Now that I'm at the point in my life were I'm teaching my grand kids to fish. I've reflected on all those years of wetting a line. That's when I discovered that I never caught a gar! As a teenager, I've stumbled across them suspended at the surface calmly avoiding what ever I nervously tossed at them with no luck. I've even missed plenty with a bow as a kid along the shores of Lake Erie. However, I never intentionally drove to a location with the goal of catching one. Until now, It's on my bucket list. How many of you out there have had the good fortune of actually landing one of these prehistoric fish? Any thoughts, locations, set ups or forget about its would be appreciated.
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Since I moved to NC I have caught several. Each has been an incidental catch but they fight extremely hard. The ones I caught bit spinners, cranks and bucktail jigs. I have intentionally tried to catch them but no luck so far.
I often see them early mornings and near the surface. For their size they make little surface commotion when they come to the top.
To target them I used a rope lure. You can google it. Essentially it’s a rope that is unbraided and frayed and tied to your rod. Apparently if a gar takes the lure the rope gets entangled in its teeth and they can’t break free. So far I have failed with the rope lure.
As far as location I’m of no help. My guess is if your water has them you will see them.
~JOE~
I often see them early mornings and near the surface. For their size they make little surface commotion when they come to the top.
To target them I used a rope lure. You can google it. Essentially it’s a rope that is unbraided and frayed and tied to your rod. Apparently if a gar takes the lure the rope gets entangled in its teeth and they can’t break free. So far I have failed with the rope lure.
As far as location I’m of no help. My guess is if your water has them you will see them.
~JOE~
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Genoa Wisconsin on the Mississippi River caught a few not trying to seen a lot of them there
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The alligator gars are in the canals in our complex at Fourchon, La. year round. Most don't target them, but I have a few friends that love catching them. An 8" dead mullet under a cork with a steel leader and a small treble hook does the trick. Average size is 40-60 pounds. I've accidentally snagged many of them over the years and they generally fight good for about 5 minutes, then give up.
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Hit me up if you are serious.
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One of the regular posters here has caught a number in the DP river.
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Actually, all fish are prehistoric.
Thanks for all the info about gars! I did a google search and saw a post from Chicago Land Fishing dated back in August 2011. The post suggested two best areas to catch gars would be Rock Run Rockery and the Des Plaines Conversation area. I agree RonG that all fish are prehistoric but I was referring to gars as being called living fossils due to their primitive anatomy of having diamond shaped scales and a vertebrate that extends into the tail. Even though they have gills, they have a swim bladder that functions much like human lungs which allows them to breath air. By having this feature, they can live in water that would suffocate most other fish.
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