.
Gar flesh is fine to eat,just different.It's much more firm than other fish and some friends of mine say it reminds them of lobster when broiled.
I think most people don't even try gar because they can't figure out how to clean them.
.
If you use a machete,cleaver,hatchet,etc.,they aren't hard to clean.
Chop behind the top back fin toward the head to remove a strip of skin and scales along the back.Then just work the skin away from the sides.
Some folks I know will just take the backstrap out with a fillet knife after loosening the skin from the sides to get the best and easiest part.
We have all of the "good" fish we can use but still go out specifically get gar to eat sometimes,they're good.
Found some gar circling near the surface under an overhanging tree on the Wolf River, Wisconsin. I tried a trick I heard about where you bait a small hook and then use one or two monofilament nooses around the bait. The bony sword makes them difficult to hook so you noose them. It worked.
Gar must be cleaned shortly after death or the meat goes bad.It will get slimy if dead for long at all before cleaning.No other fish like it that I know of.