So I tried something pretty similar for spotted gar, and it hooks them... in the eye. Twice it hooked up the exact same way. The back of the streamer was in the mouth with the trailer coming out the back and in the eye.

So back to the drawing board. I think the trailing hook is a good idea. I think it was just too long for the size of gar.

I believe you that this is killer for long nose though.

Use a circle hook- not a conventional hook. A circle hook oriented in the downward position will not hook them in the eye. Not sure it is even possible if sized correctly. Every single gar I hook with this fly is hooked directly in the center of the lower jaw. Give it a try.

Good luck,
Casey

I do all my shopping on the banks of the Passaic River

I used a sling and unhooking mat to drag them into daves boat

there are photos of it somewhere

nice fly, i wish i had seen this before I went to the Concho River this weekend. the longnose were thick in there

Out by San Angelo? What were you doing out there? I lived there for a while. Do any carping? There's some good fish in some parts of that river.

What weight of line do you use for longnose? Do you need a special leader or can I rig it up on my 5 weight trout setup? I'd like to give it a try in some of the rivers/streams around here.

You can probably get away with straight 20#... their teeth really aren't too big... unless you fish rope, and then you'll want to bump up to 50# mono but you won't fish rope on a 5 weight (too heavy)

I watched a friend catch multiple spotted and longnose gar (of decent size) on a 3wt, so don't be scared to chase them with light weight stuff.

Also, I use straight 20# mono for my gar fishing, so take that for what it's worth.

That thar is a good lookin fly, I'm gonna dig thru my bait fishin box & look fer circle hooks, I know I had some...also think I can use that wire I got for pike feeshin'

I did some carp on the fly carping, and yes in San angelo. the Concho is beautiful. I was just driving down the park road across from the visitor center and saw a bunch of gar rolling and pulled over.....