Gar Fly
Fly of the Month 06.24a Gar Flies
There are a number of species of gar in the southeast including: Alligator Gar, Florida Gar, Longnose Gar and Shortnose Gar. A gar is actually a fairly primitive fish. They are characterized by a tail with one lobe of the tail longer than the other (like a shark). Gars have hard, diamond-shaped scales and a mouth full of teeth. With a specialized air bladder, they have the ability to take oxygen from the surface. This allows these fish to live in soupy, less oxygenated backwaters.
Baitfish are the primary food source for gar, but they will eat the occasional frog or any other food available. In general, gar are easy to spot. Gar that are moving will be most obvious. When they are really active, they snap their beak and slash on the surface as it grabs for air,. Occasionally they will make a wake, as they chase down a meal.
They look a lot like a stick with fins which are triangular shaped, with the tip of the triangle pointing forward. Casting to the tail of the fish is not effective. To determine which way is it pointing, look for the skinny end, since the tail end is much wider.
An 8- or 9-weight rod will cover most situations in the pursuit of gar. Use a 6 foot leader, with a 1 foot of 50-pound-test fluorocarbon as a bite tippet. Gar have pointy little teeth that are not likely to slice a leader like those of a pike, but it is better to err on the side of caution.
Gar will consistently hit Clousers or woolly Buggers and other minnow imitations. The problems have been with the consistency of hookups. Using Chemically sharpened hooks may help some. However, tying unbraided nylon rope to a hook, dressing it up with some flash or other materials leverages the toothy mouth and greatly improves the hookup odds.
Gar have a very hard, bony mouth full and an overly abundant amount of sharp teeth. The bony jaw of the gar is difficult to penetrate with a hook, so the key is casting tough yarn that will tangle in the fish’s pointy teeth. Any decent fly pattern for gar is designed to entangle the fishes teeth. A fly pattern for gar with the addition of hooks is designed to slightly improve the hooking odds just in case the fish bites in a way to allow a hook in a strategic holding place in the mouth.
Good gloves make it safer to deal with the teeth of an aggressive gar. For some fly patterns, a trailing hook is more likely to hookup than a leading or primary hook. In either case, care must be taken as a hook in the gars mouth can easily come out while handling the landed fish. Even more caution is advised if the gar is caught by its entangle teeth. Keep tension on the line to the fly to prevent premature detachment. A gar with a free swing mouth of teeth can wreck an anglers hand in a flash.
Take your time extracting the fly from the beak. Hold the fly with pliers and let the gar thrash, and the fish will come right off. Or, use something to help keep the mouth open while removing the nylon fibers from their mouth. Remember that these fish breathe air, so as long as they are kept moist, they are not harmed. They are a tough fish!
A gar fly pattern is most effective when stripped in a slow, constant retrieve. If the gar bats at the fly and misses or just gets a bit of the tail, do not stop the retrieve. Continue to strip the fly moving the fly along at the same or maybe a little bit faster rate. Slow and steady is the ticket until you finally hook up or tangle up.
Gar are available to anglers from May through September, with the warmest months being the best time. They congregate to spawn in the springtime, a great time to target gar. Gar are often overlooked by fly anglers, but they are a lot of fun on hot summer days.
There are a number of species of gar in the southeast including: Alligator Gar, Florida Gar, Longnose Gar and Shortnose Gar. A gar is actually a fairly primitive fish. They are characterized by a tail with one lobe of the tail longer than the other (like a shark). Gars have hard, diamond-shaped scales and a mouth full of teeth. With a specialized air bladder, they have the ability to take oxygen from the surface. This allows these fish to live in soupy, less oxygenated backwaters.
Baitfish are the primary food source for gar, but they will eat the occasional frog or any other food available. In general, gar are easy to spot. Gar that are moving will be most obvious. When they are really active, they snap their beak and slash on the surface as it grabs for air,. Occasionally they will make a wake, as they chase down a meal.
They look a lot like a stick with fins which are triangular shaped, with the tip of the triangle pointing forward. Casting to the tail of the fish is not effective. To determine which way is it pointing, look for the skinny end, since the tail end is much wider.
An 8- or 9-weight rod will cover most situations in the pursuit of gar. Use a 6 foot leader, with a 1 foot of 50-pound-test fluorocarbon as a bite tippet. Gar have pointy little teeth that are not likely to slice a leader like those of a pike, but it is better to err on the side of caution.
Gar will consistently hit Clousers or woolly Buggers and other minnow imitations. The problems have been with the consistency of hookups. Using Chemically sharpened hooks may help some. However, tying unbraided nylon rope to a hook, dressing it up with some flash or other materials leverages the toothy mouth and greatly improves the hookup odds.
