So I managed to hook into a 7 foot gar with my favorite mid surface lure. Unfortunately the 14# test line didn't stand a chance against this toothy critter. I was mad I lost my favorite lure, I was even more upset that this poor sucker will probably not make with both treble hooks imbedded in his mouth.

So my question is, how do you unhook treble hooks from this toothy critter?
Second question, how do you handle a 7 foot gar in a 14 foot kayak... - hahahaha (my only solution was to shore the boat and reel the fish in from there...

Any help with either of these questions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Well as to the fish not making it, I think you are worrying for nothin. The mouth of that GG is so hard the chances that your lure managed to embed itself is highly unlikely. What more than likely happened is he bit hold of that lure and snapped your line so fast that you never got the chance to feel him spit the lure. A gar will hold a bait in it's mouth for a while before actually eating it so I would say you are safe from having injured that GG.

The only way you can really unhook a big Gator Gar is with with some long pliers/unhooking tool. Some times, with Gar you can't get the hook out because they won't open up. remember, Gator Gar have the chomping force of a real Alligator so chances are you won't be able to open his mouth, and your hooks have a large chance of being smashed.

As for landing a big Gator Gar in a Kayak, I don't advise it. lol
Landing from shore is your Best, and safest bet.

Oh no, no, no, I am absolutely positive the sucker was hooked hard core. I could see the top of its mouth had the front treble hooks imbedded and the bottom part of its mouth had the rear treble hooks imbedded. I was trolling and it literally turned my kayak around. I actually thought I had snagged something until I noticed the line moving to deeper waters. I had reeled in the sucker all the way to the side of my kayak. That's when my dilemma started. It was at that point he/she thrashed a couple of times and snap, crackle pop... it was gone...

Whoa... thanks Golden Ghost I didn't know that it was that powerful. So I take it this isn't a catch and release type of fish. If you've got it you better have a bat or something in hand?! How do these eat? Is there any stores, resturants or shelters that take rouge fish?

Zen,

They are still catch and release; you just need to do it CAREFULLY! :-)

There is a video of the Gar Guys elsewhere on this forum catching and releaseing large AGar. These animals take more than 10 years before they can reproduce, and have suffered habitat loss and overharvesting. They are still fairly common, but not nearly what they once were.

and a lot of the monster GG have disapeared.

But as far as table fare they are excellent. I eat the hell out of gar, GG and needlenose (big ones) and have a few differant ways I cook em up and they are just fantastic. But I should warn you, P90X ain't got chit as far as a workout when it comes to cleaning a big gar.

They are very much A C&R fish. As said above, you have to be careful in how you do it.

I have nothing against eating Gar, but just from watching my Grandfather clean them it seems like a lot of work for very little meat.

I ain't exactly sure what you mean by a lot of work for little meat. I know on average I get at least 10-15 lbs of meat off of a good sized needle nose, and the amount of meat you can get from a nice size GG will fill your deep freeze for a few months no problem. Now sure the smaller needles don't have much meat but who is goin to keep one of those anyways, if you are goin to clean one you're definately goin to wait for a good one.