So I was wading up the creek yesterday morning tossing buggers and spiders around in the water. It was quite warm outside and the water felt nice, but still a bit warm for much to be biting. Caught a couple of extra small sunfish which didn’t put up much of a fight. Saw some spotted bass terrorizing the minnows and making them jump out of the water. Also caught a glimpse of a few catfish which were very nice and would have loved for one of them to take my fly.
So over the past couple of years the creek that I fish in the most (Shoal Creek) has changed quite a bit in the areas that I fish. There has been tree removal on one long stretch of banks and the water during the rainy season has washed away quite a bit of the bank and made the water deeper and swifter, not to mention warmer near the surface. Since it has changed, I’ve noticed more fish and larger ones at that. I’m seeing bigger bass, more bluegill and sunfish, some nice rock bass, catfish and now spotted gar, one of which occupies a deep hole in a bend that I like to fish.
About 5 years ago when I took up fly fishing for the second time, I had something take a popper off the surface and drag it to the bottom. I tried to fight it up to the surface, but my tippet broke and I got a face full of fly line. I thought it might have been a catfish since it was moving slowly, but recently I spotted this spotted gar (HA!) coming up to the surface and lazily diving back down. It’s about 3 feet long, and in all honesty, I really REALLY wanna get a closer look at it.
Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever caught a gar on a fly? Sharp teeth or not, I want to catch one of these just to get a better look at it.
Hey Joe. First things first- yes, gar do have teeth, many of them and needle like, typically throughout the length of their snout. I have a friend here in town who grew up fly fishing in the likes of Montana and Wyoming. I would estimate him to be around fifty years young now. Anyhow, in the past six years I’ve known him, he has become an avid, dedicated, and very creative gar angler. He devised a series of flies to catch them that are not only very interesting, but very effective. He starts with something like a 2/0 Stinger hook with the eye cut off and ties a standard 6XL streamer hook on top of it, hook point up. Then, through the down eye of the streamer hook (now up eye), he slides a piece of wire leader material through down the length of the shanks and ties it down secure. He coats all of this with super glue before going on to tie the remainder of the fly. The fly consists of Kinky fibers or other like materials, and a pair of adhesive eyes, and ends up looking like a long baitfish pattern. I think his best color has been orange, though I can’t 100% sure, as he also carries a handfull of them in basic shad colors. I’ve known him to land gar up to four feet long since our last correspondence. I hope this helps.
Here is a link to a story about fly fishing for gar on Fly Fish Ohio: http://www.flyfishohio.com/heat_wave_flyfishing.htm. Gar have a primitive lung and are air breathers so that is why you see it comming to the surface. The article includes fly recommendations and a warning about removing the fly (you may need some help).
The simplest gar fly I know of involves fraying out some nylon clothesline of poly rope (anything with fine frizzy strands that will tangle in the teeth) and tying it to the hook streamer style. Some people even cut the bend of the hook off and just use the shank, relying on the rope fibers to hold the fish. They are solid bone from the eyes forward so a good hook set is extremely difficult to achieve. Me? I just use regular streamers and don’t mind the fact that 95% of them spit the hook before I have to deal with the teeth. I still get the fight and since I would have turned them loose anyway the end result is the same.
My late wife had a cousin who was a fisheries biologist who claimed that gar are quite good eating. Have never caught one, and haven’t tried eating one. Getting them out of their armored limousine is too much like work!
I am going to try this… Don’t know if I’m going to try and eat one, but I really wanna see one of these up close and the ideas I had for flies for gar have been shut down since hooks don’t seem to do much good on them.
Hey joerogrz~I’ve caught plenty of gar up here in Canada, longnose and spotted~they’re a blast! No criticism to those who have suggested it, but I wouldn’t bother with those rope-style flies~stick with standard streamers and keep your hooks REALLY SHARP! I carry 2 hook hones with me at all times when gar fishing, if I get a hit…or if the fly touches bottom, I inspect the point and touch-up as necessary. One thing that CAN put the odds in your favor is using one of these; http://www.northlandtackle.com/Category/main.taf?cat=200&pc=310 You simply push the point of your hook through the rubberized loop and “VOILA”, instant stinger. Gar are not leader shy, so no need to go too light on that either. Where I fish, no leader is too heavy. =) Ability to set the hook HARD matters, so light rods (while good for the other fish in there) are not well-suited to gar. I’ve used everything from 6wts. up to 9wts., and use a 9wt. mostly now. The 6 can fight them well enough, the 9s allow you to land more.
If it’s truly spotted gar you’re after, then zugbug’s advice is the way to go. But I’ve got to disagree with him if you’re after longnose. I’ve caught many, many longnose gar, both on fly rods and traditional tackle, and the rope fly is, hands down, the way to go. You’ll go from landing 10% (tops) of the fish you get to strike with a hook to well over 50% with a rope fly (if you do it right).
Well, I suppose the “devil is in the details” as they say. If you want to get every fish that takes, a rope fly is the way to go I suppose. They’d probably work for trout as well. Kidding aside, we catch long nose and spotted all day in the places we fish and I can ASSURE you, the same system works for both. This long nose (and hundreds of others) would agree;
The rope fly works because the their teeth get tangled in it. You can legitimately hook a long nose the SAME way you hook a spotted, so I’d urge you to use hooks. On the other hand, where we fish, there are lots OF fish so if you miss one, you’ll get another shot before long. If I were after a lone fish and was determined…a rope fly would be considered. I’d have to make one though.
How bout a rope fly on a really sharp hook? I don’t think the gars I’m seeing are longnose like that one in the pic (NICE btw…) I believe the ones I’m seeing have shorter noses. I’ve read a little bit in the Audubon book on some gars, and it mentions that the roe in longnose gars is poisonous. I have no idea what “roe” is tho…
Roe is the eggs.
Most of the gar I’ve seen and caught (only on spinning gear, so far) around here are shortnose gar. They don’t nearly as big as the longnose gar. There are some longnose gar in our bigger rivers (lower Des Moines River, Mississippi River, etc). We don’t have spotted gar or alligator gar around my area.
A buddy of mine that bowfishes loves to eat gar. He had trouble with the armor and I told him to cut down the back with tin snips. He says it works perfect. Cut down the back, peel it down the sides, and remove the loins just like a deer. I haven’t tried it but he says it is now one of the easiest fish there is to clean. Big gar, steak the loins and fry em. Hope this works for anyone with an urge to try it out.
Kidding aside, we catch long nose and spotted all day in the places we fish and I can ASSURE you, the same system works for both. This long nose (and hundreds of others) would agree;
I don’t think the gars I’m seeing are longnose like that one in the pic (NICE btw…) I believe the ones I’m seeing have shorter noses. I’ve read a little bit in the Audubon book on some gars, and it mentions that the roe in longnose gars is poisonous. I have no idea what “roe” is tho…