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I grew up in Louisiana, fished on a regular basis till I was around 45 and got burned out on it, put up the rods, that was about 15 years ago.

I’ve caught gar in Louisiana and Texas plenty times, almost always by accident. Usually in the smaller range, under 2 feet, the largest one I’ve personally caught was about 4 1/2 feet. Largest one I’ve seen, I’m not sure, I only saw about 4 to 5 feet, over a foot in diameter. I’d say somewhere in the 8 foot range but not positive, and that was right here in the lake 100 yards away.

The 4 1/2 footer was a funny story...I went fishing in a mile long pond beside the Mississippi River outside Baton Rouge, apparently an overflow area that would take on a lot of water before the river itself could flood.

We would rig up a rod with no reel, just a few feet of line and a crappie jig tied on about 3 feet deep, sit on the handle and toss lures for bass. Every time you move, it jiggles the crappie bait, and now and then you would feel one hit, the rod handle you were sitting on would pat you on the bottom of the leg. Give it a tug, pull out a nice crappie. We caught a bunch of them that way while bass fishing.

So one afternoon the rod under my left leg (we used two each, one on each side) tapped me so I tried to pull up a crappie...the fish almost yanked the rod out of my hand, and to my great surprise I suddenly had a gar 4 1/2 feet long hooked on about 3 feet of line, whipping it around from front to back of the boat, no controlling that guy, one wild fight, and gave both of us a good shower.

I finally put the thing in the boat, got it off the hook, very carefully...

Gar is edible but not exactly a delicacy. Tough and rubbery, and too many bones to make it worthwhile to clean and cook. Some people like “Gar Balls”, made by cutting and forming it into round shapes, then fried, and steaks can be made by cutting it horizontally, but again so many small bones it’s actually hazardous to eat. I’ve gotten them poked into my gums a few times, finally refused to eat gar at all any more many years ago. I was probably around 15 when I simply said no more. Those bones are very thin, sharp and can be over an inch long, and that’s a small 3 footer.

Catching one is not hard, you can make a good gar lure by tying a simple overhand knot in a piece of soft nylon rope, cut it about 3 inches long then fray it. Get it wet and it weighs enough to cast, when a gar hits it the teeth get caught in the frayed rope, no hooks necessary. I know people who keep them ready and fish for gar all the time just for fun. Lots of fun to catch, they put up a fight like no other fish, especially a big one over 3 feet long. even a smaller one under 2 feet is a tough fighter when hooked. They jump around all over the place, swim very fast, and are very strong for their size.

But definitely stay away from those teeth...We have no shortage of gar in the lake here, in some places you can’t catch anything else because the gar are the biggest predators of them all and have cleaned out all the other fish. When I was still bass fishing, I would pull up to one of the local coves and see gar hitting the water all over the place, just leave and find another spot. No bait fish, no bass. Gar come in, everything else leaves. Except some of the smaller shad and other bait fish, and they don’t last long.

This article doesn’t really do those teeth any justice. It’s called an ALLIGATOR Gar for a reason...Here’s a site with a couple of interesting pictures, one of a gar 8 feet long, and one (scroll down) of those teeth.

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/discover/species-profiles/atractosteus-spatula

And trust me, I’ve been there, they can do a lot of damage with those chompers...one got me despite my attempts at handling it carefully when I was a kid. Small one, foot long or so, ripped my finger open in a flash. Not fun...