[dakotaman]

Do/will Gar compete with smallmouth bass?? The reason I ask is that the last two times I've been to some of my favorite smallie holes on a creek that pruduce smallies everytime, I've been skunked. I've noticed though that these holes have been holding insane amounts of long-nose gar. I know they eat forage fish etc., but I wasn't sure if they would actually 'push' out the smallies? I've always seen a few gar, just never the numbers I'm seeing now. Of course it could be something I'm doing/not doing, but just wondering if they compete.

 

[Bubba bass bigfoot]

people kill Gar for that reason. the kill them b/c of pressure on the other game fish and b/c the say they eat the young. poeple will cattch them and gut them on shore and leave them, or will catch them and takin fishing line and tie their mouths shut and throw them back to starve. have read that not sure if its true but i dont doubt it. people are messed up.

 

[Micro_Mini_Angler]

well where we wade for smallies we get a lot of them and still see a few gar, so from my experiences i would say no but i have not really payed attention all that much.

 

[Fisherman419]

Isnt it illegal to keep a gar if you catch one? I thought that they were endangered or something.

 

[CoolWater]

Nope, Gar are pretty much at the low end of the totem pole with other rough fish as far as protection. In Ohio, they are one of the species you can take snagging - bowfishing etc etc... I wish more people did think they were protected, might see less of them getting destroyed. They are a native species.

 

[gonefishing8807]

the sheer amount of gar may have pushed the smallies out of the hole for awhile but dont worry they will be back i think gar are spawning now, gar dont really hurt other game fish in lakes, i mean sure they might eat the rare bass or too but last i check some bass will eat thier own young which they were trying to protect, so its no like they are going to put a dent in the population. Plus if you have ever seen a gar hunt, they go after dead/dieing prey nothing thats perfectly healthy.

 

[Ðe§perado™]

The spotted gar is the only gar that is protected in ohio. The longnose gar is not protected and is bowfished, snagged...etc. to help keep the numbers in check. They are like carp they are very overpopulated. They do eat smaller fish, either minnows, small bass, small crappie...etc. Most people don't know that gar are good to eat, most think of them as tearing up there fishing area is why they sometimes do what bubba thinks they do.

 

[dakotaman]

I'm not saying I want toget rid of them, I'm just trying to figure out what is up with my hot spots and trying to narrow if it's me or other natural causes. I was wondering if in fact they might be spawning due to the concentrated numbers.

Desperado...I know you bowfish, How often do you do so in creeks/streams or is it mostly open water?

 

[Bubba bass bigfoot]

as far as good to eat, i have heard they are as good as Walleye. but read this

not trying to scare anyone. but read this.
Eating Quality - Although edible, they are unpopular as food. The roe is highly toxic to humans, animals and birds.
this is for Gar and came from that site. i have read people have ate them (Gar) before. Roe are Gar eggs.

http://myfwc.com/Fishing/Fishes/gar.html#spotted

also says it here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gar

there were more sites the backed the others stating that the Roe is Toxic.

not saying you are trying to get rid of them, hopw no one thought that.

 

[riverKing]

nO!
sorry i get worked up about this because people kill gar for absolutly no reason, the reason the smallmouth arn't there is the water temp, they moved to area's more suited to them. move around you will find them. GAR DO NOT COMPETE WITH OR HARM ANY GAMEFISH! for future refrence to anyone who may ask. i had some person earlier this year try and tell me they ate smallmouth eggs.....c'mon seriously, they eat shad, drum and shiners, and thats most of thier diet. there is one thing that will hurt a smallmouth population in a stream in ohio, and that is people keeping them, its the one and only reason there are not that many big, 20in+ smallies in local rivers, theres just too much pressure. next, the only fish that has yet been proven in studies to eat large portions of the smallmouth fry was everyones dear beloved largemouth bass, they ate i believe it was 81% of smallmouth fry (but please dont throw them on the bank either). again im sorry for the rant its not meant to anger anyone i'm really just trying to get the facts out there in my oddly passionant way

 

[sevenx]

River King is right on the money, I just spoke to Doug Moloney over at fish and game and we had this conversation. As Doug pointed out to me gar feed primarily in the slack water shallows crusing banks in search of small shiners, shad blunt nose minnows etc. They are not over populated they are more visable than in year past do to low water conditions right now. They are spawning right now so they will be stacked up where u would normally find smallies. They do not compete directly with other game fish, Sure there is some over lap as with any other fish in the system. Sauger and saugeye compete more directly with smallies for forage base. Gar have been in this river system for thousands of years. They have lived side by side with other game fish all that time. They will often be seen crusing the surface eating insects as well. Despite there tooth filled snout they have a very narrow throat and cannot not eat larger prey. These fish are an excellent game fish and can be a blast to catch on a fly rod or any other tackle. There is no reason to kill them unless you plan on eating them. I don't eat fish from the river myself but from other posts and threads it sounds as if they are very tasty and have no limits. Please do not kill them for the sake of killing them. If you take the time to look them over they are a wonder of evolution and a beautiful fish. I am with river king on this one they have been in the rivers longer than most of our game fish and deserve more respect than a toss on the bank to die. S

 

[Fishaholic69]

I had a gar in my fish tank. he could catch a feeder fish like a champ! he would shoot like a arrow and grab him with his pointy mouth sideways. turn um straight and swallow them whole!!!!! too bad he jumped out of the tank........ found him stiff as a board! i could see him eating the fish around there. he would of made short work of anything small.