Long nosed gar bait

[avidangler]

I'm looking for tips on what sort of dead bait to use. typically I'd use 3-6" creek chub I catch out of a stream. However I don't have the time to get them and I'd like to get out Friday night for some gar. Anyone ever tried smelt or sardines? Just for clarification this is for bobber fishing.

[smitty55]

From some reading I've done apparently shrimp work well. Good luck with it.
Cheers

[rex.stpierre]

Ive used frozen grocery store 4- 6 inch smelt during the day, they thaw out real quick and get kinda soft...but I guess the gar love the stink... I hope you're in open water with adequate current and wind cause they are not great to cast with. Hopefully you can cast it out frozen and leave it there. I put them 6 inches under a smaller bobber on a small treble hook. I let the gar run with it for 15 seconds easy. Your odds of hooking up are near zero if you don't patiently wait...

[Jimmy_1]

Try Lapointe's.

Great prices on 5-6 smelts. Flash frozen.

They do not become to soft and work great!
Prices are amazing also. I think I bought 50 for under $10.

[rex.stpierre]

Where is Lapointe's?

[smitty55]

Where is Lapointe's?

http://www.lapointefish.ca/locations/en/all

[zippyfx]

I maybe wrong but smelt are not legal baitfish in Ontario. http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Le ... 98684.html

Carry your store receipt just in case.

[MichaelGA]

That is referring to live bait - as in swimming when you hook it.

Frozen, from a can or packaged preserved baits are fine.

[rex.stpierre]

I fish in Quebec and they are legal here.

And I believe the above statement is true because perch eyes are legal but live perch clearly are not.

[Jimmy_1]

There is no issue using dead smelt.

Live is another story.

The OPI was looking for alternatives to live bait in his original post.

Therefore I suggested getting some flash-frozen smelts at the fishmongers. Its cheaper and they are not soft like the ones you buy deep frozen at the grocery store (they turn to mush and fall off the hook).

When we go for gar at night our preference is live minnows that have been purchased and legal for use in Ontario.
If not we will go and buy frozen if we cannot make it to a bait store in time.

We go through a lot of live OR dead minnows. Walleye and channel cats also feed during prime nightime gar sessions.

[avidangler]

When we go for gar at night our preference is live minnows that have been purchased and legal for use in Ontario.
If not we will go and buy frozen if we cannot make it to a bait store in time.

We go through a lot of live OR dead minnows. Walleye and channel cats also feed during prime nightime gar sessions.

Ironically enough I'm pretty sure we've met while fishing gar at night.

[Jimmy_1]

Possibly

I'm dissapointed though. I've had a tough time hooking them this season during the day. Lots of bites.

I wanted to get a Duh-Beans Gar rod but they don't make them.

[Kerrazy]

Jimmy,
You definatley need a DOH -Bins rod for fishing gar during the day. Not so much at night as know one can read the label anyhow, so useless bringing the sexy stuff out at night.