JarrodRuggles 0 Report post Posted August 24, 2005 yep, you guessed it! The suns up in the heat of the day and camoed alligator gar are on their hourly patrols. At this point almost any sound you hear is a gar rollin. Suddenly from behind, 50 ft, get em on your backcast. The fly drops and instantly hes intrested. Strip Strip....whoaaa...slow down, wait, wait, get his attention, STRIP. HE SEES IT!! now comon strip strip!!! Wack! He missed it. Again! he missed!! Slowly now, slowly, OK ....hes got it now. Wait for him to take it down a little....OK NOW SET THE HOOK!!!!!SET THE HOOOK!! sound familiar? Have you ever noticed how tarpon and gar have a lot in common? Mainly there both aggressive predators. Even if you dont live near the ocean you can still get the thrill of that aggression. Any river that has slow warm water with weedlines and tall grass theres gonna be gar. For me, its a small backwater that literly holds hundreds of gar! There very easy to catch but now its a matter of hooking them. Now I havent been targeting gar for long now but I know a few tricks to hook them. Heres my basic set up. ... Start with an 8 wt rod if your targeting fairly descent sized fish. For me its fish in the range of 10 - 20 lbs. But if the gar in your area are only 5 - 10 lbs a 7 wt or even a 6 wt will work. A good reel would be the best choice but its not necessary. Gar will run but you can give them pretty good drag with your hand. Dont get burnt though Now you need a good leader. About a foot and a half of 20 - 30 lb mono is good for a bite guard. Tie a loop in the end of the bite guard. Then braid about six inches of 12 lb line so its a stiffer transition to the bite guard. That will keep everything from just plopping down on its self. Tie a loop in each end of the braided mono. Then followed by about 6-8ft of 12- 15 lb mono for the leader material. Loop all of them together and you have a suffiecent gar leader. THE FLIES........ A gar will attack basically any streamer out of annoyance. I use tarpon flies with a short shank. Black, olive, and white are good choices. Or tie some large flies out of craft hair. The flies arent as important as the hooks. You wanna use a size six treble as a trailer hook because gar are notorious for hitting short. Hestitate a little at the strike which will put the hook further back. You wanna have some long needle nose pliers and gloves so that your not harmed and the fish arent harmed. Hang On! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted August 25, 2005 Now let's see some pictures! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JarrodRuggles 0 Report post Posted August 25, 2005 I would have put some up but camera and sister gone to college Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rybolov 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2005 I've heard of "coarse fishing" before, but I think this is about as low as it gets. Sounds like a ton of fun, too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ralph Jones 0 Report post Posted November 21, 2005 I've heard & read that you don't need a hook for Gar. Unravel a piece of nylon rope & tie it to your line. when the Gar takes it it will tangle in it's teeth. As for this being true... ? Ralph Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HideHunter 0 Report post Posted November 22, 2005 Ralph.. It does work. I tied up a couple of baits for my son a few years ago. He had a ball catching gar. They'll even do the Tarpon Tail Walk occasionally. The *best* thing was many of them 'came loose' right at the bank. *Not* handling gar is the best way I've found to *not* get hurt. My hands always end up looking like I've been sacking cats. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
