I been putting trotlines out the past couple of days. i have been baiting them with big perch on a 8/0 J hooks. when i go back to run them, all the perch were gone. every single one. Is this gar stripping my bait???? or what? I have family in and they really want to catch some nice flatheads. I was wondering what to do in this situation? i was wondering what yall think about the perch not being on there? i hook them under the back end of the dorsal fin. if this is gar. then do u think they would strip gold fish also? please help me with this problem. Thanx for any help.

Could be turtles or even people. How deep are you setting them and how often are you running them?

they are in about 15 feet of water where a creek comes into the lake. i left it out for 2 days. but do u think turtles would get each one. i had 20 perch out there and everyone gone. if it was people dont you think there would be a couple of perch left.?

I have never had a gar strip every bait off of a line but it ver well could be. Are any of the stagins twisted up on the main line? Any sign of a fish being on at all? What size hooks are you using?

well 2 hooks were hooked on each other. but none of them really twisted. one of the stagings was cut. i dont know if that was a gar, a big fish, or a person that cut a good fish off. i dont know. i really want to try to figure this out. because i put a lot of time into this. the hooks are 8/0 size. catt maxx bait holders. heavy duty hooks

If you bait them early in the evening, you leave the rough fish and turtles plenty of time to find them. When my dad encountered this, he would wait till late at night to bait them out. We have had a bright night lately when clouds have allowed

He always thought the "Big Dog Walks late at night" in the dark, and making sure theres bait in the dark of the night ensured a better chance.

Matt

Sounds like to me that some sumbich is running your lines for you!! Set a trap for him & catch him in the act & take a picture of his TX #'s & prosecute the sorry puddle of dog puke or sink his arse where he sits with a few well placed 12 gauge rounds in his hull!!!!!

thanx for all of yalls input. but does anybody think it could be gar? i think its people also. i just wish i could catch these people one day. they wont be floating out there in whatever they have

It sounds to me like your hooks are too close together.We used to have trouble with gar and turtles running our lines and stripping themwhen we put the hooks on 3' spacings. First thing I would do is get rid of the J hooks and go to circles, the next thing is to put the hooks on 10' spacings.

Do the gar really like perch that much? well i just dont have enough line to put them at 10' spacings but i will try and spread them out a little more and see if that works. these are about 8in. perch if a turtle ate one of them he would be pretty full i would think and leave a little bit left on. but yea i like circle hooks better. i have a few. but that wont prevent the gar or turtles. thanx for the advice yall

Use bigger bait. And check your lines at least 3 times per day.

The first thing I thought was gar when I read this. Set the lines deeper and put the perch on late in the afternoon. and check first thing in the morning or if possible check in the night.

sounds like gar to me. Spread your hooks out and bait out a little after dark and run first thing in the am.

it is gar.
i have had the problem in lakes on trotlines.
adn on the river on throwlines.
if the gar are hitting the water in the area.
it is gar.

If it's gar, why hasn't he caught one?
I've had gar problems before, but I always catch one or two if that's the case. ???
Could be gar, could be turtles, could be people, could be some other fish...bottom line though is that you need to check the lines more frequently and bait it later in the evening to to figure it out.

Good luck!