Jacks fork and Current GAR in March

[Amaxwell]

Hello,

I am from Minnesota and planning to spend 7 days paddling both the Jacks Fork and Current Rivers in the end of March. I am looking for a little advice as to what to expect this early in season. I am especially interesting in info on less sought after fish like Gar and Pickerel as I have never caught either. We have plenty of good trout and bass fishing were I am from so I have a better idea of how to target them. What kind of water temps should we expect to see? Will Gar be active and visible in the shallow or is this too early in year? Are they pretty common in these rivers ?

Thanks in advance

[Al Agnew]

In a normal spring, water temps on these two rivers should range from the upper 40s to the upper 50s by the end of March, depending upon amount of sunshine as much as anything unless there are major warm fronts or cold fronts.  The rivers have longnose gar, but I seldom see them very active until water temps get up into the 60s, so it might be a little early to target them.  Chain pickerel, on the other hand, are VERY active at those temperatures.  They are fairly common in slack water areas on the middle Current and on Jacks Fork below Alley Spring.  I've caught more of them on jerkbaits than anything else.

[Amaxwell]

Thanks for the response Al. I kinda figured Gar would be pretty non active this time of year. I still might have to try for them any thoughts on lure or locations to find them? What section of the current do you consider the middle ?

 

Thanks

[Al Agnew]

I call the middle Current Two Rivers to Big Spring.  The Jacks Fork and Big Spring are the two largest "tributaries" of the river, and each changes the river considerably.

I always see longnose gar in the larger, slower pools, but in the spring they make spawning runs upstream and into smaller tributaries.  For instance there are gar in the larger pools in the upper Jacks Fork all summer, but in the spring many of them move farther up the river and even into the two prongs to spawn, and will be in faster water.  Mostly this seems to happen beginning in mid-April.

As for catching them, it's pretty difficult to do with artificial lures.  Their snouts and gill plates are very hard and it's almost impossible to sink a hook into them.  They will chase spinnerbaits and crankbaits but they often don't bite, and when they do you can't hook them.  I know a couple guys who actually target them, and they mostly use live minnows--and you have to give the gar time to completely swallow the minnow and get it down into their gullet.  These guys have also tried the spinner with a length of frayed nylon rope instead of a hook--the theory is the gar get their teeth entangled in the rope.  It sometimes works.

[Gavin]

There are plenty of gar in the upper Jacks in the spring. I don’t target them but you will see them. The water is very clear. The Jacks starts late and ends early. Usually slow fishing until May, and done by the end of September.