Take a look at this

[sms_alum]

Anybody actually fish for these (alligator or longnose)gar in Missouri? I have gotten into them by accident several times both on the fly rod and spinning gear. I'll have to look for some pictures but some freinds and I caught some mamoth's by Missouri standards on the finley river. Also have caught a few fairly nice size one on the Meramac.

The longnose are nearly inpossible to catch on a hook and if you do they usually will cut the line with their teeth. I will keep a fly/lure I will throw with a spinning rod at them. It just consists of a strip of frayed up nylon that get tangeled in there teeth.

Anybody else have any local (Missouri/Arkansas) stories on these things.

[jOrOb]

I hooked one about 5 ft long on Bull Shoals last year stripping a wooley off a rocky point. Seems they like olive and herl. I couldn't land him of course because of the reallllllyyyy hard mouth, but he held on for a pretty intense couple of minutes.

I have seen them on BS come up near the boat and they looked about 15 feet long. In reality, the biggest I remember was estimated at 8 ft but might not have been that big. But those were long nosed gar and they don't have the body mass of an aligator gar.

The Arkansas River used to be the primo location for big Aligators until they fished them nearly to extinction. Some said they had, but they are finally showing up again. Common practice then was to bring the brute near the boat and shoot him with a bow and arrow.

jOrOb

[Seth]

I would love to go bow fishing for those monsters one of these days. That would be a blast seeing something that big roll up besides you.

[MoCarp]

I would love to go bow fishing for those monsters one of these days. That would be a blast seeing something that big roll up besides you.

you can catch them on a rod and reel as well--then you have the option of release--infact there was a recent program on infisherman recently...besides what are you going to do with 15 or 20 ---15O pound dead alligator garfish?

Mo

[Fox Statler]

Lewis and Clark documented that their canoes were attacked three times by monsters of the river, either large catfish or alligator gar. The largest alligator gar found in my library of fish books is from Moon Lake, Mississippi just below Memphis. There is a picture of an alligator gar over 10 feet long on some boards that are on a couple of sawhorses. A black man is sitting behind the fish is longer for the back of its gills to its snout than the man is from his waist to the top of his head. There are no alligator gar in the White River above the confluence of the Black River supposedly, none in the lakes. Gar eggs are poisonous to humans. The loin (down its back) is very good eating, best when hot, all other parts are boney. The range of the Alligator Gar is the lowland rivers and major rivers of the Ohio River, the Mississippi River below the confluence of the Ohio to the Gulf of Mexico, the lowland waters of Arkansas River and lowland coastal rivers of Louisana, Alabama, Georgia, and eastern Texas

Longnose Gar are most common species in our area and during the spring spawn they migrate to the gravel shoals of our small streams to scatter their eggs (they don't build a nest or reed). Groups of a few to a hundred are common during this time. They often choose shoaly areas so small that their backs and half of their bodies are out of the water during the spawn. They position themselves in the shoal facing upstream and as many as twenty or more as close together as possible.

Hooks are not needed to catch gar (their jaw has a very thin layer of skin over the bone, no meat). A frayed nylon rope tail with a red, hot pink, and chartruese rabbit strip head tied on a piece of wire(piano wire) is all that is need at this time. Gar are air breathers when the oxygen level is not adequate and are often easy to catch in the shade during the hottest days in the summer. Sight fishing is your best bet. Gar also favor the shallow water at the mouth opening of a small stream that empties into a larger river. They often lay in these area scavenging and picking off minnows that frequent these silted areas. The oxbow lakes of lowland rivers are often full of large gar.

When snagged (their teeth entangle in the frayed nylon), they barrow roll or roll like a log wrapping their mouth shut on the fly. Because their small, extremely sharp, teeth protrude out of their mouths in all directions, getting untangled is nearly impossible. In shallow water gar, become quite aerial with lots of tail-walking, leaps, and jumps. They are extremely stout, strong fish requiring steel leader to hold them because even their scale have sharp points. When tail-walking, because of their long strong bodies, it is not uncommon to have them snap your rod or yank it out of your hand.

I used to fish for them quite often with fly and spin fishing equipment. I have landed several over 5 feet long in Bull Shoals in the creek arms, and the Spring and Black Rivers. However, because mounting a fish is charged by the inch, a 6 footer would cost well over $300. I don't think I want to spend that much money on a gar or carp or any other fish mount. Always take a heavy leather gloves when gar fishing and I mean heavy like a pair of welder's glove. You can't handle a gar bare handed without bleeding.

[rainbow]

These guys are from the St. Louis area. Check out their website, there are some neat video clips. http://www.aimlowproductions.com/ Both of these guys post on the old cafe and outdoormissouri.com the gar is a Texas record.

[retroaction man]

wow that is huge.

[jscheetz]

Great info Fox!

I too have studied the plight of the monster gar. They used to be so plentiful in some rivers that you could catch several "monsters" in one day's fishing. Most guys would just hook them, then play them for awhile and shoot them in the head and unhook them when they got near the boat and then just let them drift, while they went on to catch more. There are several articles written from the early days that document boats out fishing and watching dead giant gar float by from "sportsman" upstream who had killed them and caste them away. Pure waste.

I can't figure out what the attraction is to kill a magnificent and fairly rare animal of this size. I guess man's unsatiable thirst for killing everything in sight is not likely to be quenched anytime soon with the likes of these guys still out there.

JS

[MoCarp]

I was born and raised in the Mobile Delta area where these where common--when I was a kid (long ago) fish 7-8 feet where the norm

with the odd fish as long as the wood green and white 14' Jon boat, that we sculled through the canals, sloughs, and bayous of my youth--we fished for "Green Trout" ( Largemouth bass) "Bull Bream" (bluegills) and "Goggle Eye" (warmouth)

we used a red glass 9 foot flyrod and and old automatic fly reel the set flat to the butt and you wound it like a watch. when you squeezed a lever--the green floating line would just fly in!--

we used Betts brand of "popping bugs" and caught lots of fish--every once in a while a big 'Gator Gar would rise up and gulp air and scare the BeJesus out of us,

I need to go back and do that again, I can still remember the smell of the air and water when I close my eyes and drift back to those fond formative experances--I guess it one of the reasons my passion became fishing

Mo

[Danoinark]

dang!!!!!!!!!! cut him open and see what the heck that guy eats

NO cut him open and see WHO he ate!

I have to agree with JS, they are magnificant creatures.

Dano