Presentation Strategies
“Gar are notorious for being difficult to hook conventionally because their beak is all hard bone and teeth,” Gaulke says. “If you can hook one in the small fleshy area in the back corner of the mouth, you have a good shot at landing it. If it’s hooked elsewhere along the bill, keep the line tight as you fight the fish. I don’t recommend trying to catch longnose with hooks, though. It’s terribly ineffective.”
Most gar anglers use specialized lures, hookless baits designed to entangle in the gar’s teeth. Often called rope flies, they’re generally easy to make from readily available materials and can be modified to match different fishing situations.
“I make mine by tying rope strands to a jig or hook, cutting the hook at the bend,” Gaulke says. “A rubber core sinker or split-shot can be pinched to the shank of the hook for castability with spinning gear. Lead wire (available at fly-shops) can also be wrapped around the hook shank before the rope is tied on. Besides improving castability, weighting the fly gives better up-and-down action, making it tremendously effective. The trick is to find a balance between castability and fishability, depending on what depth you’re working.”
Smith developed the GarGetter lure after years of fishing for longnose on the Coosa. He no longer sells the GarGetter but says that rope lures are easy to make. His is made of a bundle of thin nylon fibers, the middle of which is bound to a split ring with a zip-tie. He recommends making your own from a section of twisted rather than braided nylon rope, as it’s easier to comb out.
Smith fishes the GarGetter lure weightless or adds a bullet sinker from 1/4 to 1/2 ounce, depending on how deep he’s fishing. He finds different retrieves work depending on the aggressiveness of the fish. Sometimes they like a lure worked quickly across the surface; other times a slow, steady pumping action is best. When gar are sluggish or on bottom, he fishes a weighted lure like a bass angler works a plastic worm.
Jack Barnett, Gainesville, Georgia, has been guiding for longnose on Georgia’s Lake Lanier for about 8 years. He makes and sells a line of gar lures including topwater, trolling, fly-fishing, and weighted (1/4- to 3/4-ounce) versions. He also sells a line of weightless economy lures. Lures come with pre-tied leaders of 30-pound monofilament. Barnett says that he often goes to weighted lures for casting distance, allowing him to stay farther from fish to prevent spooking them.
Gaulke and Smith believe longnose don’t have good vision, so they suggest casting a lure as close as a foot in front of their heads. “They either strike, or you spook them,” Gaulke says. “Oftentimes, when lots of gar are around, one follows a lure until it gets close to another fish, then the first one stops chasing it and the second starts up.
“To set the hook with a rope fly is counter-productive,” he says. “When a gar hits, wait for a second or two and let the fish turn. Then it’s a matter of simply lifting the rod tip and the fish should be on. They’re an odd fish in battle. Some of them jump, thrash, and run, while others appear unconcerned that they are attached to a line.”
