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Old July 8, 2002, 08:02 PM   #1
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Gar "fishing"

I realize this is the wrong place for this, but I saw a gar swimming around the docks last night at work, and now I'm semi-obsessed with the idea of catching one. From what little I've read, it seems a pistol is standard equipment for this type of fishing. Does anyone have any experience catching/spearing/bowfishing for gar?

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Old July 8, 2002, 08:25 PM   #2
Al Thompson
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(Gun related - .50 DE on your hip for close work)

LOL - we have'em by the ton down here. The term "poor man's tarpon" is one often used for gar. The key to catching them is to use sharp hooks and dead minnows for bait. I like a wire leader and a minimum of 15 lb. line.

Supposedly they have some great meat along the back bone. I have'nt tried it, but am assured it's true.

Best use for them seems to be rose bush food.

Gar also take a bunch of killing. In Texas, we used a hammer to smack'em on the head. If you have a safe area, no reason a .22 wouldn't work just fine.
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Old July 8, 2002, 09:01 PM   #3
Chuck Dye
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Don't try this at home!

The question brings to mind a neighbor in the mid 1950's who dazzled us kids by "shooting" fish in Lake Smith, outside Norfolk VA. He had an old outside hammer side-by-side long before I learned of coach guns and luparas. It was probably a 12 gauge, could have been a 10-to a gang of six year olds it was huge. It was also short. I remember being impressed that he told us he didn't shoot the fish, he shot next to it and stunned it. The fish had to be very close to the surface. We in the peanut gallery were not priveleged to be too close, but I do remember the awkward stance as he shot nearly straight down. I remember several good sized bass and a couple of small catfish in his take. It was probably illegal as hell then, certainly it is now.

Come to think of it, the peanut gallery was only welcome when he was coming out of the swamp around the lake, never when he was going in. Wonder if there was some 'shine involved.......
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Old July 8, 2002, 09:35 PM   #4
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Thanks for the info.

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Old July 10, 2002, 01:55 PM   #5
Dr.Rob
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Shooting fish is a West Virginia state sport, or so my Uncle claims.

Realisticly I've heard that 15ld test line, a steel leader and a bit of rope dragged in bacon grease works well to catch gar. (Apparently they cant get the rope off their teeth.

Hope it helps.
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Old July 10, 2002, 03:24 PM   #6
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Nylon rope, or poly rope works ok.

A piece of rotton meat with a small hook (one they can swallow) on a WIRE leader and a short piece of twine tied to an empty gallon milk jug work better. Throw that contraption in the bayou or canal and sit down on the bank and drink a few cold ones............when the jug starts looking like a torpedo going down the bayou get in your boat and follow it.................. You either have a gar or a big catfish.



A 22 works even better if they are near the surface ......... just don't get caught!
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Old July 10, 2002, 05:17 PM   #7
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I once heard of a great recipe for Gar, it went like this:

Cut a 2x4 3 inches longer than the caught fish

Use two nails to attach fish to 2x4

Season with paprika,salt and some oregano (mustard if ya like it)

Pop the whole thing in the oven set for 350 degrees for 45 minutes

Take fish out of oven and remove from 2x4

Throw fish out and serve 2x4 with your favoite garnish!

I couldn't resist!

Vince
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Old July 10, 2002, 09:23 PM   #8
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My friend and I have spent many nights in the bayou's and swamps of south Louisiana, bowfishing for gar. It's a lot of fun, but they're not as easy to get as it might seem. Their hide is really tough and slick, and on the most common sized ones (2-4" diameter) the arrow point will just glance off unless you hit in right in the center. If I remember correctly, we averaged about one fish for five shots. But we drank beer and had a blast until the sun came up or the Q-beam battery died out, whichever came first.
If quantity is what you're after, a multi-pointed spear is a better tool. I know of a guy who welded a spear head; it was about six inches wide, had four or five points, with barbs made from nails. The points had been ground very sharp, and not many gar ever got away. He could fill an ice chest easily in a night. I've always wanted to run into one of the huge alligator gars, which can get to six feet long, and weigh over 200 lbs., but the biggest I've ever gotten was around 5 lbs. Our bowfishing setup was geared to handle one of these dinosaurs if we ever got lucky enough; 90# test line, wrapped around a bowfishing reel, but only enough string for a long shot, (to the end of the light spot, about 20 yds.) then the end was tied to a plastic liter bottle which was velcro'd to the lower limb of the bow. If we ever shot something huge, it could pull off the bottle and we could keep track of it, and use whatever means necessary to kill it. There was usually a handgun in the boat.

By the way, gar can be good eating if you know what to do with them. Clean, debone, grind, and make gar fish balls, season and deep fry. I'm sure my cajun neighbor from down the bayou, SOUTHLA1 has tried this.
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Old July 10, 2002, 09:44 PM   #9
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Sorry, I forgot to mention a very important lesson learned from experience. (It has been a few years since I've bow fished.) When using a bowfishing arrow, solid fiberglass, there is a hole through the nock end of the arrow, which the string passes through, and follows the shaft of the arrow down to the point, where the string is tied. If you shoot a gar with this setup, the tough scales can quickly cut through the string when you are fighting the fish into the boat. You lose the fish, the arrow, and the point. The point of a fishing arrow is made to slip off the shaft after the fish has been shot, the barbs keeps the fish from getting off the line, and the arrow hangs from the nock end. The purpose of this design is to keep the fish from breaking the arrow if it starts to twist round and round. The ideal setup, we found, was to use steel leader through the point and crimped back to itself with a small loop, run the leader up the arrow shaft and through the hole near the nock end, and loop again through a heavy duty fishing swivel. Tie your bowfishing line to the swivel, and use electrical tape in one or two places along the shaft to keep the leader tight against the shaft while drawing and shooting. The swivel helps cut down the time you spend untangling your line after a shot, so you can get off quicker follow up shots. Trust me, these tips will make your experience more enjoyable.
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Old July 11, 2002, 07:54 AM   #10
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keano44, has it right about the gar fish balls....................talk about good chere! Of course you got to load em up with seasoning and stuff when you are making them. Put in some green onion tops, and add take some boiled potatos and mash them up and put a little of that in there too.

Some of the old timers would take the meat, par boil it and scrape it with a spoon to seperate it from the cartlidge..............that went out with dinosaurs. I just debone em and grind the meat. Old timers used to use a cane knife to head and tail em..............I use a hatchet or a skil saw (no bull)to head and tail em and a pair of tin snips to slit the belly skin and a good sharp Buck folding hunter to bone em.
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Old July 11, 2002, 12:04 PM   #11
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Louisiana gefilte fish??

What I really chimed in for is to recommend

http://fooddownunder.com/

a huge recipe data base with a lot of game and fish recipes. Be sure to look at more than one of the recipes for any given dish.


As to the 2x4 technique, it is much like the Aussie recipe for galah, the pink and grey cockatoo that flocks in such huge numbers it is an agricultural pest. Find a stone of about the same weight as the bird. Put stone and bird in the oven to roast. When the stone is done, so is the bird. Throw the bird away and eat the stone.

For the insult thread: Has been known to cook and eat coot (mudhen) more than once!
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Old July 16, 2002, 12:02 AM   #12
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This Topic makes something clear.

A fishing forum would be appropriate to add to the firing line.

Fishing and Hunting go together like Chocolate and Peanut Butter.

I like Bowfishing Sharks myself!
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Old July 16, 2002, 08:32 AM   #13
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I'll second Zorro's motion! Hell here you can fish 12 months a year but can only get caught hunting 7 months out of the year.
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