Alligator Gar...

Troutski
Troutski
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Moderator
I know this is not an Oregon fish but didn't know quite where to post it, I may have the oppertunity to go on a trip in the summer to attempt these beast, any one every had anything to do with them? I have done some research but would like some first hand information. How large do these beast get? Does one need any special pretreatment before he gets bit, from what I can find it is not a matte of if - but when they are called Alligator Gar Any way if there is anyone out there that has some first hand information I would love to hear about it. One more species on the books...only 164 species to go.

Chuck
 
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I just seen a show on these the other night. I know the guy had a 7 foot gar on his wall in texas. They look like they have nasty teeth. They are also blamed for attackon humans ..if it is true or not is what they were trying to find out.
 
is that the same fish they had on River Monsters last night on Animal Planet??
 
yes
 
The only gars I have ever seen (in RL) were in a friends aquarium. It had some serous size to him but instead of targeting it, we'd cast dry flies to a pair of huge Oscars in a 1000 gal cube tank. We only did it a few times as the fight resulted in 10s of gallons of water being splashed out of the tank and onto the surrounding furniture and hard wood floor.
 
I caught one by accident in the Kaskaskia river. Snagged it, so I don't know how they fight. It certainly wasn't a game fish in Illinois, fishermen would toss them on the bank to die after catching them. Something I personally find despicable for a native species.
 
I had a small 10 incher for a pet. Not much I can say other than it sure liked goldfish.
 
Years ago I was fishing Beaver lake or the White river outside of Springdale Arkansas with a friend of many years who was from that area. We baited a bunch of large plastic bottles, basically tied 25lb test line on the neck of the bottle, hooked a smal bluegill through the lips and threw it overboard and checked the next morning. Lots of bottles all painted different colors so the owner would recognize their own. New experience for me. The next morning we went out to search for our bottles, the ones that lined the bank had nothing on them, the ones out from shore had fish on them, caught a few nice bass this way. We spotted one out on the water and he trolled up to it while I leaned over the bow to grab it, it completely disapeared under the water in a snap. Try pulling one of these bottles under the water, we knew we had a big fish. I got the net out and we "snuck" up on the bottle again, I scooped the bottle into the net got both hands on the bottle stood up in the boat and pulled about 2' of nose out of the water and I heard my friend saying "cut the line, just cut the line". My first and only experience with this type of monster.
 
Some folks hav come across Gar when they were noodling fer catfish..................................:D:D:D
 
Hawk said:
Some folks hav come across Gar when they were noodling fer catfish..................................:D:D:D

Just one more reason why not to noodle for catfish.
 
We used to shoot gar with a bow and arrow while living in Kansas. In Tennessee (or Arkansas) I was fishing a tournament and saw one over 6 feet thrashing about in the pads. Caught a few by accident, but never let them in the boat because they are known to trash everything they can bang into or bite. Remember 1/3 of their body is that toothy beak.

Chuck, I can't see why anyone would want to catch one on purpose.
 
Growing up in Florida we used to catch them while fishing for bass and we fertilized the orange groves with them. They are the carp/ squaw of the south. The only difference is that gar fight like the dickens and dont much feel like a dead log.
 
I heard you catch the gar with pieces of yarn tied to your steel leader. The hooks don't penentrate their mouths. Might be an urban legend of the truth. Sounds like a blast and another mean looking toothy fish to catch.
 
I used to catch gar back in North Carolina. It was rarely on purpose unless I was having a bad day catching catfish or bass. Cut bait and live bait are your best bets. They are aggressive and hit like a ton of bricks. The biggest I ever caugt was about 3 1/2 feet. Steel leaders are a good idea, though I never used one. You can sight fish them in most places. The tend to swim near the top much like large carp. This is why bow fishing is so popular for them. I'm pretty sure the world record is about 350lbs. If that's your target fish, then they are a blast to catch. If not, then its quite disappointing to think that you have a 30lb blue cat on the line only to find out its a 5lb gar. Yeah, they fight that good.
 

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