Gar population

[WaterWolf]

What's the Gar population in the Bay like? Do they reach any size in the area or are they pretty small?

[The Bait Shop Guy]

They are very few and far between. I've only seen three of them since 1989. Two were only about 6 inches long, the third was about 18 inches.

[upfish08]

They are very few and far between. I've only seen three of them since 1989. Two were only about 6 inches long, the third was about 18 inches.

there are a few in big bay, got a 4fter on my wall, a buddy caught and released a small one while
snorkling in garden bay last summer,

[bignoccursg]

I saw one in Big Bay last year that was at least a 3 footer.

[The Bait Shop Guy]

...got a 4fter on my wall...

That's an impressive fish! Got any pics of it, (alive or on the wall.) How did you catch it?

[grubworm]

A few years ago I used to do alot of bowfishing (tons of fun) after dark, I would see lots of gar mostly in the Ogontz area in 3-5 feet of water!

[Benzie Rover]

Not that I would doubt Chris' knowledge base, but we did see at least 5 of them this weekend swimming around just under the ice. All fairly big, 30-40". Strangest part was they seemed totally unconcered with our presence as we could stomp on the ice, scratch it with cleats or walk right over them and they just sat there and kept slowly moving along. They appears to be only an inch or two below the ice itself. My one buddy has several good photos, will try to post one if I can. We saw 3 of them on the east side of 2nd reef, but also saw a couple on the eastern break south of vagabond. Fishing wise, it was a rough weekend. We had 8 guys fishing 3 nights/2 mornings and we got 4 keepers total and a couple northerns. Average of 0.1 walleye/person/outing. Worst lbdn trip in 15 years and worst first ice fishing we've found anywhere. We're just baffled. Time for steelhead I guess as we got a thaw coming this weekend down in the LP. Good luck up there!