# I need help catching a gar



## Fishnhunt (Oct 13, 2008)

I am fishing around stuebenville on Saturday. Have fished this area several times in the past couple years and have been unable to catch a gar. Haven't even hooked up with one in this area. Lost several at wheeling a couple of years ago. Are there any around stuebenville or am I searching for a needle in a haystack. I know chances of hooking up and landing are slim but would like to add this fish to my list of ohio caught fish. 


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## Fishnhunt (Oct 13, 2008)

Not looking for hotspots or anything like that, just some conformation that they are there in catchable numbers


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

the best way I know to catch gar is to take about a 3 or 4 inch piece of nylon rope and fray it out then use it like a jig but don't set the hook. the gars teeth will get tangled in the frayed rope and you can reel the fish in. I haven't done this myself but was told this by a couple of old fisherman that caught them. the only way I have caught them was before I was told this. me and a friend were bobber fishing with minnows and got in a school of gar down on dale hollow. our bobbers would go down and we would set the hook. we couldn't get them hooked so we just tried reeling in without setting the hook. we started catching them. we wouldn't have them hooked but the hook would be hung in the fishes teeth. we were talking about this back at east port dock and that's when the old guys told us about using the frayed nylon rope to catch them.
sherman


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## Fishnhunt (Oct 13, 2008)

Thanks for the tip, will have a couple of these ready to go for Saturday, 


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## CarpRule (Jun 18, 2013)

Panty hose work well too cut off toe and make a small not over a price of foam slide hook in. Then cut it slits for motion

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## Fishnhunt (Oct 13, 2008)

Thanks or the tip as well carprule. Do you happen to know if they are readily available in stuebenville 


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## tehsavage (Aug 16, 2013)

i remember on that swamp people show on discovery they tied the bait underneath empty gallon milk jugs and just put a whole bunch out. They would go back out and see the jugs getting pulled and know a fish is on, boat over and pull em up. Of course these were alligator gar though.


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## Fishman43078 (Apr 16, 2013)

I float a section of salt creek near Richmond Dale and we have a gar hole that is loaded. I talk to guys in their 70s and 80s and it has been a gar hole for as long as they can remenber. Come, please take them. I use just a small treble with no weight with a piece of a sucker minnow. I let them run down stream until they stop, at which point I am guessing they are eating it. Reel in all the slack and then try to cross their eyes with a hook set. Not fool proof but a heck of a lot of fun. There are so many gar in this hole that I am guessing they run down stream to get the sucker away from other gar.

Again, please catch them all. You wont hurt my feelings. They r in a place that looks fantastic for smallies.

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## Fishingnoob (May 19, 2013)

If your near new cumb Try new cumb dam along train tracks. 


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## Fishnhunt (Oct 13, 2008)

Is there a ramp that is near the new Cumberland dam. I would like to give that area a shot from my boat, I just don't have the horsepower to make a really long run


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

Fishnhunt said:


> Is there a ramp that is near the new Cumberland dam. I would like to give that area a shot from my boat, I just don't have the horsepower to make a really long run
> 
> 
> Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


There is a ramp behind the new Cumberland fire dept. And one in the middle of Toronto. Both public.

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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

be sure and post if you catch any fish.
sherman


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## Fishnhunt (Oct 13, 2008)

Went down last Saturday, between two guys caught around 40 hybrids and some spotted bass, a couple small saugeye, and one channel. I think I saw a small gar, but my jig and minnow scared it away. Hopefully heading back down this upcoming Saturday, might head to a new spot. Possibly by new Cumberland, a little apprehensive because I've never fished in that part of the river from a boat


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## cumminsmoke (Aug 13, 2013)

Fishnhunt said:


> Went down last Saturday, between two guys caught around 40 hybrids and some spotted bass, a couple small saugeye, and one channel. I think I saw a small gar, but my jig and minnow scared it away. Hopefully heading back down this upcoming Saturday, might head to a new spot. Possibly by new Cumberland, a little apprehensive because I've never fished in that part of the river from a boat
> 
> 
> Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


I fish newcumberland in my little 14 footer and my 21 footer, prefer the 14. Anchor up at the bouys and catch sauger on jigs amongst other things. Old onion bags work on gar. thread your hook through it and tie a sucker on. I like Treble hooks also, landed a few this year at the locks, instant bird food on the rocks. Use small trebles, they work better than the bigger ones.


