I just want to get everybody's opinion on your favorite rigs and baits to catch gar. Mine is using a treble hook with a float about two feet above it with a piece of cut perch underneath it.

For Longnose Gar, the best rig for me is a bleeding brim on a large single hook with some white nylon rope, tied at the hook, frayed around the fish. The hook hopefully gets in the mouth somewhere, and the rope hopefully gets tangled around the teeth.

I use one of those heavy duty saltwater double hook rigs, at the end of an 18" wire leader. Front hook is a 6/0 circle hook, back hook a size 1 treble, very sharp.
I hook the bait fish (live or dead sunfish, mullet, shad, tilapia, etc) up through the nose with the circle hook, and hook one tine of the treble into the tail.
Either under a large popping cork, free lined, or with a 3/8 or 1/2 oz egg sinker.

I target Longnose Gar. I rig a 6/0 Gamakatsu "Big River Bait" hook on a 12" wire leader and sometimes a 5/0 treble hook with one of the hooks cut off (looks like a frog hook). The hook I use depends on the gar that I'm seeing. I use a stiff wire to thread the leader through a bluegill or other perch from mouth to tail so the shank of the hook sticks out of the mouth and runs back along the bait's "cheek". This gets pre baited before my fishing trip so I have several ready to go in the "garage" refrigerator. My mainline has a swivel and clip on it. I have 80# mono leaders about 30" already rigged with a slip float and clip to attach my pre rigged bait setup. There are also two more distinct tricks I use, but those are secrets.

Can you guys post some pictures of your rigs. I'm going gar fishing next week and need to tie up some stuff. The only way I've caught them with any success is with jug lines in the bayous of Louisiana.

Here is a crude pic of one setup I use. I rig up my bobber on an 80 pound mono with a swivel at the top, glass bead, bobber, glass bead, 1/2 ounce weight (to keep the bobber upright), then a bobber stop so it wont actually slip. This gets a swivel/clip to finish it out. I rig my hooks on a wire or the same 80lb mono. I push a stiff wire through the bait from mouth to tail and use it to pull the hook leader through the fish. Then I attach that to the bobber setup. Sounds like a lot of work, but its less to re-tie when you are out on the water. If your hook is too deep to retrieve, you can just cut the short hook leader and tie on a new one instead of having to re-rig your bobber and all. Using wire for the hook leader allows you to just attach it to the swivel/clip below the bobber. From the top of the bobber to the bait is about 3 feet.



I find that this method uses less material in the long run. Lets face it, that big gear ain't cheap.

Can I get a few pointers on how to set the hook in longnose gar seems like they just let go of my treble 9 out 10 times

Well i got one today... had a large hook on the head of a cut perch with a treble 3 inches behind in the back. didn't work well though caught that one out of 20 or more hits.

I've used more lately a smaller treble hook like a #6 or #4 on braid and let them run till they stop and turn. typically for me on the last several I caught somewhere in their running around they were eating or in the process of it and had rapped the line around their snout. I also use a fairly small cigar float. there is less drag so the fish may not notice it as much. I wish I could figure out a to get the float to stay in place when I wanted it to but after the fish took it just slid. If you used a ballon type rig would or could the balloon pop without being popped by me or someone else?