Freakin gar!

[Bonkers4Bacon]

Went night fishing over the weekend a while back on the Illinois river. Had some nice cut bait and smelly liver, hoping to catch some big fat cats. We settled into a couple nice calm areas that were nice and deep. All we could catch was gar! The stupid things wouldnt quit biting! Are gar food for anything besides being ugly?? They aren't good eating and they almost always swallow the hook. Stupid gar ruined a perfectly good trip

 

[Bradsknives]

Gar: Treasured Trash Fish | Eat The Weeds and other things, too

 

[Dargasonus]

I've never tried eating one. I've seen youtube videos of people showing the difficult process of cleaning them, they report they are worth eating.

 

[freekforge]

I have friends that grind them up and make gar balls and say they are good. I hope to shoot some when we go out in the boat to go bowfishing

 

[1911ly]

Never toss them back. Always kill them. We had a real issue with them at the lake I used to live on. Never tried to eat one.

 

[shooter521]

Something must eat them; I found a dead one along a trail at Goose Pond FWA a month or so ago. Figured an eagle must've dropped it.

 

[1911ly]

I have had carp that was good. If it was made right it would probably be good.

 

[freekforge]

Im cool with gar they eat small carp so I dont go out with the intention of slaughtering them now carp on the other hand thats a different story

 

[1911ly]

They also eat every other kind of fish. They are really destructive on a small lake. We had DNR signs around our lake saying to not toss them back. Although a tree hugger would take issue with that these days :-/

 

[freekforge]

Yea I guess that would be a problem in places that aren't over run with carp. Even though I kinda like em i still want to shoot a gar something about going after something that can fight back.

 

[Bonkers4Bacon]

Gar: Treasured Trash Fish | Eat The Weeds and other things, too

Honestly always thought they were trash fish. I think next time I'll give it a shot, but I still will always have preferred some big juicy catfish!

 

[ggglobert9]

Put them in your garden or flower beds...great fertilizer and it's time released as they decompose. Same goes for carp, just bury them and watch your stuff grow naturally!

 

[Twangbanger]

Whatever you do, don't put a gar in a landing net if you can avoid it. I got one with his snout all rolled around in the net one time, and between that and the hook I had to break off half his beak just to avoid cutting the net loose. Had him out of the water ~10 minutes while unraveling the mess, and I swear when I tossed him back, the sumbich left a trail of bubbles swimming away, with half his mouth gone.

Neat-looking fish but tough SOBs. Now I know why the saltwater guys have this thing called a "gaff"...

 

[rgrimm01]

... We had a real issue with them at the lake I used to live on. ...

When you were swimming, did they do the leg nibble thing like bluegill? I imagine that would add a few knots to one's swim speed...

 

[Huzrjim]

I remember as a teenager, my Dad use to take his .22 rifle with us on occasions when we would go down to the White River near Seymour to fish. The first time I asked him why, he said for gar. Sure enough, every time he saw one on the surface, he would pop it or let me take a shot at it. In retrospect, probably not legal, nor safe, but it sure was fun!

 

[songdog33]

Not sure what eats gar..but they're a lot of fun to bow fish!

 

[Bonkers4Bacon]

I should also mention that asian carp were going crazy that night. They almost just jump right in the boat. I wasn't so lucky.

 

[ChalupaCabras]

+1 to gar balls.

I've not yet met a "trash fish" that wasn't fine eating with the proper preparation. Now that I know what to do, I'm sad when I catch a bass instead of a chub or a cisco.

 

[1911ly]

When you were swimming, did they do the leg nibble thing like bluegill? I imagine that would add a few knots to one's swim speed...

I only seen people get bit by trying to take a hook off. We used to find a lot of chewed up fish washed up on shore. They see to kill just to kill. We carried a hatchet and a block of wood to kill them on.

 

[Airborne18th]

I heard you could eat them. Have to cut the armor with aviation snips