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

Lots of gar around steubenville by the way. Check around barges, barge cells and lay downs on sunny days. They'll hang right beneath the surface in the shade. If you find one, there will more than likely be several. If you're trying to catch them with a hook, it take a while for the to get it deep enough to actually hook them. The rope-type lures are your best bet for consistent catching.

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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

http://www.garfishing.com/hooklesslures.html

Check this site out.

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## Fishnhunt (Oct 13, 2008)

I'm pretty sure I understand how to catch them just have not been able to find any to try to catch. I am always on the lookout for them rising but have yet to come across any fish


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## cumminsmoke (Aug 13, 2013)

Fishnhunt said:


> I'm pretty sure I understand how to catch them just have not been able to find any to try to catch. I am always on the lookout for them rising but have yet to come across any fish
> 
> 
> Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


Thats the easy part. Just walk down to the New Cumberland dam and catch them all day on the WV side. Go to the lower side of the wall and you will begin to hate Gar, i have problems keeping my line in the water because of all the gar. I catch them and pitch them up on the bank, instant bird food. If thats what you want to catch it will be worth the walk. I park at the base of the hill on the north side of the dam and walk down to it, its the shortest walk. if its the weekend I park on the south end and ride my bicycle up the road into the brickyard and walk about 100 yards. Hope this helps. Live bait is the best.


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## Fishnhunt (Oct 13, 2008)

I have only fished from the dam one time, most of my river fishing is in the boat out of stuebenville marina or wheeling. I recently got my first boat and have doing several lake tests before I started to tempt the river. I will have to try out the dam again and see what happens. 


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

cumminsmoke said:


> Thats the easy part. Just walk down to the New Cumberland dam and catch them all day on the WV side. Go to the lower side of the wall and you will begin to hate Gar, i have problems keeping my line in the water because of all the gar. I catch them and pitch them up on the bank, instant bird food. If thats what you want to catch it will be worth the walk. I park at the base of the hill on the north side of the dam and walk down to it, its the shortest walk. if its the weekend I park on the south end and ride my bicycle up the road into the brickyard and walk about 100 yards. Hope this helps. Live bait is the best.


Wouldn't be telling too many people that you throw any species of fish up on the bank to just die. It's not your private pond. Just because they annoy you doesn't give you the right to kill them for no good reason...

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## Logger53 (Aug 17, 2013)

Here's a good reason to get rid of Gar......They are a scavenger fish, they kill any fish that they can get hold of. If they aren't hungry they just kill it and let it sink to the bottom. If you have a lake full of game fish, and introduce Gar, in just a few short years, you will have a lake full of Gar, and no game fish.


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

Logger53 said:


> Here's a good reason to get rid of Gar......They are a scavenger fish, they kill any fish that they can get hold of. If they aren't hungry they just kill it and let it sink to the bottom. If you have a lake full of game fish, and introduce Gar, in just a few short years, you will have a lake full of Gar, and no game fish.


This is a terribly false statement... no animal other than a human has been found to just kill things...

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## joebertin (Mar 26, 2010)

Bad Bub, chimps kill for sport as well as some of the big cats. Do some research and you'll be surprised at what you find:


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

O.k. in rare instances, it has been found that chimps kill things... now back to the gar, given that the gar have lived in the Ohio river probably longer than any other species, how is it that any other species has even taken root in the waterway with the gar eliminating them given the ferocious nature he describes? That's my point. Thank you for being so literal... I should have known better...

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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

That's not to mention that various species of gar are found throughout the country's lakes and streams both natively and by human introduction, and I myself have never heard of any body of water that is only full of gar....

