Gar Pike

[wayne offord 0]

I have found tons of information on most every fly I have wanted to ty, but there is very little in the way of gar pike flys, both on this site and youtube. I am unsure as to what rope and materials to use, any help?

 

[Steve P 0]

For rope flies I use the core or of para cord. I'm not a really big fan of rope flies but I do use and fish them. I tie knots in the end and put a drop or two of zap a gap in the knot. Most of the time I use #10 or #6 nymph hooks and a rabbit strip simply tied on the top of the hook shall. A strong strip set will bury the point into the boney nose of a gar.

 

Steve

[mikechell 0]

Gar ... Pike ... two different species of fish. But local names do vary.

I use a 6" section of good quality soft nylon rope. I say good quality, meaning very small diameter fibers. Less expensive nylon ropes usually have larger fibers.

Tie one end onto your choice of hook. In my experience, the hook doesn't even need to be there.

Comb out the fibers so they are free of each other all the way to the head.

The fibers move wonderfully through the water, look very good and make for a good lure. When a Gar strikes, it snaps it's head sideways, clamping down on the prey. The nylon fiber get entangled in the teeth and jaws, and it's "fish on!"

I don't fish this way unless I am sight fishing for Gar, anymore. I've had bass suck this lure in, and then had to keep them because the fibers got tangle in their gills. Be careful where you use this set up.

[FlaFly 0]

Mike

I wondered about that when I first saw the post. Gar are common warmwater fish in the south. Pike are in an entirely different family and a coldwater group, but I waited to see since the originator of the post is from Ontario, and maybe garpike is a local name.

 

At any rate Wayne, you might find more answers in the Coldwater forum, as I'm almost sure you didn't intend to ask about the warmwater fish.

[mikechell 0]

Gar inhabit many waters, including the "cold" water of the North. I remember bow hunting them in upper Indiana back in the ... a long time ago.

[ditz2 0]

One of our other contributors use a fly he ties called a 'Squirrelly on a #10 hook. He uses them on his loosiana gar amongst other species.

[FlaFly 0]

When I fished in Caddo Lake on the Texas/Louisiana border, there were gigantic alligator gar. People fished for them with hookless lure, don't know what they were made of, but the fish is supposed to get his teeth caught in the lure.

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

ditz2 is right. That little grey squirrel tail hair fly is hard for them to resist and the little #10 hook sticks them every time just like Steve P said. Now, I'm not talking about four feet or larger garffish but the smaller ones say under 30 inches I have not had a problem with. The larger ones may require a larger fly to entice their interest but that Squirrelly or any small fly usually gets a hit unless they are spawning chasing each other around.

 

Kirk

[Steve P 0]

For big gar in excess of 30lbs my suggestion is to tie the same rope fly with a trailer of a size 6 or 4 cutting point hook. The heavy wrote owner octopus is what I use and love. Stout and sharp as the come.

 

Steve

[wayne offord 0]

Mike

I wondered about that when I first saw the post. Gar are common warmwater fish in the south. Pike are in an entirely different family and a coldwater group, but I waited to see since the originator of the post is from Ontario, and maybe garpike is a local name.

 

At any rate Wayne, you might find more answers in the Coldwater forum, as I'm almost sure you didn't intend to ask about the warmwater fish.

LOL um no Ontario is not the frozen tundra you may think

 

thanx for the input all, I will be posting the results soon

[islander727 0]

The gar I cast to down here are usually laid up either at the surface or on the bottom. They'll usually snap at anything stripped across their nose. I mostly fish #10 olive crystal buggers in that little canal. Though I lose a lot! of fish, I don't think I can bring myself to fish a rope fly. Call me a purist!

 

This guy took one not ten feet from me. I'd never seen one that size in this stretch of water!

 

 

Hope the results are good!

[dayhut 0]

Yep the rope fly.

I take old buzz baits and affix a stripped poly rope. They hit that... All the noise of the prop.

I've never caught them on plain rope lures, though.

 

But, I do catch them on everything else:

 

Beetle spins

Little Cleo spoons

Classic Rapalas

Worms on a hook

Live bait beneath a float.

 

During the summer, they lay up in the back of every cove, around any log or cover.

You can spend a day catching only them.

 

Their flesh is also delicious, if you can get the skin off without slicing your hand open.

Kinda like shellfish.

[mojokayak 0]

I caught one on a rope fly last summer. It was just short of 30". The fight was really a disappointment, it just kind of bent into an "s" shape and let me strip it in. The rope was a real pain to remove.

[dayhut 0]

The last one I caught was not exactly an epic battle, either.

I hung the beast on 6 lb test, with a 4 lb leader. A Little Cleo spoon was the lure.

To say I played him gentle is an understatement.

 

For his part, he got all the line he wanted and allowed me to lead him more than fight him.

He was all of 30" and I was able to get the hook in my pliers. A quick twist and I was relieved of having a big, sharp gar in my kayak.

[crazy4oldcars 0]

...I was relieved of having a big, sharp gar in my kayak.

 

Yeah, I think I would have to let him have the boat for as long as he wanted it.

 

I fished an oxbow one time that was full of long nose gar. I never could interest one in playing with me.

 

Kirk

 

Whoop! Resurrection! Sorry about that.

 

kb