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I generally prefer to fish with lures rather than with bait. But there are times when bait makes the most sense to catch certain species. Before today, I had never caught a longnose gar. On my final day fishing with kayak guide Tim Ncpierman Taramelli, I asked him to take John Rentch and me fishing for gar. Neither of us had ever caught longnose gar before. They have long slender mouths filled with needle teeth.
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John Rentch and I met Tim at a boat ramp on the New River in Jacksonville, NC. We paddled slowly upstream to a location where Tim knows the gar hang out. We could see many of them breaking the surface. We anchored our kayaks and threw out chunks of bait.
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Every so often, a gar would gently take a bait and swim slowly away. In most other types of fishing, I would set the hook immediately upon feeling the bite or would steadily wind in enough line to set a circle hook. Under Tim's guidance, we waited a long time while allowing the gar to take out more line. This gave them time to reposition the bait in their long slender mouths so the hook would hold. I caught two gar (29" and 36") to add a new species to my 2022 species list. John Rentch caught three gar to 30". I tried to photograph my longer gar on the measuring board. But even as a tall guy with long arms, I cannot lean back far enough to show the entire fish in the view.
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It was mighty hot out there today and the bite was slow, so we ended the trip by noon. Afterwards, we said goodbye to Tim and drove north to Virginia and will fish in Virginia waters for the next few days.
gar mouth.jpg
John Rentch and I met Tim at a boat ramp on the New River in Jacksonville, NC. We paddled slowly upstream to a location where Tim knows the gar hang out. We could see many of them breaking the surface. We anchored our kayaks and threw out chunks of bait.
KIMG9535.jpg
2021-04-11-003.jpg
Every so often, a gar would gently take a bait and swim slowly away. In most other types of fishing, I would set the hook immediately upon feeling the bite or would steadily wind in enough line to set a circle hook. Under Tim's guidance, we waited a long time while allowing the gar to take out more line. This gave them time to reposition the bait in their long slender mouths so the hook would hold. I caught two gar (29" and 36") to add a new species to my 2022 species list. John Rentch caught three gar to 30". I tried to photograph my longer gar on the measuring board. But even as a tall guy with long arms, I cannot lean back far enough to show the entire fish in the view.
2021-04-11-002.jpg
KIMG9533.jpg
KIMG9530.jpg
It was mighty hot out there today and the bite was slow, so we ended the trip by noon. Afterwards, we said goodbye to Tim and drove north to Virginia and will fish in Virginia waters for the next few days.
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