Alligator Gar reintroduction to Illinois

[joyce]

The US fish and wildlife service has released Alligator Gar into Rice lake, Banner Marsh, state fish and wildlife areas in Fulton county, and Hennepin-Hopper lakes in Putnam county in 2010. Reports say the reintroduction seems to be going well. Following similar efforts will be in near-by states of Kentucky, Missouri and Arkansas.
Alligator Gar can grow to 10' and weigh up to 300#. The fish and wildlife service are hoping the gar can possible aid in the battle to control Asian carp.
I have mixed emotions about this Gar being in my River, I guess its supposed to be there so its good to have it return, or is it? Guess we will see how it goes, they may not be able to live in these waters anymore. Joyce

[Gibby]

They are pretty aggresive, aren't they ? I was watching on the discovery channel or natgeo or one of them that they get blamed for alot of attacks.

It is cool on one hand. If they are supposed to be in the river then let them be. We should stay out of there way. But I could see why you are worried and why some would not want them there.

That thing is ugly. And the fish ain't to pretty either. lol

[kirby]

We have plenty of those rascals around here. Some are as big as our canoe. I suppose they serve a useful purpose, but I would just as soon stay clear of them. Ugly critters.

[Flyjunkie]

Interesting, I've wanted to target a Gar on my Fly Rod for sometime now..from what I've read they are tough hombres...

about 10 years ago, there was this movement to re introduce the Grizzly Bear to the Sierra Nevada Mountain range here in California (the Grizzly was native to California and is actually on the State Flag, but was wiped out back in the early 1900's)... While I first thought it interesting, I quickly thought about how many yahoos who go into the Sierra and camp or backpack and are totally clueless about Wild Animals... I quickly figured out that the bear encounter ratio would increase greatly and the Human kill rate would go thru the roof... So I thought while a noble idea, it would actually turn out bad.. for the Grizzlies that is...

[TurtleMan]

first off hey FlyJunkie want to target gar leave the hooks at home! When I fly for gar I use a doubled over langth of nylon cord run threw a small swivle wraped around 1/4 in. or so behind that to form a "head" then frey the rest, the resalt looks like a octopus with a afro. don't realy need to be more than that but I like to add some tinsel and flashabou, some times paint the head red with a marker. realy seems the gauder the beter. how it works is when a gar stikes its copious rows of teeth become intangled in the freyed nylon. for cristal pure sport I haven't found anything riveling a 3 foot gar tail walkn' and backflipn' on a 5 or 6 weight fly rod!
Now as for 'gator gar being reintoduced I been hopeing this would hapen one day. I love anchent criters and would also like to hear that sturgons, paddlefish, alogator snapping turtles and other sutch "ilk" are once again swiming free. Considering how flyn' carp have actuly killed more people in the past 5 or 10 years ( picture a fourty pound carp hitn' you in the head as you boat along at top speed!) then people have ever even been bit by gar in all of recorded history, anything that might help control them silver scaled death missles should be tryed. Hopefuly on a steady diet of asian carp in a few years a new catch and release trophy fishery will be astablished with 90 to 100 pounders not being uncommon! I will be starting my Trophy Gar Guide Service the next day!

[Indianasmith]

I've swam and waded in waters teeming with both alligator gar and needlenose gar. They are totally nonaggressive; I've never heard of an attack. People get bit trying to get them off of a fishing line sometimes, but that's it. Nothing to fear!

[Chad Gilbert]

Like Indy, I've been around the Gar species (Alligator, Short nose, Long nose, Spotted,etc.) all my life. They are very beneficial in the waters of the ArkLaTx. Because of their look many people kill everyone they see. What idiots. Gar eat rough fish. They get blamed for killing game fish but there is no evidence game fish are their target. Many fishermen hate them. Usually for erroneous reasons. They will put a hurt on your tackle though.

Chad

[joyce]

Originally Posted by Gibby

They are pretty aggresive, aren't they ? I was watching on the discovery channel or natgeo or one of them that they get blamed for alot of attacks.

It is cool on one hand. If they are supposed to be in the river then let them be. We should stay out of there way. But I could see why you are worried and why some would not want them there.

That thing is ugly. And the fish ain't to pretty either. lol

Thanks Gibby, I watched the guy on River Monsters go fishing for them down south, maybe Texas, can't remember...the folks in that area claimed there had been attacks but there was no proof it was Gar, could have been Gator!
From what I read the dams up this way caused problems with spawning and successful hatching of their eggs, so even though they are trying to bring them back to these waters it may not work as far as them being able to reproduce. Really I don't mind, if this is where they belong then I hope they make a come back! Joyce

[Mojave]

I did a lot of cat-fishing in the Brazos back in the day. Gar were all over the place. They are very skiddish. I spent many hours waist deep in them and never had a problem. I can't imagine one attacking a person.

[joyce]

Originally Posted by kirby

We have plenty of those rascals around here. Some are as big as our canoe. I suppose they serve a useful purpose, but I would just as soon stay clear of them. Ugly critters.

Thanks Kirby,
I remember when my Grandma lived in Mississippi, the river behind her house had them in it, my Grandma always told us to not go in the river to swim because they were big enough to eat us, well of course we feared them so we never got in the water. I could see them sometimes rolling around and they were huge.....but now I think saying they could eat us was a tactic Grandma used to keep us out of the water. Joyce