Ok, so the past 3 3 weekend I have been looking for a good fight; carp or gar, and if I catch a cat that would be cool as well. I'm stuck to the bank or fishing piers on belton or stillhouse. I have been using sweet corn, peanut butter/vanilla dough bait, fresh cut perch/blue gill, minows, or shrimp. Last night I got a good run from a gar on cut bait 12 inches under a bobber but no hook set, and today I had 7 20-30 plus lb carp feeding in my corn swim, but no takes. For the carp I was using the dough bait as a method feeder and a treble hook with corn as terminal tackle in my sweet corn chum. For the gar I was using fresh cut bait on a treble hook under a bobber. NO takes with the carp, and with the gar, I let him rum with it for like 10 mins before I tried to set the hook. When I did, it was like I tried to hook in to a brick wall. But he spit it. But, the 4 other guys around me were catching and landing gar up to 4 feet long. Infact, after the one spit my hook, with in 30 seconds, the next guy over hooked in to and landed a 3 foot gar. What in the hell am I doing wrong! HELP PLEASE!

I dont know about the gar but for the carp try using a small single hook like a #6 circle hook or live bait hook. Treble hooks not only are dangerous to carp but they dont give good leverage/hook holds. Patience is the key to carp fishing

I was fishing for 6 hrs today. I could see them feeding. That was pretty cool. They were feeding in about 3-4 FOW and there was lots of vegetation and down logs/brush. They devoured my chum. In all honesty, if I did catch a carp, I would take it home to see how it would fair as food. I've heard they taste good, and they taste bad. But I'll change up my terminal tackle any how. I was using a treble hook with a ball of dough bait on it as a method feeder.

So I finally caught my first gar. He was about 2 feet long and put up a great fight. It wasn't that bad cleaning him ether. I cut the skin/shell off, then took the back straps and belly meat. Tomarrow we find out how he's going to taste. He was caught on 2 minnows on a j hook about 2 feet under a cork.

congrats on that first gar

Thanks! I was so stoked I had trouble falling asleep, lol

Well, as an update, we cooked him up. And man I don't know why people think they are trash fish, it was a delight. We soaked the meat in mustard over night. Then cut it in to chunks and pan fried it. The only bad part was there wasn't enough for seconds! The kids absolutely loved it. It was kind of like chicken in texture but tasted like frog legs.

Congratulations on your gar!!! I haven't tried cooking one up yet, usually just catch and release. Not really happy about the thought of putting one in the kayak to bring home with me.

Yea, you have a point there. What I did was net him up on to the dock. His teeth got all tangled up in the net and the hook was through and through on his upper jaw almost in to his face, if you will. I just put on some gloves and grabbed him by the body behind the head, got him untangled and out of the net, and took his head off with a knife. Got my hook back and hung him up by the tail to let him bleed out. I wouldn't harvest every one I caught, but am not opposed to harvesting a few for supper every now and again. It was a great fight!

Hey congrats on your first gar. I wanted to share what worked for me in catching carp. I always fished with regular sweet Walmart bought corn on the hook. I use a feeder that is attached about 15 inches from the hook which I stuff with home made dough. It's very easy to make really and I can provide you the recepe if you're intersted. One thing that I have not noticed anyone talk about or I didn't read enough is the tackle - especially the fishing line. Ever since I switched to invisible line I have gotten tons of more hits and catches. I remember in NJ before I moved to Texas we would go with my friends and have 2 rods each so total of 8. I was the only one with invisible line and I would be the only one catching carp. Didn't matter if they would throw in the same spot as me and use same bait - carp would hit my bait and I would catch 5-6 and they would catch 1 or two. I Don't know if anyone else tried this but it sure has worked great for me. Give it a try and see how it works out for you.

Luke

I think, after doing some research, me using a steel leader is what's killing me. I'm going to see what happens when I go straight mono clear line.

You definitely don't want to use steel leader fishing for carp.

I think the rod I have is loaded with some 15 - 20 lb clear mono. So I think I'll just take the leader off it and tie the hook on and fish it that way

I'm about to head out and see how I can do.