

I'm not reallys ure why you want to catch one, other than for the fun of it.

 

[fishndirk]

Re: Gar?

Ill try anything once. Their all over the place and their big so why not. Hell, I got a real good Bowfin recepie, and knobody keeps those so why not try the gar?

 

[eavega]

Re: Gar?

Frayed rope definitely works. I've caught many a Gar on a piece of frayed nylon rope. No hook, unless you want the hook to tie a line on. Make it look like a jig. Gets all tangled in their jaws.

-Rgds

 

[fishndirk]

Re: Gar?

HAHA! Awesome! Wish i could do the whole dynamite thing but somehow i dont think the NC fish and game would appreciate that too much. I will try the frayed rope lure and maybe look for a bowfishing kit for my bow. How long do you have to let them chew on the rope before they get tangled and do you have to worry about too much line tension and pulling it out of their mouth? Floating rope or sinking?

 

[Paul Pro]

My longnose selfmount/gar ring....

My longnose selfmount/gar ring....

I got lucky, this is my first longnose,this makes for the largest prehistoric fish for me,a tru RIVERMONSTER 16lb 49" used a yozuri sw edition ,I was trolling,line wraped once around his nose.Biggest gar I have ever seen down here,...can you guess what part or the gar this ring is ???,hint,"I made two".Well here is the answer since nobody guessed..The ring I made out of the 2 top crushers in the back of its throat,the bottom two had no spikes on them.The eggs are poisonous,even to humans don't even try them,I know they look tasty but its not worth getting sick over a gar."Paulpro is the CrocodileDunDee of Gar" .I cleaned it by cutting inbetween the scales,actually was easy,my gar was sitting in ice water for a week,maybe it got softer,I used a hack saw to make the first cut,I made a few bamboo spears using a scale for the tip,also a wristband using two rows of scales,made some armor too,I tried to make the best out of this rare catch for South Fl.I am having trouble finding a replica eye for it,I could use some help if you know,thanks.My gar died after I tied its mouth shut, must of drowned ,I plannen to release it in my lake.My lake now has Jaguar cichlids thanks to me,Red Devils,Bowfin,Armored catfish,Blue tilapia,gar,and some Pacu..this is not including others aquarium fish I've seen.

 

[Paul Pro]

Re: Gar?

I used an old rope castnet today, around 10 foot,got 3 armored catfish,2 mudfish,1, 3 lb bass ,1 chain pickerel , and some gar, kept a 3lber, will be my first time eating one.caught 3 big gar,released 2 in my lake,CAST NET works good for catching gar.also released the armored cats.delecacy in Trinidad,and guyana,they cook them using cury.I had a huge gar looked like another longnose,but got away.

 

[fishndirk]

Re: Gar?

It worked, holy cr*p. Went fishin on the Trent today with the rope lures, took a bit to figure out the teqnuique but i got it. Got one 6lb gar and one 4lb. Could'nt stop laughing on the first fish how when they bite they cant let go. Its like they give up after that. Got a good amount of meat off of both of them, im open to any cooking suggestions. I guess deep fry is the default

 

[rollo1002]

Re: Gar?

You have to boil the meat for a while to loosen it from the bones. One you do that then you can cook it however you want. Patties or Gar Balls are good too. You want to season it pretty good with onions peppers and the such....

 

[fishndirk]

Re: Gar?

Mmmmmmm......just fried up the first batch of the gar meat. I dont care that their harder to clean than other fish, that tasted freekin awesome!!! A lot like alligator meat.

 

[Paul Pro]

Re: Gar?

It worked, holy cr*p. Went fishin on the Trent today with the rope lures, took a bit to figure out the teqnuique but i got it. Got one 6lb gar and one 4lb. Could'nt stop laughing on the first fish how when they bite they cant let go. Its like they give up after that. Got a good amount of meat off of both of them, im open to any cooking suggestions. I guess deep fry is the default

I finally got one too,I ended up spraying mine with shrimp scent.spottedgar,or florida gar down here,we call them,used a weak drag,lost one already.I used an extra piece from basketball net,tied it at both ends with some of that chain for the fans,used that as weight, secured it to some braidedline and tied that to an "oval ring".I Used magicmarker...combined 3 diff.colors,one was red, the oth...The meat was strange,I felt like I was eating a reptile.Taste like Ijuanna,the meat is dry,even more strange stirrfried with butter smelled like frenchtoast...My nephew confirmed,even his grandma thought we were making breakfasts, she smelled it from her room.I added a bit of lemon night before to fillets,had a nice lime taste to it.

