Do whatever you want with non-natives, kill all the carp you can, that's great.

Don't shoot native fish and leave them to rot. Alligator gar of a good size are a dwindling resource, that are very old and important. We had my FD's boat out yesterday for river patrol, and found two different ones over 4 foot long floating with arrow holes in them.

Ridiculous waste of a resource....if you aren't going to use it, don't shoot it.

There is now a limit of ONE Alligator Gar per day, regardless of method of harvest.

DVM

Agree with OP...that kind of crap pisses me off.

quote:

---

There is now a limit of ONE Alligator Gar per day, regardless of method of harvest.

---

Good to know - when I was a kid in East Texas and they were unregulated, I used to see boatloads of them pulled in during bowfishing tournaments. I just now searched and found the 2009 regulation change. Glad to hear it.

only way you'll stop that is by spreading a lot of info of how there is a limit on what they are doing, the waste is illegal and that the species has a purpose (and isn't invasive)

dvm- I'm aware of it. We saw two from the fork of old river and the main channel, to deweyville on the sabine. That's just what we saw, no telling what was taken. Looked like a thursday night kill tbh...

I hear gar are pretty tasty. Hate to see anyhting wasted, particularly edible and particularly critters that ain't common.

I agree completely. I would like to see Alligator Gar managed as a game species. I think it should be catch and release only. But at least you could have a tag like bull reds for one big one per year and maybe one small one per day. I dont think most folks realize how few and how old the big boys really are. I commend TPWD for the limits but hope they restrict them even more.

Should have seen the fight out of some crowds to get that.

Gator gars deserve better than to be wasted as a bow target. If you're hunting them for sport and follow the law, then that's fine. PLEASE retain it and eat it like you are supposed to if you take it. Wasting gamefish is technically a violation of the law.

And yes, gar can be cooked up and it is pretty good eating, just hell to clean.

There may come a day we wish we could catch a gar fish to eat. I know Toledo Bend has no shortage.

Interesting..mdidnt know gar was tasty... Thanks for the info!

Not kidding, some of the best fish I have ever eaten was a gar out of an irrigation ditch outside of McAllen.

Would like to see a tag system similar to redfish for the larger gars.
I've seen where the "trophy" gar fisherman on Sam Rayburn dump the bodies of the fish they kill in the National Forest. Shoot, photo, and dump.
It is a terrible waste.

If you're going to eat alligator gar, be aware that they may have some high mercury levels in the tissue. Currently thare are no advisories for them but preliminary data indicate they may have high levels.

Gar eat almost entirely other fish, so they'll have a good flavor and they'll accumulate mercury, that is true.

Ursus, I don't know how you don't have a constant flow of diarrhea. There's got to be no way you remember what a solid turd feels like.

Just fr the record, I don't oppose bow fishing, or people who harvest gar that way. We actually stopped and talked to a pair on the river that morning that had been bow fishing. He had a very nice gar in the boat, and I even snapped a couple of pictures.


What I have an issue with is people wasting native fish so they can get a thrill out of shooting something.

Can't really deny my lack of food standards occasionally royally backfires.

Flip side, my digestive system is constantly prepped for prepping purposes.