Has anyone seen any gar lately? I miss the fight those things put up, but i have no clue of how they behave in the cold months.

I never see them in the colder months. I don't know where they go.

I haven't seen any turning at the surface recently. I'm sure they are their, just not as obvious.

Haven't seen them lately, but I haven't been looking, either. They're definitely a blast to catch, at some of the rivers and creeks I fish, you can sight cast to them, with either small lures like roadrunners, or hunks of cut shad.

If you're in it for the fight though we have to get you into carp! Hehehe.

lol, starless i keep telling myself im going to dedicate a whole day to carpin', and give it a good try to see what the whole hoopla around carp is all about, but i might have to wait until it warms up a bit since im a wimp when it comes to the cold. I really want to see how carp compare to hooking up to a 4 foot longnose gar!

You need to join us on the bank sometime! We'd be happy to try and get you into them hehe, warm or cold.

As for comparing the fight...Carp are probably going to have more brute power then longnose, and they're going to fight a lot longer as well, I'd think. Lots of speed, especially in the smaller fish under 20lbs, lots and lots of drag-stripping ownage lol.

I haven't caught any gar that big yet, only up to maybe 5-8lbs or so, and a lot more small spotted gar then anything else.

They're a blast though!

awsome! i think ill take you up on that offer sometime. im going out to LLELA on friday to try carpin', ive just got to see what all the fuss is about! Any advice you could give would go a long way, also you must let me take you to the big gar, last august i caught my PB longnose, at 26lbs, she really got my heart pumpin. Tight lines!

-josh

Carp vs Gar? No contest...Gar wins!

Carp: Small fish run very fast, lots of short bursts, etc. I've even had smaller Carp break the surface during a battle! Larger carp? Not quite as fun...BUT it's easy to know you've hooked into a big Carp, the fight is usually slower, kind of like a water logged pillow at the end of your hook. Perhaps a nice run at first followed by a slow battle. Once in a while a quick burst, but it's usually a slow fight, mainly trying to steer the fish away from cover, rocks, etc.

Gar: Longnose Gar when hooked with frayed string, etc, don't really do alot of fighting. Lot's of short burst runs, maybe a jump once in a while. The closer they get to you, the more runs they will make, can get very exciting when they're about 10-20 ft from you. When I've hooked them using cut or live bait, it's like hooking into a Tarpon! I've had some spectacular battles with Longnose Gar. Leaps into the air, fast runs, lots of jerk, jerk, jerk, on the line, etc. And the fight ain't over when you've landed them either! lol.. Alligator Gar's fight is similar, but it's a little slower, less acrobatic, etc. But much stronger overall. Again, the last 10-20ft can be breathtaking, it's that dramatic sometimes.

Gar are better eating!

Re: Gar in colder months. They're still around. Fish on the bottom, even in the warmer periods, always have at least one rod on the bottom with a big chunck of bait on it. I've always caught bigger Gar on bottom. Actually, try to position the bait just off the bottom.

Actually, both are very good eating. But Gar does have some very nice boneless white meat.

Absolutely man! LLELA is not the best place to get into carping, but I'd recommend fishing some of the holes with sweet corn, chum a little out as well.

In general I point people towards this little article I wrote to help them start carping.

http://www.lonestarcarpbrigade.net/wiki/index.php?title=Starless_Dragons_recommendations

It's actually just copied and pasted from a post I used to pass around here on the forum lol.

There are some nice carp in LLELA and they are angry as well, lol.

We can take you to some better spots in the area for some bigger fish as well, but you could do well on numbers of fish at LLELA, or we can take you to one of the larger lakes where we often get into a lot of fish as well.

And heck yes, I definitely would love to get into some big gar with you! That'd be a blast.