 

[fishndirk]

Re: Gar?

Caught a bunch more on the White Oak River on jug lines late the other night. Ive got the trick down to filleting them. A 4 lb'er produces more meat than a 6lb catfish and I've come to like their meat more than fried chicken. If youve ever eatin alligator its a lot like that. Probly nobody keeps them cause their harder to learn to fillet. Fried a bunch and took it out in public, all the neighbors loved it! I cant stand these fisherman that only eat a couple different types of meat.

 

[lifeisfun]

Re: Gar?

Caught a bunch more on the White Oak River on jug lines late the other night. Ive got the trick down to filleting them. A 4 lb'er produces more meat than a 6lb catfish and I've come to like their meat more than fried chicken. If youve ever eatin alligator its a lot like that. Probly nobody keeps them cause their harder to learn to fillet. Fried a bunch and took it out in public, all the neighbors loved it! I cant stand these fisherman that only eat a couple different types of meat.

Or fisherman that will shoot them and let them rot in the river

 

[fishgigger]

Re: Gar?

The frayed rope thing is pretty cool and will have to try it for the fun, we gig them down here in Fla. make good smoked fish dip too.

 

[fishndirk]

Re: Gar?

That shooting a fish thing and throwing it out ticks me off!!! I have ran into a few people who do that. I dont care how much of a pain a certain animal is, those fish are a dinnosaur, just like bowfin and alligators and deserve respect. If you kill it, eat it.

 

[Fishing Dude too]

Re: Gar?

That shooting a fish thing and throwing it out ticks me off!!! I have ran into a few people who do that. I dont care how much of a pain a certain animal is, those fish are a dinnosaur, just like bowfin and alligators and deserve respect. If you kill it, eat it.

I agree, lake erie has many drum, sheephead amoung other names. I don't care what fish I am catching they give me a good time the lease I can do is release them if I don't keep them. Have seen people do nasty things to fish they don't want. They are not sportsman in my book.

 

[garmaster56]

Re: Gar?

uhh, yea,, i'll have to try that frayed rope idea,because ain't no fish biting in the tar worth anything! ya gotta GET THE dam gar out so the other ones can feed, so i just fasten the rope to my line and cast it out like normal??

 

[Bamaman1]

Re: Gar?

We used to fish under the lights at night, and we'd see 3' or 4' long gar. They'd be on the surface of the water-trolling along. Every once in awhile, we'd get'em to bite, but they'd just spit the lure out. Their mouths are about all bone, and they're tough to hook. However, when you get them to hook, they're quite strong fighters. Their spotted markings can be quite beautiful--in a prehistoric way.

I saw a picture last week (on the internet) of an alligator gar caught the other day. It looked like it was 8'-10' long--like an alligator without legs. I forgot where it was, but such fish can be found in Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.

The Mississippi record alligator gar was 8 1/2 feet long, 327 pounds and 48" around. See Wikipedia for pictures. I'd hate to run up on one of them scuba diving. There again, they're pretty skiddish.

 

[Lakemeadan]

Re: Gar?

Wow, this is cool. What would happen to your fingers if one got hold of it? Lot of teeth in that Gar.

 

[whiskerchasin]

Re: Gar?

I agree, lake erie has many drum, sheephead amoung other names. I don't care what fish I am catching they give me a good time the lease I can do is release them if I don't keep them. Have seen people do nasty things to fish they don't want. They are not sportsman in my book.

I also agree. I fish a local spill-way and gar is the most hated fish there. People smash them with rocks and leave them laying ALL OVER the rip-rap, and it upsets me. These fish are fun to catch and I get the strangest looks for even picking one up with my hands, but then when i release one people can't believe it.

Never ate any though.. You guys have me curious now.