Gar while muskie fishing
travesty
Posted 7/2/2014 11:54 PM (#718957)
Subject: Gar while muskie fishing




Posts: 37


Location: Freedom, WI
Has anyone else ever caught a gar while muskie fishing?
I caught this guy on a wood pacemaker. He was 38".



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miket55
Posted 7/3/2014 12:03 AM (#718958 - in reply to #718957)
Subject: Re: Gar while muskie fishing




Posts: 1267


Location: E. Tenn
With the bony plates in their mouths they're pretty tough to hook, but it's a blast watching them do lap after lap on an "8". Caught several while musky fishing at Melton Hill.

Try taking a 4-5" piece of nylon rope... unravel it, attach it to a fly setup (8 weight works), and have a ball!!

Edited by miket55 7/3/2014 12:05 AM
travesty
Posted 7/3/2014 12:09 AM (#718959 - in reply to #718958)
Subject: Re: Gar while muskie fishing




Posts: 37


Location: Freedom, WI
I imagine people don't hook them in the mouths to often. This one attacked my lure and when I set the hook it snagged him in the side. I was looking up how people fish for them and it's definitely cool how they don't even use hooks and just get it all tangled in their mouths.
curleytail
Posted 7/3/2014 7:20 AM (#718970 - in reply to #718957)
Subject: Re: Gar while muskie fishing




Posts: 2687


Location: Hayward, WI
I caught one about that size on a Husky Jerk fishing for walleyes once. Put it in the musky net and the hooks fell out. By the time I reached down to grab it, it had already scooted out of the mesh in my Frabill. Skinny things!
ToddM
Posted 7/3/2014 7:47 AM (#718975 - in reply to #718957)
Subject: RE: Gar while muskie fishing





Posts: 20219


Location: oswego, il
Here is one a buddy of mine caught in Indiana a few years back. My biggest one is 44" but have hooked much much bigger. hard to keep them on.


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jimjimjim
Posted 7/3/2014 9:26 AM (#718993 - in reply to #718957)
Subject: RE: Gar while muskie fishing




Posts: 365


I have had absolute giant (60"+) gar follow up my lures on Pewaukee Lake in southeast wisconsin --- freaky fish --- jimjimjim
FISHFINDER101
Posted 7/3/2014 9:43 AM (#719000 - in reply to #718957)
Subject: Re: Gar while muskie fishing




Posts: 345


Location: Poynette WI.
I see them all the time on a lake i fish, I've yet to bring one in the boat yet and yes they are very hard to hook. first time i seen one i was wondering what i had just saw, turns out they are very common in the body of water i fish and i see one just about every outting, especially at night, i'll turn my head lamp on sometimes to check out what my lures doing in the water and always see them.
Larbo
Posted 7/3/2014 11:02 AM (#719021 - in reply to #718957)
Subject: Re: Gar while muskie fishing




Posts: 93


Location: Des Moines IA
I lived on Lake Lanier in Georgia many years ago and in the spring we would see gar swimming up top. We kept a dedicated rod with a bucktail lure with the hooks being replaced with thick yarn. Gar eats the bucktail and the teeth get entangled in the yarn. To release the fish we just cut the yarn with scissors and made sure his mouth was free and clear.
jdsplasher
Posted 7/3/2014 4:45 PM (#719079 - in reply to #719021)
Subject: Re: Gar while muskie fishing





Posts: 2269


Location: SE, WI.

Gars have a reputation for feeding on the surface, dead or dying bluegills and pan fish in general.

I've caught several on my Flaptails, and had many follows from these critters. They like to roll or explode on surface baits, especially at night.

Also caught a few on Spoonplugs.  

ToddM
Posted 7/3/2014 5:24 PM (#719090 - in reply to #718957)
Subject: Re: Gar while muskie fishing





Posts: 20219


Location: oswego, il
Good to see gar have lake x's too.:-)
Fatjake
Posted 7/4/2014 12:47 PM (#719184 - in reply to #718957)
Subject: Re: Gar while muskie fishing




Posts: 17


The reason you always see them surfacing is
Because they use their swim bladder as a lung. They are coming up and getting a
Gulp of air.
Prehistoric creatures
Trophyseeker50
Posted 7/5/2014 11:27 AM (#719281 - in reply to #718957)
Subject: Re: Gar while muskie fishing





Posts: 791


Location: WI
I have caught a few and seen a 50"+ on the same lake that you caught that fish on. Seen a lot of them out here this year.
Medinah13
Posted 7/5/2014 2:29 PM (#719294 - in reply to #718957)
Subject: Re: Gar while muskie fishing




Posts: 373


Buddy caught 2 this year same trip on shallow raiders and have 2 follow in. bigger one was probably around 30-35"
ulbian
Posted 7/7/2014 9:42 AM (#719477 - in reply to #719281)
Subject: Re: Gar while muskie fishing




Posts: 1168


Trophyseeker50 - 7/5/2014 12:27 PM
Seen a lot of them out here this year.


It's tough to recall a year when you didn't see a lot of them out there. Pretty neat sight to see when a fyke net is loaded full of them. When you pull the net, the net looks like a porcupine with their beaks sticking out of the sides.
ToddM
Posted 7/7/2014 12:03 PM (#719514 - in reply to #718957)
Subject: Re: Gar while muskie fishing





Posts: 20219


Location: oswego, il
Caught one on a hard head this past weekend.
tolle141
Posted 7/7/2014 12:28 PM (#719517 - in reply to #718957)
Subject: Re: Gar while muskie fishing





Posts: 1000


They're a ton of fun. Like some people have said, you have to use rope flies to get them. I see them on the sand flats of the cisco-based lakes in Sawyer County. Landed them up to 42". Love to go airborne