How to net baby young gars from the wild?

[Mercury2234]

Greetings all and Happy Holidays,

I recently became aware from calling local bait shops that most fishermen consider gars as an abundant species around the area. I live in Orlando, FL btw. Indeed, they said some places they dont even bother to fish because the only thing you will catch are gars.

They are mostly if not all florida gars though as alligators tend to be in the far north.

Anyhoo, was wanting to see if anybody has any experience catching the smaller young ones (preferably around 4-6"). I was wanting a detailed explanation based on your experiences in terms of:

Seasonality: I was told that only in July time that the little ones are spawned...not source or validity with this statement whatsoever...heard from bait shop.
Equipment: Net, or hook?
Techniques: For how long do you leave a casting net?
Bait: live or dead?
Acclimation methods: how long do you quarantine?
And so on...any more additional information would be appreciated...

Thanks all,

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

i know they catch them with a dip net. search at night with a flash light i think. wait till solomon chimes in

 

[Mercury2234]

Oh FYI, I was wanting to do this as kind of a hobby type(kind of like Saturday basketball) with buddies (around 26-30 years of age) with possibly some beers involved.

Will that be bad? In other words, does this require the utmost skillset and attention where it could possibly be boring for the average joe (but not us MFK)? I was wanting to find the most beautiful gar possible, possibly a whole black one...

Yeah, as you can possibly tell...single bachelor that has all the time in the world...

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

beer and boat is never a good idea. unless its a party boat. there are some great gar places if u know were to look. just remember if u find some melanistic and some xanthic or any other color morphs ull share the love with ur MFK buddies.
you have a pm!

 

[Spatula]

With all due respect, I would find it hard to fish without a beer or two and I am by no means a big drinker. Unfortunately Gars are not native where I live so I have never caught any, but I do fish allot and know that a few beers can never hurt.
Now as far as the actual technique... I would try to use a flash/spot light at night with some wet catfood as chum. Not sure if it works for freshwater fish as I only fish saltwater but Wet catfood with a bright light will attract any predatory fish around, then I would try to scoop them out with a net.

If you are going to use fishing tackle then I recommend that you do what I do when catching fish for your tank (I have saltwater tank as well, with sharks, rays and bass that I have all caught). I use a pretty small hook and then I remove the barb. If you can't snip it off or whatever then use pliers and press it down flat, that way it won't barb the fish. It's a little bit more tricky to catch them without a barb, but it makes removing the hook ALLOT more simple and does almost zero damage to the fish. I have found the more damage done to a fish from catching it, the longer it takes for them to start taking food again. Most of the fish I catch with barbless eat the very next day. Hope all this helps.

 

[conig]

light and cast net is what i would do, they seem to get in the cast net when I am trying to catch bait. then i go looking for gar and see none.

 

[Spatula]

light and cast net is what i would do, they seem to get in the cast net when I am trying to catch bait. then i go looking for gar and see none.

OK, well then just try to catch bait and it sounds like you'll get one.