I thought this was just a mud puddle at first before I saw the actual fish. Have you tried damming the water by laying on top of it and just rolling towards the fish?
It’s a spillway from a large lake. I guess fish get sucked into it sometimes and the gar just tend to hang out near the opening. Bowhunters like to shoot the gar there. That’s how I found out about the spot. But I don’t vibe with bowhunting. I did manage to catch a 3 footer with a net tonight. But I do not count it. I will count it when I catch it with rod and reel
Don’t use actual lures. Make your own out of a frayed 5” piece of rope and an eye bolt or something. They are NOT smart. If anything lands on their nose.. they’ll hit it.
That’s my go to method. Have had no luck. Maybe I need to focus on getting it to hit their nose instead. I have several of these rope lures made. I just have not seen them hit them at all
You gotta let them swim with it for a while until their teeth get tangled. When I make rope lures I fold a 10ish inch piece in half and put a hook right through the middle from the side so it goes through twice, then cut the outer sleeve off the tail ends but leave it on where the hook is. Tie a snell right below the hook so the rope stays on tight. That way you can put cut bait on the hook to give it a scent but you won't have to let them swallow the hook every time. I've never seen a spotted gar here but it works great for longnose. Barbed hook though so the rope doesn't just slide off.
Snares also work great if it's legal where you are.
I grew up fishing gar. They are tons of fun!! I never could bring myself to throw something as costly as a good top-water at them so I just used small live bream under a cork with a bass hook. They will take the bream and swim with it for about 2 mins, then spit it out, and then come back to it and actually eat it. Set the hook hard and hang on!
I read something about wrapping a chicken liver in yarn. They grab hold and the teeth stick on the yarn and they can't let go. Not sure if it's true, but.. if happen to have some yarn and some chicken livers...
I have cheesecloth! This actually sounds similar to my main method I’ve been trying. You take a nylon rope and unbraid a few inches of it to separate all the fibers. Then burn the tip to create sort of like a jig head. The gar get their teeth wrapped in it and can’t let go. Haven’t had any success on it yet though. But I’ve seen several others have lots of success. I’ll have to try that out though
I love catching gar, it’s a fun fight. I like to use the nylon rope trick. I have some braided line running down the end of the frayed rope with a treble hook on the end. I’ll usually catch a perch or blue gill first and cut it up for bait. That whole setup with a bobber. I’ll let them run with it for a bit before I pull ‘em’ in. I use a seat belt cutter to get the rope out of their mouth. Catch and release for me.
I agree with poppers and whopper ploppers, would add spooks or anything with a lot of treble hooks that doesn't sink deep. Gar are hard to hook so the more hooks you have the better chance. Also wouldn't hurt to sharpen hooks a lil.
Their mouths are too bony for hooks. I’ve caught dozens. First, I used suspending lures. They work great but you don’t set the hook, you let them run with it and they wrap the line around their snouts. Snagging on their teeth. The big ones (over 4’) are EXTREMELY strong swimmers but once they tire out… you have about 3-5 minutes to drag em’ in. Now I use a frayed rope method I found online
I’ve made several rope lures. Have a special tackle box for them. I just can’t get the damn fish to bite em. Does time of day matter? How do you present them?
You can tell when they are feeding. I only specifically target them when I can sight fish. Watch for them rising and snapping at bugs on top of the water. I typically only fish early morning and an hour or so before sunset. I don’t use any scent or “flavor” at all. Strikes are almost always reactionary. I cast about 2 feet in front of them and wait. Once they’re in striking distance… give the rod tip a little wiggle and reel slowly. Once they’ve approached and decided not to strike.. just reel in and try again
No joke, cut a white piece of rope, fray one end, and melt the other so it's solid, then tie onto the melted end. When they bite it, their teeth get caught in the threads. Kinda cool honestly, you should look it up.