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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

Bad Bub, from my many experiences arguing with so called "fishermen" on this forum, I wouldn't go on any further with Logger53 and cumminsmoke. I've wasted too much of my time going back and forth with people who are way too stupid to have any idea what us true sportsmen who actually care about fishing and our waterways are saying. There's no hope. People like them shouldn't be allowed to own any fishing gear and are a huge disgrace to the sport. 

It's terrible we have such bad apples, but I guess we gotta deal with it and it probably will never change. Happens on Erie, the Ohio River, and just last month I witnessed idiots killing bowfin for no reason(the officer I came across the next day was very happy I gave him their descriptions and license plate #, hopefully they eventually get caught).


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## Doboy (Oct 13, 2008)

Bad Bub said:


> This is a terribly false statement... no animal other than a human has been found to just kill things...
> 
> 
> OMG Bub,,, I'm still cracking up!!!
> ...


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## Doboy (Oct 13, 2008)

fishinnick said:


> and just last month I witnessed idiots killing bowfin for no reason(the officer I came across the next day was very happy I gave him their descriptions and license plate #, hopefully they eventually get caught).



ATTA-BOY Nick!


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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

Doboy said:


> ATTA-BOY Nick!


Thanks....It would have been even better if my phone wasn't dead But, I NEVER go fishing without a camera 

Haven't heard anything back from the officer(gave him my info too), but he seemed excited to investigate and even told me a few stories of him busting other people killing bowfin and throwing them in the woods.


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

Doboy said:


> Bad Bub said:
> 
> 
> > This is a terribly false statement... no animal other than a human has been found to just kill things...
> ...


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## Daveo76 (Apr 14, 2004)

Logger53 said:


> Here's a good reason to get rid of Gar......They are a scavenger fish, they kill any fish that they can get hold of. If they aren't hungry they just kill it and let it sink to the bottom. If you have a lake full of game fish, and introduce Gar, in just a few short years, you will have a lake full of Gar, and no game fish.


Okay, let's get rid of all the other scavengers, like smallmouths getting in the way of my wipers, or get rid of the damn wipers that will scavenge and hit live bait, cut bait, shiners , metal(lead spoons) topwater lures, chicken liver while you are fishin' for channel cats, Flies , spinners, can't keep the damn things away. They have to stock the stupid things because once they get so big, they start eating each other. I hate to tell you but Gars are pre historic and have been around a little while and ain't goin' anywhere. All you have to do is fish somewhere else or fish right in the middle of them because there will be other fish around to try to get what they are after. You won't see anyone down my way toss one one the bank unless it's someone who does not fish regularly , and if they are seen doing it, they get a mouthful from one of the guys. They are a fish like all the others and we are invading their space, so you'd better get used to them or just quit fishing all together. Do you toss your White Bass on the bank that you catch while Sauger fishing?? Let's just take one day and toss all the fish on the bank that aren't our target fish and see how good the river smells from Wheeling to Cincinnati. The first day over 90 degrees next year. By the way, welcome to the forum.


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## pppatrick (Apr 21, 2012)

right on daveo!

back to the topic. they are all over shallow sand bar flats that are adjacent to deep holes here. been catching probably 3 or 4 for every catfish when fishing those type areas. start out with live gills or big creek chubs which quickly turn to cut bait once the gar locate em'.

they sure have been keeping me entertained and just when i think that bite is another and i set the hook on what feels like a swimming cinder block it sure makes those cats more enjoyable.


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## FishFrenzy89 (May 18, 2009)

Logger53 said:


> Here's a good reason to get rid of Gar......They are a scavenger fish, they kill any fish that they can get hold of. If they aren't hungry they just kill it and let it sink to the bottom. If you have a lake full of game fish, and introduce Gar, in just a few short years, you will have a lake full of Gar, and no game fish.



lol gar are not scavengers... they are predators, and gamefish only make up 1 percent of their diet.. 
They mainly eat shad and small minnows.


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