Gar have a very hard, bony mouth full and an overly abundant amount of sharp teeth. The bony jaw of the gar is difficult to penetrate with a hook, so the key is casting tough yarn that will tangle in the fish’s pointy teeth. Any decent fly pattern for gar is designed to entangle the fishes teeth. A fly pattern for gar with the addition of hooks is designed to slightly improve the hooking odds just in case the fish bites in a way to allow a hook in a strategic holding place in the mouth.
Good gloves make it safer to deal with the teeth of an aggressive gar. For some fly patterns, a trailing hook is more likely to hookup than a leading or primary hook. In either case, care must be taken as a hook in the gars mouth can easily come out while handling the landed fish. Even more caution is advised if the gar is caught by its entangle teeth. Keep tension on the line to the fly to prevent premature detachment. A gar with a free swing mouth of teeth can wreck an anglers hand in a flash.
Take your time extracting the fly from the beak. Hold the fly with pliers and let the gar thrash, and the fish will come right off. Or, use something to help keep the mouth open while removing the nylon fibers from their mouth. Remember that these fish breathe air, so as long as they are kept moist, they are not harmed. They are a tough fish!
A gar fly pattern is most effective when stripped in a slow, constant retrieve. If the gar bats at the fly and misses or just gets a bit of the tail, do not stop the retrieve. Continue to strip the fly moving the fly along at the same or maybe a little bit faster rate. Slow and steady is the ticket until you finally hook up or tangle up.
Gar are available to anglers from May through September, with the warmest months being the best time. They congregate to spawn in the springtime, a great time to target gar. Gar are often overlooked by fly anglers, but they are a lot of fun on hot summer days.
Fly of the Month 06.24a Gar Flies
For either fly pattern, keep the fly between 6 and 9 inches long for best results, since longer flies have more material to grab onto and catch.
Nylon Shad Fly
Hook: Streamer 3xL, point/barb removed (hookless)
Size: 2
Thread: White gel spin
Weight: (optional) Tungsten bead, glued to stub of hook bend
Tail: 4" white nylon rope fibers
Body: Mylar tubing; white & gray EP fibers
Eyes: 10 mm Living Eyes
Originated by Seth Fields.
Hookless. For Gar, a toothy, hard-mouth fish.
Note: Some states like Vermont, legally require a hook point on the fly.
Reference: Fly Tyer (Autumn 2020), page 56.
Godawful Garish Gar Grabber
Hook 1: Tiemco 8089NP or equivalent chemically sharpened hook
Size: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
Hook 2: Tiemco 811S
Size: 2, 4, 6, 8
Thread: Yellow
Weed Guard: 20 pound mono
Trailer: 20 pound mono
Tail: Strips of white nylon pantyhose dyed yellow,
tied in with Krystal Flash
Body: Yellow spun (using dubbing loop) deer hair,
trimmed as a flaring collar
Head: (back) Green spun deer hair, trimmed to shape (front) Purple spun deer hair, trimmed to shape
Note: Overall head is tapered back and in the shape and style of a Dahlberg Diver.
Reference: L. J. DeCuir, Southeastern Flies: A Collection of Flies, Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Tips for use on the Tailwaters, Streams, and Lakes of the Southeastern United States (2000), pages 175-178.
For either fly pattern, keep the fly between 6 and 9 inches long for best results, since longer flies have more material to grab onto and catch.
Nylon Shad Fly
Hook: Streamer 3xL, point/barb removed (hookless)
Size: 2
Thread: White gel spin
Weight: (optional) Tungsten bead, glued to stub of hook bend
Tail: 4" white nylon rope fibers
Body: Mylar tubing; white & gray EP fibers
Eyes: 10 mm Living Eyes
Originated by Seth Fields.
Hookless. For Gar, a toothy, hard-mouth fish.
Note: Some states like Vermont, legally require a hook point on the fly.
Reference: Fly Tyer (Autumn 2020), page 56.
Godawful Garish Gar Grabber
Hook 1: Tiemco 8089NP or equivalent chemically sharpened hook
Size: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
Hook 2: Tiemco 811S
Size: 2, 4, 6, 8
Thread: Yellow
Weed Guard: 20 pound mono
Trailer: 20 pound mono
Tail: Strips of white nylon pantyhose dyed yellow,
tied in with Krystal Flash
Body: Yellow spun (using dubbing loop) deer hair,
trimmed as a flaring collar
Head: (back) Green spun deer hair, trimmed to shape (front) Purple spun deer hair, trimmed to shape
Note: Overall head is tapered back and in the shape and style of a Dahlberg Diver.
Reference: L. J. DeCuir, Southeastern Flies: A Collection of Flies, Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Tips for use on the Tailwaters, Streams, and Lakes of the Southeastern United States (2000), pages 175-178.