(note - since this article was written I have found out how to clean and cook gar!)
Pictures of longnose gar and info about them from the Florida DNR
More on gar from Wikipedia
Gar are long, skinny fish with a snout full of teeth. Their snout or bill is used to catch prey and hold it. The teeth overlap outside the bill, so it is not a good idea to grab one by it unless you are wearing a glove. They have very tough scales and the mouth and bill are all bone, making them hard to hook.
Running trotlines or bank hooks baited with live minnows is a good way to catch gar. Back when I was putting out lots of hooks, I carried a frog gig in the boat. It helped to "release" a hooked gar - just gig it to keep it still while getting the hook out of its mouth. Then shake it off the gig and go on to the next hook.
Gar get big. You often see them surfacing like a dolphin during the summer. They leave a long oval splash rather then a round one like other fish. I saw one doing this while fishing with Vance Sharp at Bartletts Ferry many years ago. I picked up a rod with a Little Cleo spoon and cast to it. When it hit, I somehow hooked it in the corner of its mouth.
Fifteen minutes later I had the worn out gar by the boat. Vance asked "What are you going to do now?" A rag allowed me to grab it by the bill and a pair of needle nose pliers driven through its head stopped it. That fish was 48 inches long and weighted 14 pounds on my De-Liar.
Bartletts is full of gar. During a tournament, I cast a Carolina rigged worm near a willow tree. When it started moving out, I set the hook. I don't think I even got the fish's attention. That gar turned my boat in a circle three times before opening its mouth and releasing my worm. I saw it when it got off, it was on top of the water looking at me as if to say it was tired of playing.
That gar was the biggest I have ever seen. It was at least three times as big as the 14 pounder I landed. It was as long as my leg and at least as big around. I'm glad it let me go!
At Bartlett's there are several backwater ponds off the river. They are very shallow and you can see gar hanging around stumps in them. Bob Pierce and I were fishing in one and gar were everywhere. We had caught a few bass on white spinnerbaits in the same area. When a gar would chase it, we would speed up our retrieve to keep it away from them.
When the bass stopped hitting, Bob decided to play with the gar. He would run his spinnerbait near them and slow it down. Most would grab it. When he lost his fifth white spinnerbait, the last one he had, he gave up on that tactic! Gar teeth cut line almost as good as a knife.
Gar are interesting critters. I understand you can catch them by putting a piece of frayed nylon string on a spoon. Their teeth tangle in the string. A wire leader would help. It might be a good way to have some fishing fun during this hot weather.
