frustration

[creeker]

I've heard that in some parts of the country, gar meat sells for more than catfish and sells better too. I think its the Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas area.

[mhall]

Gar in Cumberland are the worst I've ever seen them, it's horrible. Bowfisherman need to go down there and spear about 4 million of them.

I HATE GAR!

[nonamesleft47]

They actually aren't bad to eat. Take a pair of tin snips and cut up the back and down the belly then fillet as normal. A spoon will seperate the meat from the hide. You get a long tenderloin with no bones. Don't soak in water just a quick rinse right before you fry it so the meat doesn't get mushy. They also make a heck of a fish patty which is the original way I had them cooked before trying to fry them.

I tack the hides to a board to dry and use them to back self bows. My kids like to dry the skulls out and play with them, turtles get the rest... If you think about it they eat very little besides other fish so they are very clean. To me the meat is better than catfish, less red meat and not nearly as muddy tasting.

I agree though, with few natural predators I keep every one I catch even if they are only going under the tomato plants.

[kygorski]

With the bony mouth they are hard to hook and hold, they can be caught using nylon thread used for making afgans. The nylon makes it harder for them to get rid of the hook before a solid hook set. I also was toldm they were a fairly good tasting fish, they used to be a food source in the nolin river before the dam.the locals made fish patties out of them. Sounds likle a job for the food processor.Drum, I have eaten them, wouldn't rate them very high, but in La they are commonly table fare, thats where I tried them, along with alligator. The last two mardi gras I saw, led to some strange behaviorial patters for me, must have been those tall icy hurricanes.

[twise7]

Not sure I'ld want to eat anything that took tin snips to cut through...then again, I enjoy hot dogs from time to time...and we all know what those are made of!!

Mmmmm, gator. Love me some gator! There's a place on Lake Okeechobee that serves all kinds of wild game - frogs, gator, etc., but the best is cooter...yup, you read it right, cooter (it's turtle). Talk about good eatin! I could eat cooter all day