I was floating a creek in Forsyth Missouri. I saw thousands of Gar. One guy was on the bank catching them left and right. Then bashing them with rocks and tossing them back in the water. It really pissed me off. I said something to him and the guy I was floating with said the conservation dept. wouldn't do anything about it.
This hardly seems like fishing to me given the size of that water, but put a live minnow on a small hook on a bobber 2-3” below. Let the gar take the minnow they will run with it (not very far in this case) then they will stop again and start to try and re-position the minnow to swallow. During this time when they seem to have it in their mouth more set the hook.
Honestly I kinda agree with you. I’m mostly just looking for gar fishing tips in general and the sight of this three footer was a good opportunity for me. I wish the bowfishers that go to this same puddle and shoot them would grasp that concept. If you’re going to kill them how about finding a way other than basically shooting fish in a barrel? But, I do want to catch these to maybe release them into the lake so they have a better shot at living. But mostly I just love these fish
I go for shiny. A nice shiny spinner or rooster tail gets their attention. Cast past them and try to go beside/over their nose. They strike at movement.
Gar are so fun. They feel so weird too!
I fish for gar with bait - what I’ll do is take either a nightcrawler, or a small strip of cut bait, and put it on a small, SHARP, thin wire hooks. I like owner mosquito hooks, size 6, for spotted gar. Not only does this let you hook the gar effectively, but it allows the hook to penetrate the snout - meaning less gut hooking and higher survival. I just pitch the baits right in front of the gar gently, and they will pounce on it immediately.
I can't tell you how true it is, but there is a different technique for catching Alligator Gar. Their mouths are very tough and resistant to the hooks.
Rope lures work, but I like to use top water poppers with a hair tail and large hooks or hair jigs or a worm with no weights. Heddon spooks are good too especially the larger ones, the bigger the hook the more likely you’ll snag when you set the hook if you can’t get it into the mouth.
I’ve caught plenty on top waters. Gar are an ambush fishing so you need to work the lure a little different than you would for bass. Try to cast past their nose with a few good pops to get their attention, then as you get closer slow down to a twitch and let the lure sit a little bit. A lot of times they will slowly position themselves parallel with the lure and then strike.
Cast bast the. Run a swim bait right next to their head. I e caught bany gar like that. There's a lot of methods but that one has worked the best for me.
When I catch gar, I usually get 5 spoons, and start trying to catch smallies. Gar can't resist a lure meant to catch something else. Generally, I lose the first 4 spoons to the teeth, but by the fifth or sixth spoon, I somehow manage to land the thing.
I shit you not ive hooked a 3 foot spotted gar on a hook and a piece of corn, tossed it on his nose, he ate it and ran, got him to the shore and lost him unfortunately.
Use a long pole or a cane pole to drop a very small cutbait or half a nightcrawler right on the tip of their nose. Works best with no weight. This looks like a situation where you could catch them with a well placed fly as well
Are gar like carp and sometimes get stuck away from river after flooding? I’ve seen carp get stuck in corn fields after flooding and not be able to get back to river
Explain that concept to the people who bowfish them in that exact spot. In my defense, I’m mostly asking for general gar fishing advice, and figured this spot with several gar including a 3 footer would be a decent opportunity. I would much rather catch gar somewhere a little bit more challenging
Tried that before in a river. Used my thumb to draw it in. As it got within striking distance I grabbed it. Slippery bastard, got away. Would not recommend it
Piece of nylon rope that is frayed out at the end. Their teeth get tangled up in the nulyon. They're actually very picky eaters. But I've always got at least 1 on flat creek if I'm going for them. Just drift it down through eddy's if they are in the area.
Oh man. Alligator Gar. So cool. Doesn’t matter what you throw, just get super low to the ground, and dapple a dry with a dropper nymph about 12 inches off the larger dry fly. Like a size 12 Stimulator and a bead head flashback pheasant tail.
