what do gar hit on?

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wckdkl0wn

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May 16, 2008
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Went to the ochlocknee river today. On the walk to where I usually fish I stopped at a small stream. I've never seen gar up close before. But there they were about 5 of them. Couple about 1.5ft and one really big one looked almost 3ft. Spots on their sides and long skinny mouth. Assuming aligator gar???? Anyway I could not get them to hit on anything. Live bait, liver, and lures with no luck. The little gar minnows I seen would follow my lure all the way in. (very tiny guys maybe about 2 inches)

Anyway, what do they hit on? I would really like to catch one. Is time of day important?
 
anything really.

its hooking them thats a b.tch.

those arent Alligator gar. they are longnose or spotted gar.

try any soft plastic with no wieght so you work it on the surface. use a stinger rig (two trebbles or one single with a trebble trailer)

also just thowing in a live or dead shad will get bit pretty quick. dont se weight, if you need weight to cast, put a bobber about 3ft up the line. that should help a bit and keep the bait from settling on the bottom. just make sure whatever you do, the presentation is SLOW! i got most of my bites on soft plastic jerk shads, just let them sink about 1-2ft down (right out of sight) and the Gar pick them up.
 
On the Ochlocknee river you could be seeing Longnosed, spotted or Florida gars. In this locality the Florida and spotted intergrade some.

Above works good for the Florida and spots but if they are longnosed this gets a bit more tricky. Rope lures work best on Longnosed. Small inline spinners and roostertails also really get these guys moving. Go for silvery blue colored ones.

Gar are most active during Dusk and dawn but may take at just about anytime opportunity strikes.
 
I get them to hit on shiney spinner lures anything that shines like a minnow. Sometimes I will catch one near weed beds when I attempt to catch a northern pike.
 
Yeah, gar will hit about anything and it sounds like you are seeing long nose gar. Like nativelover said, hooking them is the tough part. Their mouths are solid bone. For long nose gar take about a 4-6" piece of braided nylon rope and unravel it. Put a hook through one end so you can tie it on your line. The fish dont get hooked but what happens is their teeth get entangled in the rope so you can bring them in.
 
JD7.62;2030898; said:
Yeah, gar will hit about anything and it sounds like you are seeing long nose gar. Like nativelover said, hooking them is the tough part. Their mouths are solid bone. For long nose gar take about a 4-6" piece of braided nylon rope and unravel it. Put a hook through one end so you can tie it on your line. The fish dont get hooked but what happens is their teeth get entangled in the rope so you can bring them in.
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+1

Flo. Green is the best in murky water! Otherwise yellow!
 
JD7.62;2030898; said:
Yeah, gar will hit about anything and it sounds like you are seeing long nose gar. Like nativelover said, hooking them is the tough part. Their mouths are solid bone. For long nose gar take about a 4-6" piece of braided nylon rope and unravel it. Put a hook through one end so you can tie it on your line. The fish dont get hooked but what happens is their teeth get entangled in the rope so you can bring them in.
Click to expand...

That sounds like it doesn't hurt them as badly either.
 
for gar i usually use a baitholder hold not sure what size. and i use chicken/turkey skin. its really tuff, gar cant steal it off the hook. i also use a bobber and let the bait sit about 1-1.5 ft under the bobber. when the gar hits dont set the hook, their jaws are like pure bone. what theyll do is take it down chew it and run, itll stop every now and then and try to eat the bait. dont set the hook yet. set it the 2nd or 3rd time it stops to eat it. oh and dont lock the bail leave it open so it takes the line. and careful with the skin. too much skin and itll cover the point on the hook and it wont set.
 
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