Gars Eating Cut Bait

Beerdude, because of the shape and anatomy of a gars mouth, they need to reposition baitfish so that they can be swallowed head/tail first. They seem to grab the bait, swim a short distance and drop it or open their mouths slightly till it is head or tail first. They do this 3 or more times so thats oneof the reasons guys miss them; they set the hook too soon. Guys also miss Gar because their hooks are not razor sharp. Essentially you are setting hook into rock hard bone. If you think your hooks might be sharp enough to penetrate your aluminum boat or a cinder block they are NOT sharp enough for Gar. Hooks should be rediculously sharp.
Oh yeah, if its Gar going after your cutbait, maybe its too big of a piece.
 

I have been wondering the same thing....

They have been in around the dam in New Brighton pretty heavy this year too.

If your goal is to catch gar then buy small minnows, like the ones you would use for trout, use #12 or 14 hooks and a bobber with about 2-3 ft above your bait, when u get a taker, let it swim for a bit then give em a good yank and you'll get em, always works for me, i usually go around 20 for 40 when we're tryin for them lol, Cabelas has a huge 1 in their tank down in Wheeling.
 
Ronnie

sharp small hooks and minnies let them run not very big but a little fight and they try to bite when you try for the hook we got a dozen or so a few years back and were going to put them in a tank they died to much slime they plugged up the pump fisty little plicks ive seen big ones in texas no joke in 100lb range a guy was beating it with a bat he was going to clean it for dinner funny stuff a gar hanging by a tree and this mexcian beating like he was trying for candy at a party

a lot smaller up here and not alligator gar max size is 36" up here and around 3" thick i wish we had the big gar i had a few hook ups but never got one in we fished the guadaloup

i seen on the outdoor chan called big fish hunter they went after gars and sturgon and also snake heads i wish i had taped it i think it ran on disc chan also thye fished gars with a jug trout line 150lb wire leader and strung a few lines up and down the river good show hay the other one was linder he did one on gator gars he said a 4ft was small ,ha ok i have not got one yet ,but im not dead so its on my things to do ive got a long list and kids being able to travel without a diaper bag is good  

not long nose gar but gator gars if that wasnot a gar it was the worlds biggest muskey and that mexcian was doing a bad thing eating it

that is almost full grown

we see alot of them around warm water outs by the power plants

I THINK WHAT HE MENT WAS HE WAS FISHING FOR CATFICH AND KEPT GETTING GAR  I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM BUT NOT TOO MUCH JUST TAKE THEM OFF THE HOOK AND DISCARD REBATE AND TRY FOR CATFISH IS ALL I DO I USE CUT SHAD . BLUE GIL   IN THE MISS. RIVER  NOT A REAL BIG PROBLEM BUT A NUSENCEALSO TRY FISHING FASTER WATER GAR LIKE SLOW WATER LIKE BEHIND WING DAMS AND SLEWS ETC.
  GOOD LUCK HAVE A GREAT DAY

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They have been all over my cut bait and a little less so on my live bait this year. If you really wanna land one, try the rope or nylon thing. I would estimate I only hook/land about 5% or so of the ones who hit my bait with regular hooks.