If gar are eating a few bass they are probably doing bass fishermen a favor. A large bass can easily outrun a comparable gar, so if a gar is able to catch a bass the bass was probably sickly, weak, stupid or otherwise somehow encumbered. They are helping control disease, famine, weak genes and a few not so brilliant fish if anything.

Cesar -

So are you trying to start a movement to try and exticnt a pre-historic fish? What your point? I dont think they are a 'problem' like you say. Its nature and survival of the fittest.

I'm sure Gar eat bass on occasion but not enought o pose a "problem"

Oh man the world is coming to an end...

I fish a section of the frio that is very remote. Usually the area dries up on both ends so think of it as a long pond. The gar and bass populations re huge. This area is un managed and completely wild.

I do find gar marks in a large majority of bass. However, I still have 40 fish days out there so there is no way that the gar are making an impact on the bass population.

The two can live in harmony even at their high population levels.

Please don't go killing gar because you don't like them. Alligator gar live a long time, imagine how long it would take to replace those trophy fish. Generally 60 plus years!!!! Also, gar especially alligator gar are becoming extinct in their native ranges all around the country. The same could happen here if we're not careful with our harvesting. We need to monitor and study the harvesting and its impact especially bow harvesting since it is a kill only method. I believe tpwd is already on the case.

Tight lines!!!

This

Gar have been around for million of years and like any other species they do what they have to do to survive.


Reggie

Interesting or ......

I'm sure the 2 yayhoo's that roll up on anyone and everyone on their spot on the dam out there in the 15 foot stratos pose a bigger threat to the bass population

Lake Falcon is a man made lake, its not indigenous. So who cares what happens there anyway.

Gar are awesome to watch.

I call BS

in the 10 yrs i spent at BPS as live exhibits mgr, i never had a gar try to snap at a LMB, only shiners...

Could it be those tank raised Gar, which were hand fed, had plenty to eat.

I was on Falcon in Sept. Was amazed at the number of bass weighed in, with what appeared to have wounds suffered from Gar.
Most shocking to me was the number of big Gar caught by bass fishermen.
I caught 2 over 4 ft long while fishing for a week. And yes they were caught in the mouth on artifical baits.
That tells me, they are struggling to make a living, just like everything else during these tough times.
It's a fact of nature----You will do what it takes to survive.
I think the Gar at Falcon are doing this.
Will it be the demise of the Bass ? I doubt it.. But just one more strike against them, during these low water times.

Just my opinion !

no, they were not hand fed or over fed, actually the opposite and they had to work the hardest to capture a minnow. i dont think you understand how gar catch their prey...

Not disputing what your saying.....Just trying to make sense of what is happening down there....There are way more fish showing up with bite marks on them that are to big to be anything else but a large gar...I do know that in 1 week of fishing Falcon this fall I saw more bass with Gar bites on them than I have seen in the last 30 years combined....Wonder for how many bass you see that got away......How many did not ??

falcon bass have always been the most roughed up looking bass in texas. a good population of gar is the sign of a stable environment, nothing to worry about.

I am curious how those shiners got in that tank...If not by hand ??