I caught gar all the time in Texas. Not particularly tasty. I always throw them back in the water. In my opinion they are brilliant beautiful creatures. Just doing what they do. Hence why I debarb all my hooks.
I once hooked a gar on Lake Ten Killer.
I was furious as it had my brand new Rapala lure attached to crochety alligator mouth.
My friend was equally angry and insisted I just reel him in.
He busted on that thing with am oar from our boat.
Pounded it pretty dern hard a couple times and then cut my line.
“What the hell!” I exclaimed, knowing I had just lost my lure as the gar disappeared beneath the water.
“I hope that thing rusts in his mouth and he dies a slow painful death!” my retorted.
“Eff him and serves him right” I yelled
Freakin gar.
He’s probably still swimming around with my lure 30 years later.
I hate gar.
When I was a kid, my brother tried to catch one in a pond we used for skating in winter. He said they would strike a lure, but he couldn’t set a hook in their mouth. He made a lure with thin metal loops to snag on their teeth. I forget whether that worked.