Longnose Gar

[Issiah]

Finally Landed one today  Hit a Crank Bait, and I managed to hook it's bill
Onondaga Lake

[fmck]

years ago on chautauqua lake i had a hummingbird lcr one of the first liquid crystal fish finders we were out at night and the alarm went off it showed a fish that was 66 inches i thought ok this thing is baked but up from the back of the boat came a dinosaur looking critter it was a gar we saw hundreds of them coming to the top i had one in the net that was so heavy i couldnt get it in the boat they were running with our baits but we couldnt hook them never saw such huge and ugly fish the scales looked like armour plating.wish digital cameras and such were around cause these were unbelievably huge fish..until that the biggest gar i saw in ny was probably 12 inches and a little bigger than a broomstick handle...they are freaky fish

[Raquettedacker]

Great catch Issiah...   They are the the coolest....

[fishermantim4]

They can be challenging to hook. Only one i recall catching was at chatauqua this spring and i was fishing minnows at night on a lighted bobber while having a few beers at the fire. Didn't take bobber under, but bobber appeared to be moving the wrong way with flow. I'll post a picture of mine later

[Issiah]

These fish were surfacing all over the place, It was crazy...  We saw a couple up around 3ft long. Not sure if they were spawning or what??

[1fish@atime]

Nice catch Bud!!! They are a lot of fun, I've never landed one. Saw a few swim by the boat on Champlain over 3'.
They were probably chasing bait fish. They will herd them into the shallows and then start swiping at them.
We saw one this spring cruise by with a bait fish in it's mouth crossways. After they were through the area a few bait fish were laying dead on the surface. Cool to see.

[Spikehorn11]

Nice one buddy. I've seen some good size ones while bowfishing that lake.

[Water Wolf]

Neat catch Issiah.
They are a neat looking fish indeed, I have only seen gar a few times in public aquariums.

WW

[perchpirate97]

The gar surface to breathe air. They are most often visible in large schools on hot, calm days. They can tolerate hot and poorly oxygenated water that other fish can't tolerate. If you want to catch them, use a piece of shredded nylon rope and make a rope fly. The rope gets tangled in their teeth, no hooks needed! These are amazing fish, they jump, rip drag, and are truly neat looking fish. One of my favorite fish to target, my biggest was 40".


Rope Fly in Action


Small Gar


40"

[Issiah]

I have similar rigs with nylon but they are like a spinner bait with rope trailer; haven't tried them yet. I'll be sure to bring them along next time we visit Onondaga Lake.  The fish we saw definitely looked like they were surfacing for air, didn't see any bait fish leaping or schooled in the area. I saw a couple surface that had some serious girth to them. How do you fish that rig PerchPirate?  Just reel it in or jig it?  Do you find that Gar are usually an aggressive fish?

[slipperybob]

Gar's can be aggresssive and will strike with near the torpedo speed of a Norther Pike. 

[bogmanjr]

Wouldn't want to get my finger in there. Neat catch Issiah.

[BAZOOKAJOE]

I got one about 7 lbs a couple of summers ago, on Cross Lake.  Hit a hot n tot crankbait.  My buddy got a nice gash from a tooth, while un-hooking it.

[perchpirate97]

Issiah, I rig them on a spinning rod with a weight about a foot above the fly for casting distance. I just use a slow retrieve. When you spot a school surfacing, let the fly sink and use a slow retrieve, I've caught a fair share suspended. I've noticed, just out of my own personal experience, that the steady retrieve works best. Any stop and go action really cuts down on hits, Maybe they get too good of a look at the fly. Nylon rope isn't too attractive compared to the realism of the latest crankbaits and live minnows. Most hits are reaction strikes. I'm still relatively new to fly fishing, so I have yet to give them a try on fly gear.

[Issiah]

Nice,  Thanx for the info, gonna have to get back out after em'