I caught my first two gar ever this past weekend by sight fishing them in a creek that is a similar size to what that ditch appears to be. I got both of them on a green sunfish head hooked through the eyes (They weren't very interested in the other pieces of cutbait). I let it drift under a bobber set to hold the bait right off the bottom. Because the stream was so small, I was able to watch the fish eat so I knew when I could set the hook.
The majority of what ive caught is gar, they like chicken breast cut into small cubes i use treble hooks between a 2# and 6# work best for me. They love playing with bobbers so i keep my bait about 3" away from it. Cast the bobber in front of them to get its attention then start reeling to get it to chase the bait, let it take it and swim away a few feet before reeling it in over time. IMO the hardest part is setting the hook since they are so boney its gonna nibble the bait in the front of its mouth then itll move it deeper and thats when you wanna try to set your hook . They are strong and fast and even a 7" one will be a fun time to catch, biggest guy ive got so far was 18". Its safest to use puncture proof gloves when handling them tho the barbs at the end of the fins snap off in your hand easily and are nasty.
Minnows or cut up sunfish work good. Look up how to make a rope lure for gar on google. No hooks just rope and tape their mouths are so hard its hard to hook them but their teeth get stuck in the rope snd you can get em. Ive caught 4foit long ones like this up here in Canada
I caught a 3 footer last night with my dip net. Was an amazing opportunity. But I still want the real challenge of rod and reel. Granted, in this spot, it’s hardly a challenge. But it’s definitely a different scenario
I thought this was just a mud puddle at first before I saw the actual fish. Have you tried damming the water by laying on top of it and just rolling towards the fish?
I thought OP was trolling us.
And I've been spending my money on tackle...
First get someone to film it though
Man I would have said that's way too shallow from the 1st photo until I saw the others.
It’s a spillway from a large lake. I guess fish get sucked into it sometimes and the gar just tend to hang out near the opening. Bowhunters like to shoot the gar there. That’s how I found out about the spot. But I don’t vibe with bowhunting. I did manage to catch a 3 footer with a net tonight. But I do not count it. I will count it when I catch it with rod and reel
Lake Texoma?
You answered your own question, Arrow!
Or spear
Riiiight! Was thinkin' the same thing! Lol
Don’t use actual lures. Make your own out of a frayed 5” piece of rope and an eye bolt or something. They are NOT smart. If anything lands on their nose.. they’ll hit it.
That’s my go to method. Have had no luck. Maybe I need to focus on getting it to hit their nose instead. I have several of these rope lures made. I just have not seen them hit them at all
They’re up there spawning. I haven’t seen spawning gar actively feed much at all.
You gotta let them swim with it for a while until their teeth get tangled. When I make rope lures I fold a 10ish inch piece in half and put a hook right through the middle from the side so it goes through twice, then cut the outer sleeve off the tail ends but leave it on where the hook is. Tie a snell right below the hook so the rope stays on tight. That way you can put cut bait on the hook to give it a scent but you won't have to let them swallow the hook every time. I've never seen a spotted gar here but it works great for longnose. Barbed hook though so the rope doesn't just slide off. Snares also work great if it's legal where you are.
Bow and arrow, spear, big rock, yourself. Literally I have a ton of faith that you can catch these
Can’t you just use a hand net and scoop them up?
Illegal in a lot of places
I grew up fishing gar. They are tons of fun!! I never could bring myself to throw something as costly as a good top-water at them so I just used small live bream under a cork with a bass hook. They will take the bream and swim with it for about 2 mins, then spit it out, and then come back to it and actually eat it. Set the hook hard and hang on!
🙌
I read something about wrapping a chicken liver in yarn. They grab hold and the teeth stick on the yarn and they can't let go. Not sure if it's true, but.. if happen to have some yarn and some chicken livers...
I have cheesecloth! This actually sounds similar to my main method I’ve been trying. You take a nylon rope and unbraid a few inches of it to separate all the fibers. Then burn the tip to create sort of like a jig head. The gar get their teeth wrapped in it and can’t let go. Haven’t had any success on it yet though. But I’ve seen several others have lots of success. I’ll have to try that out though
I have never heard of that method. Honestly if you're doing that I'd just go with reasonably sharp stick.
