Author Topic: Lures for the longnose  (Read 12752 times)

Offline AJayToRemember

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Re: Lures for the longnose
« Reply #30 on: 02/11/15 21:21 UTC »
The gar was an accident. Never complain about fish that I catch, even the strippers!  ;D
Depends on the size of the stripper.  :o
-Jay Hendricks

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Offline BareKnuckleJigs

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Re: Lures for the longnose
« Reply #31 on: 02/11/15 21:27 UTC »
Roe!  Roe!  Roe, Kemosabe!
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Offline Botanophilia

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Re: Lures for the longnose
« Reply #32 on: 02/12/15 02:20 UTC »
Whereabouts are you located? I tend to see gar and bowfin in the same general areas of waterways, or at least similar backwaters. But bowfin certainly are strong. They'll trick into thinking you've hooked the bass of a lifetime, too.

SE Wisconsin.  I fish a few waters where gar can be found, but not many.  Bowfins are more widespread and can be found in most waters whereas gar prefer slow water and more marshy habitats. Some of the waters I fish would seem to be perfect for gar, but they don't seem to be present.  Probably because of the pike in those waters. 

Offline 2XL

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Re: Lures for the longnose
« Reply #33 on: 02/12/15 06:19 UTC »
Rock Lake in Lake Mills WI has Gar in it. I have seen them in the 50 inch ( maybe longer ?) range in that lake. I've seen them in shallow water at night while fishing for crappies off the old trestle on the south end of the lake and have had them cruise by just under the ice in deep water out on the main lake. I tried to gaff one that went 40-45 inches that was hanging out right under the holes in our ice shack once. End result of that deal was no Gar and a bent hook on my gaff = those fish are tough as nails. LOL

Offline AJayToRemember

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Re: Lures for the longnose
« Reply #34 on: 02/12/15 16:34 UTC »
Wisconsin is far from my area. Although we don't have them here, I'm sure the pike probably do have something to do with the lack of gar in those waters. At least you seem to have no problem finding bowfin there. There's a private lake behind a restaurant in a city about 20 minutes from me that a cousin of mine used to have access to. Apparently bowfin are all you can catch, 12-14 pounders being almost common and while other people might turn their noses up, to me it sounds like a gold mine. Too bad no one can really get out there nowadays. Might have to sneak out there sometime  :-X
-Jay Hendricks

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Offline 2XL

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Re: Lures for the longnose
« Reply #35 on: 02/12/15 19:07 UTC »
I just mentioned that lake more to show that you can find Gar in shallow water or suspended one foot down  in 30-40 feet of water. That lake is gin clear with a fair number of Northerns, bass and a few walleyes in it. Lots of panfish for those fish too.

Offline Botanophilia

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Re: Lures for the longnose
« Reply #36 on: 02/13/15 11:00 UTC »
Most of the waters I fish they simply aren't known to be around, 2XL.  (Doesn't mean they aren't there, just that they aren't known to be)  Once in awhile I fish Winnebago or the Wolf river.  They're somewhat common in the Wolf, but I fish it so seldom that I have yet to come across one. 

I know they can be found over deep water like you mention.  I've always wondered what they're doing there?  They're ambush predators, not hunters.  I wouldn't expect there to be much to ambush 1' down in 40' of water.

Offline 2XL

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Re: Lures for the longnose
« Reply #37 on: 02/13/15 13:18 UTC »
Re: Open water location.  I know when we had our permanent shack set over deep water on Rock lake jigging for Perch there would sometimes be tiny inch to inch and a half minnows in the jigging holes when we first opened the shack for the day. Some days just a few and some days there would be 3-4 dozen and other days none at all. It was a surprise to me that those tiny fish were so far from any sort of weed cover at all. Then again, the wide open empty spaces of the main basin could be considered a form of cover I suppose. Those minnows would be a usable explanation as to why the Gar were hanging around.

Gar were/are always an accidental sighting for me. Put enough time on the waters that hold them and your bound to see one sooner or later I guess. I have seen a few Gar mounts that were caught on the river system here but in 30+ years of fishing it I've never caught or seen one myself.

I've caught them by accident on the Wisconsin River in the Spring Green area but to actually target them, I wouldn't have a clue where to start. They put up a great fight once you do tie into one.

Offline ctom

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Re: Lures for the longnose
« Reply #38 on: 02/13/15 14:19 UTC »
There's a lot of algaes and other micro-organisms that float up off the bottom and gather on the underside of the ice. Small minnows will often hang right tight the underside and feed on this stuff.. That's why crappies are often caught right the bottom of the ice hole. Crappies will cruise right under the ice facing up and pick these little guys off as they are looking up eating salad.

Only 4 or 5 years ago a buddy and I stopped along a backwaters where it looked like some kind of jamboree was taking place but it turned out to be disgruntled ice guys. It was a community hole and there were probably fifty guys on pails that day because it was very nice weather to be out. We walked back to the truck and each of use tied on a JBLures  1/16 Gem-N-Eye and stuck a Little Atom Nuggie plastic on the hook and walked back fishing in holes that had been drilled and the people had moved off. We fished no more than two feet under the ice and put an whumping on crappies while all these other guys fished the bottom and got an occasional 4" sunfish. Way larger bait and profile, right under the ice....crappies to beat it. No flasher needed. About two people caught on to what we were doing. The rest...brain dead.
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