Alligator Gar

[Ralph Wiggum]

Did anyone read the article on alligator gar in this issue of In-Fisherman? It was awesome. I'd love to tangle with one of those. Has anyone here ever tried it?

[i got carps]

I was just down in Brownsville and gave it a try. None of the bait shops or anyone else for that matter knew anything about fishing for them at all. All I got was strange looks and "Why the hell would you want to catch one of those" quotes. After a few days of looking for some spots I found a few on the resacas that meander through town. First day I went out within ten minutes had one hooked and it pulled a heavy duty leader snap straight so the hook fell off. All I saw of this fish was a giant wake and a tail slash at the surface, judging by that I would guess the fish was in the five foot range. For the next few days of fishing I built a heavier leader/bobber rig that seemed to do the trick. I had a few bites but no hookups. They like to take the bait and run for a long time.. then they'll stop.... and then run again. It was kind of tough judging when to set the hook. I learned quite a bit while doing it and plan on catching one next time.

[catman71]

they have quite a few in the the 5 foot range in the aquariums at UnderWater World in Mall of America, pretty awsome. I don't know if i would know what to do if i caught one of those guys. Every once in a while you hear about a muskie "attack" up here, do you ever hear of a gar attack in the south?

[rundrave]

we dont have alligator gar in the missouri river here, but I have caught shortnose or longnose gar, I dont know how they are different than the alligator gar, but its not uncommon to catch gar down in Yankton, South Dakota at Gavins Point Dam when fishing the river.

[i got carps]

Shortnose and longnose gar don't get all that big whereas the Alligator Gar can get to be up to 300 lbs. or more.

[DTro]

Last week InFisherman did a special on the biggest fish in NorthAmerica, the Gar was one of the featured fish. They got one on tape that may have been the largest ever caught on video. It was a MONSTER. I think I'd be a bit scared.

It was probably the same segment they did the article on.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Yes, dtro, that's what the article was about. I wish I would have caught it on TV. The big one they caught was 230 pounds estimated.

[JollyT]

Years ago they did a story on these. Late '80s?? The alligator gar expert they hooked up with used plugs with the hooks replaced with nylon rope frayed into a horsetail. Their mouths are bony and give poor hookset. The nylon would get caught in the multiple rows of teeth.

I'll always remember a story they told. A guy out bass fishing had his lure bit off. As he was digging in his tackle box the lure floated up next to the boat. He started to reach over the edge to grab it and these two huge jaws exploded out of the water engulfing the lure!! Just like JAWS or something! Whenit floated up again, he very carefully used his net to retrieve it!!

[toonfish]

I saw the tv special......90+ inches.....can you imagine!!!

[sightfisher]

Hey i got carps. Did that new rod work well before the leader gave out?

[JIGSTER]

I used to live in San Antonio,TX. and Choke Canyon Res. south of there had monster alligator gar.I never tageted the gar but fished it many times for largemouth and white bass and you would see them quite often.My brother still lives in SA and guides waterfowl hunts on Choke,If you ever head down that way he could probably help ya out!! Good fishin' Jigster

[outdoor ran]

We had a guy bring one into the shop a few years ago to have it mounted, molded and have a repo of it. It was the world record alligator gar with a bow. Talk about a project, there skin is like armour plated. I can't remember off hand how big it is, its huge though. People have totaled there boats hitting these gar on the surface. They come up to the surface to porpoise. There awesome fish