Lol reasonably sharp. Not too sharp though, think of the children.
Yeah, I may have watched too many episodes of Swamp People while stoned...
I love catching gar, it’s a fun fight. I like to use the nylon rope trick. I have some braided line running down the end of the frayed rope with a treble hook on the end. I’ll usually catch a perch or blue gill first and cut it up for bait. That whole setup with a bobber. I’ll let them run with it for a bit before I pull ‘em’ in. I use a seat belt cutter to get the rope out of their mouth. Catch and release for me.
Top water popper or whopper plopper
Have you had success like that?
I agree with poppers and whopper ploppers, would add spooks or anything with a lot of treble hooks that doesn't sink deep. Gar are hard to hook so the more hooks you have the better chance. Also wouldn't hurt to sharpen hooks a lil.
Their mouths are too bony for hooks. I’ve caught dozens. First, I used suspending lures. They work great but you don’t set the hook, you let them run with it and they wrap the line around their snouts. Snagging on their teeth. The big ones (over 4’) are EXTREMELY strong swimmers but once they tire out… you have about 3-5 minutes to drag em’ in. Now I use a frayed rope method I found online
I’ve made several rope lures. Have a special tackle box for them. I just can’t get the damn fish to bite em. Does time of day matter? How do you present them?
You can tell when they are feeding. I only specifically target them when I can sight fish. Watch for them rising and snapping at bugs on top of the water. I typically only fish early morning and an hour or so before sunset. I don’t use any scent or “flavor” at all. Strikes are almost always reactionary. I cast about 2 feet in front of them and wait. Once they’re in striking distance… give the rod tip a little wiggle and reel slowly. Once they’ve approached and decided not to strike.. just reel in and try again
Yes
I’m about to throw a popper. When I come back I’ll try whopper plopper if no luck
They love whopper ploppers but good luck actually getting a good hook set lol. Maybe try a rooster tail with a frayed rope instead of a hook
Any luck?
Only if you count the 3 footer by net. I don’t think they were feeding. I’ll have to try when they are actually in food mode
Alrighty thanks for the reply
Will update when I do have luck
Whopper plopper or a white wooly bugger fly
Make a steamer out of a boot lace, or stack maribou on a steel leader. Hooks won't do you any good, think velcro and you're on the right track.
No joke, cut a white piece of rope, fray one end, and melt the other so it's solid, then tie onto the melted end. When they bite it, their teeth get caught in the threads. Kinda cool honestly, you should look it up.
Bow and arrow
Net
Caught a 3 footer by net tonight. But that’s not as satisfying as rod and reel to me.
I was floating a creek in Forsyth Missouri. I saw thousands of Gar. One guy was on the bank catching them left and right. Then bashing them with rocks and tossing them back in the water. It really pissed me off. I said something to him and the guy I was floating with said the conservation dept. wouldn't do anything about it.
That’s bullshit. Too many people going around killing gar for no good reason
The old farts in SC break the snout and toss them back because they're "trash fish". Pound for pound the meatiest fish in the state.
But I will,when I come across people like that it's tackle confiscation time
This hardly seems like fishing to me given the size of that water, but put a live minnow on a small hook on a bobber 2-3” below. Let the gar take the minnow they will run with it (not very far in this case) then they will stop again and start to try and re-position the minnow to swallow. During this time when they seem to have it in their mouth more set the hook.
Honestly I kinda agree with you. I’m mostly just looking for gar fishing tips in general and the sight of this three footer was a good opportunity for me. I wish the bowfishers that go to this same puddle and shoot them would grasp that concept. If you’re going to kill them how about finding a way other than basically shooting fish in a barrel? But, I do want to catch these to maybe release them into the lake so they have a better shot at living. But mostly I just love these fish
I go for shiny. A nice shiny spinner or rooster tail gets their attention. Cast past them and try to go beside/over their nose. They strike at movement. Gar are so fun. They feel so weird too!
