Longnose Gar Update (3/10/2011)

[Wiggles92]

Now that the ice on the pond had thawed, I figured that I would see how my two longnose gars were doing after spending a few months under a sheet of ice. I only managed to catch one of them; the other one kept evading capture by darting under the output pipe for the pump.

This particular gar (Gar #2 from my previous update thread) didn't want to hold still for measuring, but I'm confident that it's around 16" long now which is I find to be a pretty good size considering that gars stop growing once the water reaches a certain low temperature in order to fatten up for winter. They haven't lost too much weight over the course of the winter, so that's always a good sign. I'm hoping to have these two gars be at least 20" long by the time Fall rolls around again but only time will tell. Now keep in mind that these two gars aren't even a year old yet, so they have plenty of growing to do still!

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

Nice. Summer wanna go find some more with me?? I want

Posted on mobile.monsterfishkeepers.com

 

[Madding]

Catch me a huge one...

 

[E_americanus]

LNG is looking good Ryan! Tank raised fish seldom compare to those fish that mainly live in ponds or the wild. Great colors, and I'm sure it will out more size on this season. Let us know when you catch the other one!--
--solomon

 

[Madding]

I should the measure the one you gave me, Ryan. It's probably a little smaller than your pics here. It's growth rate has been sluggish to say the least, but then that can happen at the 12" mark with most gars, right?

 

[pharmaecopia]

Very nice longnose. It will be interesting to see how they grow.

 

[Wiggles92]

Thanks everyone!

Nice. Summer wanna go find some more with me?? I want

Posted on mobile.monsterfishkeepers.com

Catch me a huge one...

Finding more longnose gars is on my list of things to do this summer. We'll have to set something up for catching some YOY ones and some bigger ones. I plan on starting to look in the middle of May; they should start spawning sometime around that point up through June, right?

LNG is looking good Ryan! Tank raised fish seldom compare to those fish that mainly live in ponds or the wild. Great colors, and I'm sure it will out more size on this season. Let us know when you catch the other one!--
--solomon

I should the measure the one you gave me, Ryan. It's probably a little smaller than your pics here. It's growth rate has been sluggish to say the least, but then that can happen at the 12" mark with most gars, right?

Very nice longnose. It will be interesting to see how they grow.

I know that this one is the smaller of the two based on the pattern near the base of the tail; it has a bunch of smaller spots in a somewhat straight line while the other one has larger spots. I'd venture a guess that the other one has to be at least 17-18".

These two gars plus the one that I sent Michael were all in aquariums up until early August for my two, and Michael's has been in an aquarium since I got it. My two were 12-14" and pretty slim when I put them in the pond; they put on a lot of body mass and a bit more length during the time in the pond in order to prepare for winter. I know that they typically have a very fast growth rate during their first season up here in the North in order to get as large as possible before Winter, so that's definitely a contributing factor.

I'm pretty sure that we decided back when I first got them that the one that Michael got may have been a runt of some sort because of its slower growth rate despite having appropriately-sized food constantly available like the other two did; in any case, that's probably preferable for a captive longnose gar considering the fact that they can get to be 3' long or longer in the wild. Of course then, it might also possible that the two big ones are just growing at an unusually fast rate; everything that I have read says that they get 12-15" in their first year (I guess my two missed the memo ).

 

[AOmonsta]

What size is your pond?

 

[Wiggles92]

What size is your pond?

The current pond that they are in is around 500 gallons; this pond has a bunch of goldfish in it plus a single small sunfish. They will be moved to a pond that's roughly 95,000 gallons during the summer so that they will hopefully have plenty of room in which to grow to their maximum potential; that pond contains other natives that they will be able to prey upon as they please.

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

Let me know hommie when you want to go. i work one every four days so i have tons of time available. mid june im in florida for a week but other than that let me know!! i want some!!