St. Marks Fort 1-19-08

[lordsfisher]

Went fishing today... should've worked... wasn't the greatest day. I was concerned about the strong wind prediction with my small boat so I stayed around the fort. First went up the Wakulla with water temps at 62. Saw some strikes on surface and hooked up and lost two fish. I didn't know what was there so i stayed (and wasted time). Turns out it was huge schools of gars Saw a bait fish being chased along the reeds, and caught the fish... a 15" largemouth. (Can't figure out how to paste pics in here).

I heard there was very little going on anywhere else in the upper Wakulla. So I headed up the St. Marks to scout it out for 15 min before dark. Water temp 66. I made about 20 casts... hooked up with shorts: 17" red and a 13" trout. I felt secure with ample law enforcement... was checked at the dock by FWC with no problems. Got a ticket by FHP for trailer tag violation. I guess the State is trying to pay for the budget shortfall with ticket revenue.

[Flint River Pirate]

You caught more fish than I did in my office! Sorry about the ticket, expired tag?

[lordsfisher]

Yep $91 for expired tag. I was going to go get it at the tag office, but it was closed today. I knew I was taking a chance by taking it on the highway. Usually half the trailers at the ramp don't have tags so I didn't think they cared too much. Don't expect any slack or warnings from law enforcement with the government budget shortfalls. Or maybe I shouldn't have said to him, "Hey, aren't you that cop from the Village People?"

[Eerman]

You'll find alot of those schools of gar up the rivers this time of year. You'll find 'em out on the flats certain times as well. After a while, you'll recognize them pretty quick. They do get your attention and fight food if you can hook 'em.

[lordsfisher]

You'll find alot of those schools of gar up the rivers this time of year. You'll find 'em out on the flats certain times as well. After a while, you'll recognize them pretty quick. They do get your attention and fight food if you can hook 'em.

Thanks. I wish I had known before. I actually could never see them. I just saw fish striking the surface. I hooked up and wondered why they didn't get hooked right. Then after about an hour i saw the back of one, and I felt dumb. ha ha. So whoever is reading this... don't make the same misstake. I took a friend fishing on the flats years ago and he hooked one. It jumped... and he said..."IT'S A MARLIN!!!" (can you tell he doesn't fish much?) So now i call them "poor man's marlin". I read that the seminole indians preferred them over others, and cooked them over a fire. Someone try one and let me know.

[tin can]

Sorry about the ticket.

It'll get better.

[Littoral]

Time well spent. You made a lot of the right moves and did get some trouts and reds up the river.
Winter is a puzzle that's tricky to piece together.

[Fisherman989]

I have eaten several gar during my fishing experience....and they are about as good as I have ever eaten. Cleaning them is tough...the scales are like iron...and we had to use an ax to chop off the head....and tin snips to open up the belly...but it was well worth the trouble. Gar are delicious.I don't target them though.

[whitebc]

I have always heard about the gar tasting good but the tin snips and the axes sounded like tooooooo much trouble for a little fish meat.

[lordsfisher]

Gar are delicious.I don't target them though.

Gars are probably more sporting to catch than redfish or trout (from my experience yesterday of having them hit and not knowing what it was). I thought they were trout popping the surface, so I threw everything I could think of at them. ha ha I couldn't hook them solidly even with the sharpest hooks. And think of the advantage. You wouldn't even have to put them in a live well because they could last for longer with their primitive lung. So maybe consider a gar tournament. (While I'm sticking with reds and trout..... ha ha).

It's hard to want to eat one of those gars! But that is amazing that you say they're so good. It's surprising how many fish we think are trash. I remember folks used to throw back amberjack as trash. I've read threads on here about bluefish. I don't like strong tasting fish, but fried bluefish is as good as any even without bleeding it. I just filet it, and cut out the rete blood region. I've never eaten a sea cat (hardhead), but I've loved eating gafftop sail cats. I always threw back bonita. I had a friend marinate and microwave some bonita chunks as an appetizer. I ate it only out of peer pressure. It was outstanding! I shouldn't have been surprised since it is in the tuna family (little tunny). So if I can ever get a gar in the boat, I'm going to keep it. Stand by for future posts on how it turns out. I might blacken it... I always blacken anything I'm unsure about eating. I figure I could blacken a cow patty and make it taste good.

[Reel Cowboy]

Other than the ticket, your day was better than mine.
That reminds me, my tags and DL expire Friday.

[DixieReb]

I wanted to go to the fort today, but 22-27 deg. temps seem too cold for fishing. Maybe the weather will get better soon.

[Flint River Pirate]

Gar are a delicious fish, they have a very white meat. In the past we always ate the smaller 5lb or less Gar we caught in the river. When we would go I would take a 8-10 inch piece of rope and bend it in half and tie a wire tie at the top to give me somewhere to tie fishing line to. I would then fray out the bottom where it looked like a huge bucktail jig. No hook anywhere and the Gar's teeth would get tangled in the rope. Good luck trying to get a hook set if you use a hook. I never believed the rope would work but it did. We would try not to keep many because you have got to have some respect for a fish that swam around when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Have fun with them but respect them too.

[lordsfisher]

That's a cool trick! I might try that just to entertain the kids. The gars are thick in the wakulla.

[Sea Fox]

Thanks for the report LF. I used to catch gar over in Carrabelle river, they were fun when I was a kid. Kinda tricky getting the rope out of there teeth though, Make sure to have pliers onboard.