MN river cats

Fished the MN today from Chaska to Sand creek.Water has dropped a lot in the past week but I could only get a few cats.Didn,t seem to matter if I was fishing on rocks or in the snags but they were up on the banks or at the creek mouths.They were not very agressive.Cut sucker seemed to work the best for channels,however I did manage to get a flathead(7lbs)on a rock bar in 4 ft of water with a medium live sucker.Water temps are hanging right around 75.At one creek mouth I ran into a SWARM of gars feeding on emerald shiners.You could have walked to shore on their backs they were so thick.Icouldln’t find any other fish in that area.

Hey Carp Chaser! You fish gar right? Just wondering if a small circle hook and one of those shiners would be successful in hooking a gar?

That’s a really interesting report. I guess a circle hook might work but it’s difficult to catch gar on hooks due to their hard bony mouth. Plus you would need a really tough steel leader to prevent their jagged teeth from cutting the line. 2 common methods of catching them are 1.) a wire noose with a minnow secured at the bottom like a “Q” shape. the wire tightens around the gar’s upper jaw when the fish swims through and grabs the bait. 2.) finely combed out nylon rope strands that surround the bait and get tangled up in the gar’s mouth when it strikes. They are a really agressive predator and I bet if you throw some type of lure in front of it you will get nailed.

I’ve never seen a live gar or had the opportunity to study them. I was curious about the circle hook on the theory that getting behind all the teeth there would (should?) be typical “fish mouth”. I agree on the leader. Those buggers got some chompers don’t they?!?!? I just think it’d be neat to catch one………………..for the sake of saying I caught one. Thanks for the info!

Gar are a really cool fish and not many people have seen one much less caught one in my area. I hear they are fairly common south of the cities.

Gar will for sure hit lures….. the trick is HOOKING them…. when your tossing lures a certain number of hits you feel but NEVER hook are GAR….. their mouth is pretty much total bone… they are a totally different fish, there are not classified as ctenoid (bony fishes, usually with scales)… but then neither are sturgeon, bowfin (dogfish), paddlefish, lamprey, and eel…..

actually I have witnessed several gar cought on cut biate, and a wide gap hook….. most recently my girlfriend Jenny on the minnesota river (near redwood falls)…… my grandfather also held the wisconsin state record for a gar fish……

We catch gar all the time in my stretch of the river.Cut bait,live bait.I usually get them with a wide gap(thats what I use for cats)You can tell when its a gar because they don’t run with the bait they just sit there and chomp on it.You have to let them get it past those teeth.When the chomping stops for a few seconds set the hook.Usually get them in the side of the mouth,but often you gut hook them.Time to cut the line either way.I am not getting near those teeth.I have not tried but wonder if circle hooks would work better.You could let them swallow it every time and always hook them right at the mouth before the teeth start.

Caught three gar today on a mepps spinner.I was hit about 3 dozen times but could only hook the three.The strangest thing was they were feeding on small minnows but would not take my small sucker minnow.

I shoot those gar with the bow. Talk about a challenge. Keeps me in shape for deer hunting. Only a couple of months away. Check the back waters for them sunning themself. We also found that a really big treble hook does the job too.

Hey fishhead, where are you seeing/catching these gar? I was on the MN river yesterday down near your area looking for gar but all that mud made it really hard to move around in the oxbows. Saw 2 gar in Carver creek and had one on for about 5 seconds but lost him. He hit my home made gar lure (combed out nylon rope w/ a treble hook) also caught a 3 pound northern on it. Also spent some time in Sand Creek but not much action. Any other interesting fish stories from Chaska?

Carpchaser

Were you in a blue and white vee hull?I was in a little G3 with a jet hung on it.I found the gars on sunday in two small creeks half way between sand creek and the Carver Rapids.They seem to like the smaller creeks .You will know if they are there when you boat on by.Lots of minnows flying and fish surfacing all over.I fished sand creek also but didn’t get a bite.In the spring that place stacks up with white bass in the 16 to19″ range.This year was no good due to the water levels.Did you get any cats?I sure am begining to wonder about my skills.They should be jumping in the boat.I think the spawn is over and they should be hungry.

No, that wasn’t me. I was there on Saturday with my brother and a friend. We caught lots of small channel cats in the carver creek outlet, plus a 21″ walleye and a 3 pound northern. We’ll probably be going back in a week or two for another attempt at flatheads and gar.

I went out again today and found some fish.I fished for about 4 hours without a bite.Then I decided to play with some gars that were feeding below a flowing culvert.I got hungry and threw out some cut bait and started eating my sandwich and whack!My pole and the rod holded was nearly ripped from the boat.Well I missed that one.Now I was really excited.Tossed out some more bait and about 5 minutes later whack,a 6lb channel,then a 10 1/2,caught two more there a 4 and a 7.Turns out they were siting in a hole(16 ft) just downstream of where the gar were feeding.Probably picking up scraps and wounded minnows that there gar were leaving.The bait had to be right at the base of the hole or nothing.On the upstream edge were some sheeps head but no cats.I also think maybee I need to be more patient.I usually do the milk run and only sit on one spot the time it takes to smoke a cigarette maybee a minute or two longer.These fish all came about 2 cigarettes apart,caugh caugh hack hack.I smoked a lot today maybee I should take up drinking.

you gotta do it right! you drink one down after every fish you catch… you smoke the other times!

lol

Well they were cooperating today.At almost every spot I tried I got at least one cat.The best spot was at the edge of an eddy on an inside turn of the river where there is a deep hole(30ft).I caught 4 cats on my way up the river then stopped on my way back and picked up two more,The largest going 10 lbs along with an 8 and a 7.They all came from the edge of the hole in about 15 ft of water.Bait had to be right in the current cut and if my sinker was banging rocks I was getting fish.If my sinker was thuding on sand nothing.

I would get only one cat per snag,no matter how good they looked,and they were all a little on the small side.

I did get one nice cat on a rocky run,but could find fish in other like spots.

The river is down at least 3 feet from last week and starting to clear up ,not that it ever gets clear but it is not soo muddy.

Fishing in the creek mouths soon will not be possible.a few are already not possible.I did not try any of these.

As far as those gar they are not as easy to find any more.I only saw a couple today.I think with the higher water last week they were concentrated into slack water areas along with the large schools of emerald shiners.Now they can spread out because the current isn’t quite as strong.