Longnose Gar photo

[erparamedic]

Nice photo! Like eckybay... it would be nice change to see some of those instead of the bluegill!

 

[Warren_L]

Looks more like the spotted version based on Lisa's pics.

 

[cudachaser]

Fresh water Florida is loaded with them...Saw one this weekend that was at least 6ft long in Silver Springs River.

They are fun to chase

 

[DeepBound]

It would be interesting if it is a spotted gar... this report says they are threatened and their known range doesn't extend into the St. Lawrence:

http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/CW69-14-67-2005E.pdf

 

[Detroit Mudpuppy]

Cool picture Neil , it has been quite a while since I seen one of those! The Detroit river system used to be infested with these Gar Pike. Usually they could be seen feeding in large numbers following the schools of Shad and Shiner minnows. No doubt invasive species like the Goby are contributing to their declice.

 

[abitton]

Here we go. Sorry for the poor quality, your photo is just so cool!!

This is the best I can do for now in terms of resolution, I can't seem to figure out how to upload larger photos!

 

[broke]

I actually caught one 3 weeks ago....by hand. I was at our cottage in Michigan. My dad decided that he had to walk into the water because it was such a nice day. About 5 minutes later My mother comes in telling me about this phsyco fish that was following them in the shallow water. When I went out, sure enough, there was a 1 1/2 foot Gar pike swimming next to my dad. It did'nt seem to afraid of us, so I tried to grab it. After 4-5 attemps I actually got ahold of it and lifted it out of the water. It was then that I noticed that its head was damaged...that would explain why he was so slow. I checked him out for a minute then let him go. Thats the first one I've seen this far North. See them alot in Florida. Pretty cool fish.

 

[DeepBound]

Here we go. Sorry for the poor quality, your photo is just so cool!!

This is the best I can do for now in terms of resolution, I can't seem to figure out how to upload larger photos!

Thanks for posting those. It looks like that one has even more spots, and the nose about the same length. It looks more green though. hmm

 

[DeepBound]

Those ones from down south look kinda scary:

http://www.texasfishingguides.org/kirkland/page_garfish_hybrid.htm

I hope these ones don't grow to be like that.

I actually caught one 3 weeks ago....by hand. I was at our cottage in Michigan. My dad decided that he had to walk into the water because it was such a nice day. About 5 minutes later My mother comes in telling me about this phsyco fish that was following them in the shallow water. When I went out, sure enough, there was a 1 1/2 foot Gar pike swimming next to my dad. It did'nt seem to afraid of us, so I tried to grab it. After 4-5 attemps I actually got ahold of it and lifted it out of the water. It was then that I noticed that its head was damaged...that would explain why he was so slow. I checked him out for a minute then let him go. Thats the first one I've seen this far North. See them alot in Florida. Pretty cool fish.

 

[Warren_L]

Thanks for posting those. It looks like that one has even more spots, and the nose about the same length. It looks more green though. hmm

The green could be from taking the picture further back with a longer focal length, so I wouldn't necessarily say that the green is a definitive difference.