![]() ![]() ![]() There’s a harvest limit of one alligator gar per year, measuring under 36 inches.A special Arkansas permit is required, free at Alligator gar are off-limits during the official spawning season of May and June.This only works, on average, about 10 percent of the time, to say nothing of what swallowed hooks can do to a gar from the inside. The prevailing strategy used to be to let the gar run downstream for five to 10 minutes and after they stop to swallow the bait, set the hook when they run again. There’s a changing attitude about setting the hook. We’ve had our best luck with circle hooks between the size of a nickel to a quarter. Make sure whatever line your reel is spooled with is strong enough to haul in a 100-pounder.Ī word about hooks: The more metal there is, the greater the odds the gar will get a taste of it and drop the bait. If you use a swivel, attach 2-3 feet of 50- to 80-pound braided line for a leader. Put a 1-ounce egg weight on your line and attach a swivel or a steel leader beneath that. We flip the big switch so the gar can run and we use Carolina rigs, which allow them to take line out easily. It helps to rebait every 20 minutes.īaitrunner reels work best because you can cast a long way and they don’t get fouled like baitcasting reels. We’ve had a lot of luck with shad, which you can catch in cast nets or buy frozen at bait stores. When the sun goes down, all four species of gar (alligator, longnose, shortnose and spotted) will follow baitfish into shallower waters. Find a sandy beach with no obstructions where gars can be seen rolling. The best time for gar fishing is either between dawn and noon or at and after dusk. ![]() ![]() Fish & Wildlife Service, along with a few years of heavy flooding, Arkansas alligator gar populations are more stable than they’ve been in the last 60 years.Īs this fishery has improved, the primitive behemoth is definitely worthy of its new classification of “sport fish.” Even the little ones can weigh 40 pounds and there are few rushes on this planet like hauling in a gnashing, thrashing, gator-headed throwback to the Jurassic period. Thanks to recovery efforts by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the U.S. ![]()
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