Gar: A brute of a fish! (North Texas e-News)

“As a young angler, I read about catching northern pike and muskie in the cold, pristine waters of lakes in the northern US and Canada. Something about these toothy critters perked my angling interests. Years later, I had the opportunity to fish for pike in lakes along the Canadian border but never caught a really big one.

I recently began fishing for a very similar species here in Texas that also comes equipped with plenty of teeth, grows to gargantuan size, is very numerous, makes great table fare and, with a little training, is relatively easy to catch! Southern waters are full of three species of gar, the Longnose, sometimes called needle nose, spotted gar and in rivers or pockets of water near rivers, alligator gar.”

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Catching fish with a hookless lure (Startribune.com) (Minnesota)

“Fishing in Winona County is a multi-speices angler’s paradise.  We have the Mississippi River acting as our eastern border and hills full of spring creeks to the west.  This last week found me targeting Gar on the Mississippi with hookless lures.”

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The Alligator Gar Is One Ugly Fish, With Few Friends but New Fans (Wall Street Journal)

“The sadly misunderstood alligator gar, reviled for its frighteningly huge and prehistoric appearance and rows of razor-sharp teeth, has been hunted for centuries.

Fishermen despise the gar because they believe the fish devour prized bass and crappie. Swimmers and boaters fear the gar’s alligator-shaped jaws could take a chunk out of them in the water.”

Fantastic article and coverage on the popularity and issues with fishing for Alligator Gar.

Old school fish (Houston Chronicle) (Texas)

“Alligator gar have never had much use for technology, but these prehistoric creatures may need to get with the times if they want to survive.

Alligator gar and their direct ancestors have been around for at least 100 million years.

They look their age.

That long, cylindrical, olive-white body is covered with an armor of thick, diamond-shaped scales so hard they can, quite literally, throw sparks when hit at just the right angle with a hatchet or machete.”

Great feature article about Alligator gar in the Houston Chronicle.

Monroe bow fisherman lands HUGE trophy (Bastrop Daily Enterprise) (Louisiana)

“What started out as a routine bass fishing junket for Monroe’s Blake Shelby last week turned into something that resembled an aquatic rodeo.

“After work last Tuesday afternoon, I slipped my 14 foot jon boat into Bayou Desiard behind my house in Monroe with the idea of giving the bass a try. Since I also enjoy bowfishing, and there are some big carp and lots of gar in the area, I always take along my bowfishing rig, just in case,” Shelby explained.”

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He makes his living off roe (Jacksonville.com) (Florida)

“The creek opens up as it enters Crescent Lake. Permenter slows to check the wind because it dictates where he’ll work. Satisfied, he points the little boat to a Cypress-lined shore a mile away. He cuts the motor, picks up a 12-foot pole with a five-pronged gig head. He poles the boat into the eelgrass on the lee side of the lake where the waves barely ripple and the water is clear.

If you can’t see garfish, you can’t stick them.

Permenter moves to the bow of the boat, cleans his polarized sunglasses and begins poling the boat in a foot of water. This time of year, the larger females move into the eelgrass to spawn.

“See that?” Permenter asks, pointing the gig at no apparent target. But the fish is there. He drives the gig down and comes up with a thrashing hunk of teeth, bone and bad attitude.”

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West Point Lake Gar Grabbers Guide Service Blog (GA)

Here’s a blog for guide service in GA focusing on garfish.

Gar … just another fun way to fish (Clarion-Ledger) (Mississippi)

“If I’m just fishing for fun, then give me something challenging that will bite, rewarding me when I do what I’m supposed to do and then gives me a good battle.

So trust me when I tell you that my trip to Lower Sardis Lake last Monday with Mark Beason of Mississippi Outdoors magazine was about as much fun and I’ve had fishing. Mark, who has been an avid gar chaser for over a decade, has been promising me a trip for over a year. He kept telling me we had to wait for summer, when it really got hot, because that’s when gar are easiest to find.”

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