Since most of the fishing sucks right now thanks to the unusually warm summer, my brother and decided to go gar fishing. They don't seem to mind the warm water. We hadn't been gar fishing in years, but there was a spot we wanted to check out. Although the longnose gar in this area don't get very big, they can be very aggressive which makes them fun to fish for. We pulled into the launch and quickly noticed piles of dead carp and gar. Thanks bowfishers! That smelled great. A quick 25 minute ride downstream and we settled into what looked like a good spot. Didn't take long to confirm that. There were doubles. Close to nonstop action the hour we fished. And more doubles. Not a bad way to kill a summer evening. I think we'll be back.
Looks like another great day of fishing Matt. The change of scenery was probably a good welcome too. Those are some nasty/cool looking critters there!
Matt, those are some awesome pics. I remember fishing for gar in college. I fished at this lake near the college for largemouth for years before I saw a large fish on top of the water. I never even knew those things existed in this lake until I was up high on a log fishing in the sun one day. It took me forever to catch my first gar and what a gar it was man. I worked a plastic worm right by the gar at full speed and he followed. I let the worm fall to the bottom of the lake and I felt a "tick tick tick" and I pulled that rod as hard as I could so my hook would penetrate its hard mouth. Wham! That fish took off and pulled out 60-70 yards of line in a split second. I was using 10 lb monofilament and a smallish 6 foot rod. The fight went on and on for a good while til I pulled that big old gar up on the bank. I measured it out at 48 inches in length. I am not kidding. I did not want to eat it and I did not have the money to mount it so I decided to let it go. Well in the process of letting it go the fish got hooked back up and dove straight down under the log on which I was standing and snapped my Berkley rod straight in half. I caught a few more over the years but never one like my first gar. It was a citation gar here in Virginia as the citation range is 10lbs or 40 inches.
Thats a cool story, Brett. The gar around don't get that big. Most are 24"-32", with some that top 40". Wish we had some bigger ones like the one you caught. The flies we use are mostly made of nylon rope, and I cut the hook off. The rope gets caught in their teeth and its much more effective that than a hook. They are just a cool fish. Some are more spotted than others.
Matt that is a great idea with those nylon rope flies. I tried to catch a single gar for what felt like months before finally scoring. I could not figure out how to catch them...I tried buzzbaits, poppers, spinnerbaits, and could not catch them. I should have purchased some really low stretch line and worked something like you are using. Those were the good days of fishing in my life. I would get so tired of the same old bs everyday and would hit the water with nothing but my kayak and fishing tackle....and maybe a pinch of chewing tobacco. I really need to get back into fishing as it was my first love of the outdoors.
Great pics, it has been years since I went gar fishing. Looks like you and your brother had another great adventure.
I used to catch them at a local river by spotting and floating a Blue Gill fillet in front of them. Great pics, Matt!
You know they are great eating too, right? They are a pain to clean but taste great in a Boullette. Google Garfish Balls if interested. It looked like you had a fun day.
Fishing last weekend on the river, we saw hundreds of gar. They piss me off when they chase my baits. I've never targeted them but when the bass don't bite, I have been tempted. My uncle made a nylon rope bait for gar years ago but it doesn't work unless you can cast with a fly rod.
