grt1 Posted July 23, 2016 Report Share Posted July 23, 2016 just sitting here watching Fish TV and they are catching gar, then they put them in the live well, since we don't have gar in our area, i was wondering if you can eat this fish, they look kind of skinny to get much meat off them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hunteronwheels Posted July 23, 2016 Report Share Posted July 23, 2016 they are edible but take care cleaning them as the eggs are toxic to humans and puncturing the egg sack will contaminate the meat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickingfrog Posted July 24, 2016 Report Share Posted July 24, 2016 I'd have to catch one first before I had to decide if I was going to eat one. Were these southern alligator gar or our northern longnose gar? I think there is a bit of a market for the alligator gar down south but here it would just be individual anglers. They are a very hardy fish so there isn't a need to help them recover in a livewell. Maybe they were put into the livewell to accommodate filming the show? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJL Posted July 25, 2016 Report Share Posted July 25, 2016 A few months ago, I eventually stumbled on a video on how to clean gar (longnose). It seemed like a pretty involved process. From what I remember, the tools they used included: a hacksaw (to make the first cut behind the head down to the spine), sheet metal cutters (to cut through the tough scales) and a fillet knife (to get the meat off the bone) The guy in the video said it tasted pretty similar to alligator (the reptile). Looked like a lot more work than what it was worth for a smaller fish. And yes, the eggs are poisonous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BITEME Posted July 25, 2016 Report Share Posted July 25, 2016 I'd have to catch one first before I had to decide if I was going to eat one. Were these southern alligator gar or our northern longnose gar? I think there is a bit of a market for the alligator gar down south but here it would just be individual anglers. They are a very hardy fish so there isn't a need to help them recover in a livewell. Maybe they were put into the livewell to accommodate filming the show? they were somewhere on the Ottawa river Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bacon Posted July 25, 2016 Report Share Posted July 25, 2016 they were somewhere on the Ottawa river Those would be long nose gar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buick14 Posted July 26, 2016 Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 That's a fish that would prefer eating a popcan or piece of rope to normal forage....don't see it tasting good, but it would definitely like the taste of you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUMP KNOWS Posted July 26, 2016 Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 How many species of gar do we have in Ontario? 2? Longnose and spotted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJL Posted July 26, 2016 Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 How many species of gar do we have in Ontario? 2? Longnose and spotted? Longnose and spotted from what I understand. Spotted is extremely rare in Ontario (I believe it's considered threatened in Ontario). My friend got a gar in the Niagara and the Fish ID experts couldn't determine if it was a spotted gar or a Florida gar that someone released from a fish tank. They would need to dissect it to confirm the ID. Gar by MJLeung, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buick14 Posted July 26, 2016 Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 Longnose and spotted from what I understand. Spotted is extremely rare in Ontario (I believe it's considered threatened in Ontario). My friend got a gar in the Niagara and the Fish ID experts couldn't determine if it was a spotted gar or a Florida gar that someone released from a fish tank. They would need to dissect it to confirm the ID. Gar by MJLeung, on Flickr How big was the gar? Did he release it (obviously thinking it was a long nose ), or did he send it in for analysis ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJL Posted July 26, 2016 Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 How big was the gar? Did he release it (obviously thinking it was a long nose ), or did he send it in for analysis ? I can't remember how big it was (we didn't measure it. My friend's leg is in the background if that helps). At the time, we were thinking it was just like any other longnose gar and didn't pay any special attention to it. Only till I put up a few pics on facebook did a few of my friends inquire about it.The fish was released. In any case, I would imagine keeping spotted gar would be illegal due to their threatened status in Ontario. We also didn't want to have to hike up the gorge with a carcass.LOL I think the biggest issue with the ID for that particular fish was the location where it was caught. From my understanding, the Niagara isn't a place where they are normally found (in Ontario they are only really found in a few bays around Lake Erie). I was told that Florida gar and Spotted gar are very hard to tell apart except for bony plates on their isthmus (Spotted Gar). Pretty cool anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUMP KNOWS Posted July 26, 2016 Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 That's a sweet pic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OffsideGuy Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 I can't remember how big it was (we didn't measure it. My friend's leg is in the background if that helps). At the time, we were thinking it was just like any other longnose gar and didn't pay any special attention to it. Only till I put up a few pics on facebook did a few of my friends inquire about it.The fish was released. In any case, I would imagine keeping spotted gar would be illegal due to their threatened status in Ontario. We also didn't want to have to hike up the gorge with a carcass.LOL I think the biggest issue with the ID for that particular fish was the location where it was caught. From my understanding, the Niagara isn't a place where they are normally found (in Ontario they are only really found in a few bays around Lake Erie). I was told that Florida gar and Spotted gar are very hard to tell apart except for bony plates on their isthmus (Spotted Gar). Pretty cool anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OffsideGuy Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 (edited) If you ever have a chance to see the bony plates on the ithsmus, it's actually quite easy to identify them. They are dark in colour on white skin. When you move the operculum (gill plate) out of the way they are right there in the "chin" area. You can also feel them when you run your finger over them. I've only ever seen one in the wild and a few in captivity. Most of the time Florida gar aren't as vibrant in colour as spotted gar are. Not that you can go by colour, but it's a start. Edited August 2, 2016 by OffsideGuy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pigeontroller Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 They are not Gar PIKE! They are Longnose Gar! Proper nomenclature is important! I feel better now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKRISONER Posted August 2, 2016 Report Share Posted August 2, 2016 They are not Gar PIKE! They are Longnose Gar! Proper nomenclature is important! I feel better now. are we seriously going to get into the what fish are called discussion ahahha go to northern manitoba and people will laugh at you for calling a jackfish a pike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sterling Posted August 3, 2016 Report Share Posted August 3, 2016 Side note, our friends across the border plan on stocking the Mississippi with Alligator Gar. Apparently it's a last ditch effort to manage asian carp. I'm all for it personally, since supposedly they were native to the Mississippi anyway. http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-asian-carp-snap-story.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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