Getting seriously aggravated,, gar seem to find my trotlines way before the catfish.. I’ve tried everything I know.. waiting until sunset to bait, keeping my lines as deep as I can, smaller pieces of bait,
I’ve been nabbing a few softshells, but I don’t think they are the main culprits.. I see the gar floating on the surface in the holes in the creek.

What do you guys do differently on your lines to avoid being stripped??

I’ve caught 3 catfish in a week,, kinda frustrating.

I don't have an answer for you but I saw a video of a guy getting frustrated with the gar while hook and line cat fishing so he cut a bit of some anchor line fluffed up the fibers and snelled it to the hook with some thick mono. they would come in for the bait and get the teeth caught up in the fibers and he could catch them and know it was gar messing with his bait.

might be fun to try on a couple hooks

Help me understand, I’m picturing a trotline as being basically the same as what we call a skateline or longline. A piece of rope (3/16-3/8”) with a large weight on either end, baited hooks on drop lines every 2 fathoms or so, and a line that comes up to a float so you can find it? If so, I’ve found it hard to be selective about what ends up on there. I set them for halibut, but I occasionally get snapper or lingcod on there too. I bait with salmon heads and tails, so everything that swims the bottom takes interest eventually

… not much you can do … around here they’ll tear up your caught catfish too



… but it also sounds like you just don’t have many cats and it’s become just a garhole… I still manage to get the cats too in amongst the gar here .. bait with cut shad or live goldfish

…. You can use one of these to thin them out as well

Gar ain't half bad eating. Give them a try.

Get your baits on the bottom.

…. If a ran bait on the bottom here in summer I wouldn’t catch much… and what did catch would be dead and bloated…. Got to keep your bait in the thermocline for good results

I seldom use trot lines now days. I use a set jug line with two hooks. Bottom circle hook gets a live perch or chub. Top hook is a standard bait holder hook. I worm a minnow on the hook and have pretty good success with both turtle and gar. After a couple nights I can greatly reduce their numbers.

I shoot ALOT of carp and buffalo, I make my own canned tuna with them,, I don’t care for the recipe that comes out like canned mackerel/salmon. But they still make great deep fried patties.

I wish I could shoot every dang blasted gar there was in there.. but I don’t see all of them.

Pretty tasty imo,,, I like to coat them in shake and bake and pop them into the oven.
Thing is, the gar are not even caught.. just have an amazing ability to grab the bait and not get hooked

Bait is on the bottom and I’m baiting the lines at sunset

… are you using circle hooks? … I hang quite a few

Savell, assuming that is an alligator gar? Ours have a very narrow beak and are very adapted to peeling of a minnow. The bodies on ours don’t get near that big. Have caught some 3-4’ though

That particular one is a gator …. But I catch needle nose too

Is it possible that small turtles and crayfish are eating the baits on the bottom? Stinkpot turtles are excellent at stealing bait.

Gar hunt better above them then below them.

Keith

long nose gar a little one
caught that one on a minnow laying on the bottom while I was working on the wife's line

#6 octopus hook and a little crappie minnow the hook got all the way down to the hinge

…. De—crop that pic …. We want to see your beautiful face

You must be fishing lakes. I'm a river rat and never had to deal with a thermocline. I had barges and high water to deal with. You kept your lines on bottom well weighted with tension or the barges would wad them up. Floods would put logs through them if you didn't keep them down low.

they were dredging Miss pool 5 the channel was only 12-16 deep in places 1/4 mile down stream from a 6 pack of tankers loaded down the churn is still crazy
churn doesn't seem as bad in 25+ feet of water