I was bass fishing yesterday and the bite was pretty slow, blue bird skies and almost no wind.  I could see gar swimming everyplace and could not get a bite by one to save my life.  What can you throw at them to get a bite???   I once saw a tv show and they were catching gar on a fly rod but have no idea what they were useing for bait.

We catch gar all the time on live and cut bait (mostly shad and silver carp), but they are hard to hook. A nylon rope rig will get fewer bites, but you'll catch more of the fish that do bite. It's basically just a piece of frayed nylon rope. You can make your own or buy one. The teeth of the gar get tangled in the nylon.

Do not set the hook when they bite, just start reeling.

I've been thinking that a killer rig would be a nylon rope rig like those below, combined with a baitholder hook to attach a small piece of cut bait.

I catch Gar, too often, on spinners with a trailer hook.  The trailer gets them under the lower jaw more that the main hook or trailer in the mouth.   The nylon rope also works, if fishing specifically for Gar.

5 wt. flyrod or medium power spinning rod, frayed nylon rope on a split ring, color the head red, hang on tight.

5 wt. flyrod or medium power spinning rod, frayed nylon rope on a split ring, color the head red, hang on tight.

x2 Caught several gar this way.

Thanks guys, I will have to get out there and try that .

I used to tie my own gar rope lures using a 1/0 hook for those occasions when a bass or crappie hit it.

Gar in my parts like live bait,cut bait,and shiney things like spoons and spinnerbaits.