Really not to bad. We usually have a barbeque and invite several friends over. It needs to be fresh and doesnt reheat well in my opinion.
We never weighed them but we had a few that day over four feet long. Unfortunately they dont seem to fight nearly as well as a good 30 pound carp.
YES in the spring they spawn in our rivers coming up from grand lake. I have personally stuck three at a time when they are piled up. They are thick here one day and slim pickings the next. We wade out into the current and wait for them to pass by us. Its a blast for sure. I usually bowfish while the kids go through a couple dozen worms catching bluegills, brownies, and small channel cat.
That is awesome. I wish there was something like that to do here... I'm sure there is, but I can't get into it right now.
Gar cleaning info: http://www.illinoisbowfishers.com/gar.html Getting the meat out is the tough part. We usually just fry ours, but I have 'gar balls' and used the meat in stir fries and crab boils.
Funny story about the spot these pics were taken. Theres a campground just about seventy yrds to the east of this spot. It has a nice little spot to get a tan and play in for the tourists. Well one day I was wading out in the river with the bow, and noticed I had an audience of several, lets just say attractive women on lawn chairs out in the water. I shot a couple little buffalo and carp. They didnt seem to interested until a very nice and fat female gar cruised a few feet from me. I shot it right near the tail and of couse this thing come flying out of the water like a gator, next thing I know I hear screaming as the women ran like hell to get out of the water. I tried to convince them they were harmless but they wanted out of the water and wouldnt get back in. Some people are just better off not knowing what lurks in the depths I guess.
LOL! We used to have AimLow's 8' 2" alligator gar mount at our booths for some shows. I was often asked if they ate people. (certainly this fish was big enough to swallow a kid) I tell them that I've never heard of one attacking people.... which means they either don't attack people... or they just don't leave any witnesses. :D
