Fly fishing for gar

[Jacktown 0]

I am going to try fly fishing for gar. Do you have to sight fish for gar? I have tied a gr fly already. I just have to get out to the lake.

[Fisherboy0301 0]

Sight fishing is by far easiest. Lay it in front and past the fish and bring it all up in his face. Intrude his space and he should hit.

 

Also the pic didn't work, so idk if it does or not, but tie rope flies for gar on hooks. Seen lots of guys flip when huge bass grab rope flies without hooks...

[artimus001 0]

you are heading in the right direction as for as a rope fly goes.

 

i always see Gar subsurface. i think that the barbell eyes will drop the fly below their line of sight.

[troutguy 0]

I want a hook. Alewife or freshwater herring imitations tied on circle hooks work great. Think saltwater flies for blues and striper. Be careful gar bite you whenyou land them. I fish for them below dams on the Catawba just as it gets dark from my kayak.

 

 

The gar grab wounded fish near the surface.

 

I never got the rope thing.

 

The blood on the gar is mine. No gar was hurt in this picture.

[ksevigny 0]

I have had lots of success here in central Florida with Kirk Dietrich's fly pattern called the Squirrelly. Catches gar very well when you are sight fishing them. Also catches bass and bream well too.

[mikechell 0]

I like the rope fly for gar, but I insist on sight fishing with them. If a bass inhales a rope fly, it is very likely to get the strands of the rope into it's gills.

I've had to keep bass I would otherwise release, because the fibers were so wrapped in the gills I couldn't remove the lure.

[islander727 0]

I'm not sure where you're fishing... Here in SW Florida, I'll take pot shots at them while fishing for bass in the local ditch. It's 100% sight casting, as they swim just under the surface. As stated above, they'll snatch anything that crosses their nose. They'll hit a blind cast as well, but, casting directly to them seems more effective. Got this guy on a 2wt and a #12 krystal bugger. Not sure of the species, as I never really pay attention to that! Good luck!

 

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

In winter the Everglades allows us to start in saltwater and run all the way back up into sweetwater areas that hold both fresh and saltwater fish. Some of the small creeks that hold baby tarpon also hold good numbers of gar. We use the same small maribou flies (Crystal Schminnows, mostly) that we use for the baby tarpon and catch our share. One thing I've noted is that most anglers miss a lot of bites until they learn to strip strike really hard and quickly.... All of our fish are at pretty close quarters with the bite just a few rod lengths away in creeks that are less than 30 feet wide...