Lepisosteus platyrhincus;4956119; said:
I'll give you and everyone else a heads up when I start to find some YOY gars. No point in planning too far ahead because I'd rather know that they are there before setting anything up in order to hopefully prevent disappointment. I'd say that we'd probably do this collecting trip during the late May to late June time frame with the beginning to middle of June being the mostly likely time frame.
I have a better idea of where to look in the river now: Apparently they have been known to spawn over smallmouth bass nests in order to take advantage of the fierce parental instincts of the bass (Goff 1984); otherwise I'll be checking submerged vegetation. Luckily, there is some submerged vegetation by my dock plus there are plenty of plants underwater and a bass nesting area directly across the rive from my dock, so we should be fine in that department. If all else fails, we can always take a drive up to Presque Isle Bay by Lake Erie where there should be tons of gars according to the PA Fish & Boat Commission.
Now if only we could legally acquire electrofishing equipment...
For anyone who is interested, here is a link to my reference for the areas to check for YOY longnose gars.
