I was harrassing blue Gills, LMB, and Rock Bass with a black crystal flash wooly bugger when I added a Gar to my list of hooked fish. Never caught one , never seen one. What a unique fish. Great day fishing until I got motion sick in my belly boat from the power boats, skiers, and Jet skis.
Not new to me 
. I would rather not hook those nasty toothy rough fish. Pickerels also. I use pliers or forceps usually to remove the hook while holding the leader without touching the toothy critter if the Gar doesn’t shake off before I get it in. I wouldn’t want those teeth buried in my hand.
Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL
“Flip a fly”
They’re supposed to be great fighters. Here’s the hookless lure a local guy uses to target gar:
[url=http://www.geocities.com/garmanjack/lures.html:f5294]http://www.geocities.com/garmanjack/lures.html[/url:f5294]
I have seen him on local outdoor shows using this hookless lure (he was using spinning tackle, but there’s a fly rod version also.)
It was amazing how well the nylon fibres held the gar. There was no way the fish was getting loose.
Dang, thanks a lot. Last weekend got my carp fever stirred up for the summer, and now you have to get me needing a gar fix too! Now. . . where to go, where to go. . .
Suppoesdly gar bites get infected easily. I’m not sure if they are any worse than other fish with teeth, but it pays to use forceps or pliers when unhooking toothy fish.
Nice catch though. They’re supposed to be fairly hard to fool. Did you figure out what species it was?
Warmouth
Gar are really cool fly rod fish. One of my goals is to be able to catch them consistently. I found a river pool last summer with a good population and I went out quite a few evenings and caught some. They are good fighters and good jumpers. I love fish that jump. They make me feel, well, “primitive”.
Robert, they jump? When I was younger we would bait fish for bass. Long nosed gar were always stripping the minnows, and we quite often would hook them. I don’t remember ever seeing one jump. Our river didn’t have any alligator gar, so I have no experience with them. Which type were you encountering?
Jim
Oh goodness yes they jump. . . wow. Y’all are getting my heart rate up lol
Jim,
Yes they are good jumpers. They’ll tail walk on you too. They’re a cool fish. I’m no gar expert and I’m not sure exactly what “flavor” these are around here but I do know they are not alligator gar. May be long nosed or needle nosed gar because I’ve heard those 2 terms used a lot in this neighborhood. I guess if I weren’t so lazy or had more computer skills I’d do a search and find out. All I know is they live in the rivers around here and they’ve got some black on their tail and some spots.
Yeah they jump like crazy!!! Spotted gar anyway. Alligator gar don’t jump as much but they jump once in a while. They are pretty rare in most parts of the country but we have them here in TX.
–playin’ with my piscatorial pals–
[url=http://www.fedflyfishers.org/certified.php:45537]FFF Certified Casting Instructor[/url:45537]
[url=http://www.trashonthefly.com:45537]http://www.trashonthefly.com[/url:45537]
It seems to me that gar are more likely to be up high in the water column (ie on the surface) the hotter the water gets. Like in mid July through August. I think they are equipped to take in oxygen from the air and that’s probably why they move up to the surface when it gets really hot and the oxygen supply in the water is low. Anyone else have an opinion on what I just said? Agree or disagree? That’s when I fish for them with a fly rod, when I can see them on the surface. Cast out to them when they’re on the surface and bring the fly by them. I’ve had more success with a small dark trout nymph than anything else. It seems like I hook about one in four or so that take the fly. Their mouth is so bony it’s hard to stick one.
Who has some tips on gar fishing they want to offer up here?
A guide to some species.
[url=http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish/species/gar/:0f2ab]http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish/species/gar/[/url:0f2ab]
I know of least at one Texas lake with a nightly pilgrimage of heavy gear fishers going after BIG alligator gar.
I’ve been a guest at a “gar-fry” not bad, actually. Cleaning them is tricky though- from what they tell me.
Jim
Jim,
Thanks for the link. I’m going to say the gar I’m catching are either a short nosed gar or a spotted gar, probably a spotted gar.
In my neck of the woods we have mostly longnosed gar. There are also shortnose, spotted, and alligator gar. They are equipped with a modified air sack that allows them to breathe air, and that is what they are doing when you see them rise up and slap at the surface.
I don’t know the specifics on the one I hooked(long nosed)not extremely common in Wisconsin, but it used a tactic I’ve only seen on Muskies. It Rolled, I know of a noted musky guide in Northern Wisconsin who doesn’t use less than an 18" leader because a musky will roll and cut the line with it’s teeth or gill plates. I’ve seen big, hooked big, but I still have never caught a legal Musky. I assume when God smiles on me it will be a whopper.
Hey Robert,
We have several different kinds of Gar here in Florida. Most common I guess would be the Longnose Gar. Florida rough fish FWC links:
Gar [url=http://floridafisheries.com/Fishes/gar.html:9b674]http://floridafisheries.com/Fishes/gar.html[/url:9b674]
Pickerel [url=http://floridafisheries.com/Fishes/pickerels.html:9b674]http://floridafisheries.com/Fishes/pickerels.html[/url:9b674]
It seems to me that gar are more likely to be up high in the water column (ie on the surface) the hotter the water gets. Like in mid July through August. I think they are equipped to take in oxygen from the air and that’s probably why they move up to the surface when it gets really hot and the oxygen supply in the water is low. Anyone else have an opinion on what I just said? Agree or disagree?
I agree for the most part but I see them on the surface all the time when they are around or present. But when I have seen them boiling on the surface, the water temp. has been high. I accidently get them on small surface flies like pushers or sliders while bream fishing. Don’t really know what they want or what they are feeding on but I don’t really want to catch them either . This was interesting for Longnosed Gar though:
Feeding Habits - Young fish mainly feed on zooplankton while larger ones feed on small fishes, frogs and crustaceans. They feed by stalking their prey or lying in wait for it to come within striking distance.
Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL
“Flip a fly”
[This message has been edited by dixieangler (edited 28 June 2005).]
I hooked a ten pounder in the tail once as I was popping a popper and he was passing by or something. It was with an 8’ 5-wt and let me tell you, he took me for quite a ride!
[url=http://www.native-waters.com:08176]http://www.native-waters.com[/url:08176]
Dixie,
Thanks for the link. I’m getting more and more convinced those are spotted gar I’m catching. What do you mean “I don’t really want to catch them”? Sorry Robert but I’m going to make you an appointment with my shrink. I hope Okie Bass doesn’t read what you said.
Coach, THAT’s what I remember from my youth! They would sometimes roll with the line, and twist it all up. Jumping may be species or size related. For the most part, the ones we were catching from that river system were longnosed gar less than 16" long.
Jim
Now Robert, everyone knows I’m a kook but no need to rub it in with a shrink 
. If he reads it, Okie will get over it . He can go catch some and get bit for me . He can come down here and have all he wants . I know a place that’s loaded with them. Yes the Longnose Gar (and Chain Pickerel) do jump and shake which makes it hard to get them off the hook if they haven’t already thrown it. Don’t know about the rest.
My unwritten rule:
Never intentionally try to catch anything with teeth that can bite you .
This includes sharks, gators, 'cudas, rough fish, and so on.
Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL
“Flip a fly”
[This message has been edited by dixieangler (edited 28 June 2005).]