Gar Fish

Are there Gar Fish in the Lake? I understand they are native to the fresh waters from Quebec to Cuba and can get to 5'. I have never heard of one being caught.




http://w3.trib.com/~garland/garfish.html

I think you will NOT find any Gars in NH or anywhere in the Northeast

No Gar in winni. Plenty in Lake Champlain however.

Should they be introduced to the Lake, here’s how to “clean” for cooking:
http://www.fishsa.com/cuisinga.php

Or: http://www.marshbunny.com/recipes/gar.html

P.S.- Keep away from their teeth: http://www.paleopress.net/fish1.htm

After the white perch debate, I won't try to identify your skinny silver fish -- but that's no garfish to be found in eastern U.S. waters. It could be a pelagic ocean fish, akin to ballyhoo, or balao, or even a freshwater aquarium fish from the Amazon.

"Gar" lurk in shallow waters, and have a blotchy, mottled appearance. They are less wary than bass, and are interesting to watch -- suddenly dashing into the shallows to seize a fish. They average near two feet.

The alligator gar grows to 279 pounds.




http://floridafisheries.com/Fishes/gar.html

Is this more to your liking???

Would you really prefer this size in the Lake – nibbling on your toes in the shallows???

Link below picture…




http://www.lafishmag.com/garfish.html

The first photo is of a houndfish that are common in carribean waters.

It's an Australian Garfish.

The Houndfish looks similar: http://www.wilddolphinadventures.com/images/throw.jpg

Now, never heard of a Fallfish; but a record fish was caught in the Lake.

Link of Fallfish record catches: http://www.hotspotfishing.com/records/fish-records-Fallfish.asp




http://www.fishsa.com/garfish.php

The first picture -- the silver fish with the unequal jaws -- is commonly called a garfish in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is one of several generically-described "needlefish", "stickfish", or "aha". Needlefish species are found in freshwater and saltwater.

It is unlike our much chunkier Western Hemisphere freshwater and brackish-water mottled/spotted garfish.

A houndfish is a silver, saltwater, large needlefish with a green back, and whose jaws are equal in length.

There are Gar fish in Winnipesaukee but there are rare and not as large as they are in other regions. I have caught a few over the years...never more than 2 in a season though...and the largest was only about 45 pounds. The last one I hooked was 3 years ago. They are nasty fish and I've only caught them in area with muddy bottoms in about 30 feet of water...usually during very hot summers, too, for some reason. They are out there, but I am guessing the population is very small since they are caught so rarely....

The natural range of the Alligator gar is the southern area of the country and the short nose and spotted gas are mid and southern areas. The Longnosed gars original range extended into the northern US and up the St. Laurence drainage to about Quebec city. It did not extend east of Lake Champlain. They have however been transported to other waters accidently and deliberately. Never heard of one in Winni. What does NH fisheries biologist say?

Your error is very common, but unfortunately, the image is not of a Gar fish. It is of the rare Sabre-toothed Tigerfish (E. Pluribus Chewum). As a member of the Audubon Society's relatively unknown marine branch, I am one of the few with the knowledge and experience to recognize the almost indiscernable differences between the two species. For instance, the Gar has only 312 teeth, while the Tigerfish has 314. Before you caught and killed this fish, there were only three known to exist in the entire world. The Chinese market in Tigerfish genitals (alleged to make a delicious party dip), has virtually wiped them out. Your specimen looks to be pregnant and, as one fish will mate only once and will generally lay 50,000 eggs, could have revived the species.