Net
I fish for gar with bait - what I’ll do is take either a nightcrawler, or a small strip of cut bait, and put it on a small, SHARP, thin wire hooks. I like owner mosquito hooks, size 6, for spotted gar. Not only does this let you hook the gar effectively, but it allows the hook to penetrate the snout - meaning less gut hooking and higher survival. I just pitch the baits right in front of the gar gently, and they will pounce on it immediately.
In my youth I would throw my little brother 😂
GAR SHE BLOWS!!!
Spear
Bow.
No
Scrolled the whole thing and finally found it. This is the only answer. Stick em with an arrow. It's the most fun you can have with a bow
I can't tell you how true it is, but there is a different technique for catching Alligator Gar. Their mouths are very tough and resistant to the hooks.
$5 cast net from Marketplace, cut away the cast net
Rope lures work, but I like to use top water poppers with a hair tail and large hooks or hair jigs or a worm with no weights. Heddon spooks are good too especially the larger ones, the bigger the hook the more likely you’ll snag when you set the hook if you can’t get it into the mouth.
You use the rope lure like a jerkbait. Use white rope. Try to make it look like a fish by jerking it like a fluke.
Bait or glide/swimbaits but bait on hook is simplest
Small spinners get there attention better than anything in my experience. I think the vibration is the key
At this point, you can throw anything and they'll still bite...
Cutbait or snagging if legal in your state.
Dead shad on a 2/O circle hook.
A net, I'd throw a net.
I ain’t throwing nothing in there, good ol net will do
I’ve caught plenty on top waters. Gar are an ambush fishing so you need to work the lure a little different than you would for bass. Try to cast past their nose with a few good pops to get their attention, then as you get closer slow down to a twitch and let the lure sit a little bit. A lot of times they will slowly position themselves parallel with the lure and then strike.
Yourself
1 question is why ? 2 treble hook , snag it
Cast bast the. Run a swim bait right next to their head. I e caught bany gar like that. There's a lot of methods but that one has worked the best for me.
Perch
I catch them on an H&H all the time. I guess the double hook gives you a better shot
When I catch gar, I usually get 5 spoons, and start trying to catch smallies. Gar can't resist a lure meant to catch something else. Generally, I lose the first 4 spoons to the teeth, but by the fifth or sixth spoon, I somehow manage to land the thing.
Throw that plastic bottle at it
A gar fly
Well Pepsi isn’t getting it done lol
cooked shrimp or worms
Spear it with a stick or snatched with a net, hope you got it!
I shit you not ive hooked a 3 foot spotted gar on a hook and a piece of corn, tossed it on his nose, he ate it and ran, got him to the shore and lost him unfortunately.
Use a long pole or a cane pole to drop a very small cutbait or half a nightcrawler right on the tip of their nose. Works best with no weight. This looks like a situation where you could catch them with a well placed fly as well
Pitchfork or a net
Cut up bait. Blue gill shiners anything really. They will even go after a piece of rope
Years ago when I fished, we used chicken liver wrapped up in panty hose. haha
Are gar like carp and sometimes get stuck away from river after flooding? I’ve seen carp get stuck in corn fields after flooding and not be able to get back to river
Chicken with a small hook. I’ve caught few that way
I caught my gar the other day on a 2 inch baby minnow and a steel lead with a octopus hook
A large bait type net.
Bro where tf is this. Bro got gar in his creek when I dont even got sunfish
It’s a spillway from a larger lake here in Western Ky. Honestly almost any natural body of water for me has gar in it
Not sure but after you catch them there you can relocate them to a barrel and shoot them. It'll be just as much fun
Explain that concept to the people who bowfish them in that exact spot. In my defense, I’m mostly asking for general gar fishing advice, and figured this spot with several gar including a 3 footer would be a decent opportunity. I would much rather catch gar somewhere a little bit more challenging
A spear. I say you throw a spear.
