Gar Info
Bob found this info from the book "Fishes of Wisconsin” by George Becker...................
We often hear "The gar were really feeding at bluff slough today" etc. These few paragraphs explain what's really going on, of course all of us gar guys already know.
Gar lungs
1. "A unique characteristic of these primitive fishes is the ability to breathe atmospheric air. The swim bladder is connected to the esophagus and operates as a primitive lung. The inner lining of the swim bladder is cellular and somewhat roughened, providing for additional gas-absorption area. Even in well-oxygenated aquariums they will surface briefly every few minutes. This is the act of “breaking,” so familiar to many fishermen.
In breaking, the gar turns partly over on one side, emits a bubble of air, swallows, and then sinks below the surface. Supposedly this habit is discontinued in cold weather, and from October to April gars do not come to the surface to breathe (Forbes and Richardson 1920).
Their ability to breathe air enables them to live in polluted water unfit for any other fishes except the bowfins. We have seen cases of total oxygen depletion where all the other species were killed, but the gars and the bowfins still swam about unconcernedly. We have known gars to drown when entangled in a net and unable to reach the surface for fresh air. Their air-breathing ability may be one of the characteristics, which enabled these primitive fishes to survive."
Useless info unless you really thought about eating gar eggs......
2. The eggs of the gar are dangerous to vertebrate animals. Of two mice force-fed 0.2 ml of homogenized eggs, one died in less than 18 hr; the other became very sick but eventually recovered (Netsch and Witt 1962).
In Wisconsin spawning occurs from May to late June, and possibly early July. In southern Wisconsin the fish often ascend rivers to spawn over the weed beds of shallower waters (Cahn 1927). In lakes the longnose gar spawns in shoal water, usually in grass and weeds, but it has been observed spawning about stone piles of railroad bridges (Forbes and Richardson 1920).
Spawning was associated with two ranges of temperature peaking at 67.1 and 69.8 degrees F, and the date suggest that spawning occurs with rising temperatures of the water – the immediate stimulus for the formation of the spawning groups. During each year there is usually more than one 3-day period of spawning, and these periods are concentrated within two ranges of temperature.
As many as 15 males approach a female. If she is ready to spawn, she leads them in an elliptical path (apparently related to the shape of the spawning ground) for up to 15 minutes before spawning occurs. Over the spawning bed the males nudge the female with the ends of their snouts in the pectoral, lateral, and ventro-lateral areas. Frequent surfacing and gulping takes place during this phase. Then the spawning group positions itself at one place with the heads down and snouts very close to or touching the bottom, and males continue to nudge the female. A rapid, violent quivering of the spawners follows as eggs and sperm are released. The quivering moves the spawning group forward and away from the spawning area.
Nine days after hatching the gar takes it’s first aerial breath and begins to feed.
Growth rate of the longnose gar during its first year of life is rapid. Approximate growth is 1.5 mm per day. Baby gar tend to eat 9.1% of their body weight per day and digestion is completed within 24 hrs. Gar inactivity is probably the major factor contributing to the low food conversion factor. Even feeding seems to be a leisurely activity. Females will grow to approximately 22 inches in the first year, whereas males only grow to approximately 19 inches in the first year. Females continue to grow approximately 1 in a year for 13 or 14 years and will outlive the males. Males will mature between 3 and 4 years and females at about 6 years of age. Opposite of humans where the male never matures and the female matures at an early age.
Diet
Fishes constitute the greatest bulk of stomach contents in all size groups of longnose gars except those in the initial feeding stages which select minute crustaceans such as cladocerans and copepods. Very small fish appear early in the diet of the gar.
The fish portion of the diet of the young of year gar is mainly carp. The noncarp group includes silverside, bluegill, gar, Largemouth bass, darters spottail shiner, killfish, black crappie, and others. Gars 21-96mm long are able to take prey up to one-third their own length. The fish important for sportfishing like the LG mouth bass, yellow bass, northern pike, and the walleye were found infrequently in the stomachs of adult gars.
A longnose gar feeds more actively at night than during the daylight and much of the feeding is surface oriented. It is adept at stalking a fish victim by swimming, not toward it , but off to one side, moving along in the water like a stick drifting with the surface current. Suddenly it flips its long beak to the side and catches its prey across the body in it jaw. The action is similar to the strike of a rattlesnake, occurring so quickly that the eye is unable to follow. Then by a series of thrusts, the victim is turned so that it can be swallowed head first.
Young gars are commonly taken in the shallows, but as they grow larger they tend to go to deeper water and perhaps become more nocturnal (Haase 1969). During daylight they spend much time resting motionlessly close to submerged or overhanging objects near shore (Echelle and Riggs 1972). At night they are commonly found swimming actively in shallow, open waters. Certain individuals can be found in the same spot day after day. Generally their increased activity leads to an increased rate of air-breathing.
Longnose gars prefers high water temperatures. Adult gars have the habit of basking near the surface on warm days or nights, and they may be seen floating like sticks of varying sizes.
Let's eat
The meat of the longnose gar is described as white, boneless, well-flavored, and wholesome. It is delicious baked on the “half shell” (Sroka 1975). It has been compared to roast pig and may be smoked with excellent success. When fried, it reportedly tastes like a combination of fish and pork chops. (In my opinion it has almost a porklike texture but doesn't taste like pork, it is a very firm non fishy/oily fish. Everyone who we have conned into trying has liked it. That's a fact.)
Although the flesh may be useable, gar eggs are highly poisonous to man as well as to chickens, cats, dogs, and mice. Vertebrate animals will normally avoid eating them. On the other hand, gar eggs have been found in the stomach of a bluegill and in the intestine of a river carpsucker, and neither have appeared to have suffered ill effects.
Gars are especially important in waters where man’s activities have upset the balance of nature in favor of the so-called “rough” fishes, i.e., carp, buffalo fishes, and the like. It is here that gar populations often reach their greatest numbers and importance. In all of these environments, the gar exerts a profound controlling influence on the tendency of both rough and game species to overpopulate.
We have heard more than once "yeah we caught a few gar, we just snapped their beaks off and threw em on the bank."
Often when I hear that I just think pure ignorance. These fish are indigenous and are important to the natural ecosystem. They are more fun to catch than most any other fish and taste good also. I chalk it up to that they just don't know how to catch them or maybe are just too scared to have one in the boat.
This site was last updated 08/05/09