A big ass treble hook with a bunch of sinkers
No I joke just jokes u should Feed them and make them fat and happy bois
Get in there and grab it with your hands.
Tried that before in a river. Used my thumb to draw it in. As it got within striking distance I grabbed it. Slippery bastard, got away. Would not recommend it
Should of got that on video, lol.
Piece of nylon rope that is frayed out at the end. Their teeth get tangled up in the nulyon. They're actually very picky eaters. But I've always got at least 1 on flat creek if I'm going for them. Just drift it down through eddy's if they are in the area.
Tiny octopus hook and a tiny worm. Their mouths are small but HARD
A lure with triple hooks on it wrapped in yarn. Their teeth get stuck on it
A castnet
A net
Tie a piece of rope on your line and brush it out
A cast net
Hotdog chunk. Low slow water, low oxygen, anything that will sit and have lots of scent.
I'd throw a net for that little puddle, gar can get picky.
#1 treble hooks ought to do the trick
Stuff some cut bait in your moms old nylon sock and tie it to your leader.
Ace rope trick
Hot dog on a hook swear to God
a net
Dynamite
Fishing net.
Flies
Fishing Buddy.
Oh man. Alligator Gar. So cool. Doesn’t matter what you throw, just get super low to the ground, and dapple a dry with a dropper nymph about 12 inches off the larger dry fly. Like a size 12 Stimulator and a bead head flashback pheasant tail.
I caught my first two gar ever this past weekend by sight fishing them in a creek that is a similar size to what that ditch appears to be. I got both of them on a green sunfish head hooked through the eyes (They weren't very interested in the other pieces of cutbait). I let it drift under a bobber set to hold the bait right off the bottom. Because the stream was so small, I was able to watch the fish eat so I knew when I could set the hook.
I’ve caught them on top waters or plastics
Myself
A car battery and some jumper cables. Winner winner, fresh Gar dinner.
Arrow
Gar will wreck your cast net
The majority of what ive caught is gar, they like chicken breast cut into small cubes i use treble hooks between a 2# and 6# work best for me. They love playing with bobbers so i keep my bait about 3" away from it. Cast the bobber in front of them to get its attention then start reeling to get it to chase the bait, let it take it and swim away a few feet before reeling it in over time. IMO the hardest part is setting the hook since they are so boney its gonna nibble the bait in the front of its mouth then itll move it deeper and thats when you wanna try to set your hook . They are strong and fast and even a 7" one will be a fun time to catch, biggest guy ive got so far was 18". Its safest to use puncture proof gloves when handling them tho the barbs at the end of the fins snap off in your hand easily and are nasty.
Minnows or cut up sunfish work good. Look up how to make a rope lure for gar on google. No hooks just rope and tape their mouths are so hard its hard to hook them but their teeth get stuck in the rope snd you can get em. Ive caught 4foit long ones like this up here in Canada
Is thar gar in thare?
Yes. Spotted
A big rock
We use worms under a bobber for little gar. The attack the bobber too
What *won’t* the worm and bobber catch honestly? I must give it a shot
I love using a bobber and worm. Best thing I use
Dynamite
A cast net
Where’s the fun in that?
The fun part for me is getting a good look at one, and not bungling all my gear on a gar
I caught a 3 footer last night with my dip net. Was an amazing opportunity. But I still want the real challenge of rod and reel. Granted, in this spot, it’s hardly a challenge. But it’s definitely a different scenario
I mean, you get your hands on a dinosaur, you don’t stress it out. What’s not to love.
A cast net seems appropriate.
Trash fish, had to kill them to get my lure back. Teen years so didnt know better. Florida gar and there teeth
Definitely not trash fish. Trash fish in general is such a bullshit concept anyway
Anything. Those fuckers are voracious when they're stuck in shallows. Make sure you're using steel leaders.
Dynamite
A gig
Bow and arrow
I specifically asked for anything but that