I have been catching a boat load of gar everyday in my nets. Alot of them are in the 50-65" range maybe bigger. I know alot of you guys eat them and I would like to get some meat out of them and see what they taste like. I'm thinking if I take some tin snips and work my way from the head to the tail and expose the back straps. Cut them out and then what??? If you got a better way of getting the meat out I would like to see/hear it.
Looking for ways to cook it up too.
Thanks
Randy

How to cook gar:

skin and cut out backstraps
go to supermarket buy some chicken
season chicken
put gar and chicken on the grill until cooked thouroughly
throw away gar and eat chicken

good luck

You are on da right track, tin snips is by far da easiest method I've found yet. Don't listen to anyone who tells you to throw away gar and eat chicken instead. I mean really..................................
~A chicken eat its own shit and a rooster phuck his own mamma. I'd rather eat gar.

I was just kiddin man. I ain't never tried to eat it. We jus shoot em with arrows and toss em back in. I have heard of people eatin the backstraps out of em, but it never sounded appetizing to me.

Randy, if the gar are that big get yourself a sawsall with a long metal cutting blade.Lay the fish on it's belly and cut from the back down about 6 inches wide and ring them with a fillet knife. The meat will fall out in one big chunk. Finally you can use the fillet knife and cut the meat off of each side of the spine or you can use a spoon and scrape it off.

Take gar meat,green onions,bellpepers,bread crumbs,garlic/onion powder, and tonys and put it through a grinder with a fine die.After it is all ground up roll the the mixture into balls and dust them lightly with flour.Brown the balls in a little grease on medium heat after they are all browned remove them and add alittle more grease and flour to make a roux.Some like a light roux and some like a dark roux.Personally I prefer a dark roux for the taste but that is up to you.Once your roux is made put the balls back in the roux and add just a LITTLE water and put the fire on low.DO NOT STIRR THE POT TOO MUCH OR THEY WILL FALL APART.Cook for about 30 to 40 minutes.


Please call when you put the rice on and make the tater salad.

your gonna need an axe/machete and some tin snips! a sawsall wasn't much help

Gar is easily my 3rd fav. Fish to eat and I am not a fan of Gar balls. U have 2 clean it correctly and it is one of the most tender , white, clean fish I have ever had , my dad is a pro. When he gets home I will get detailed instructions 4 u.

I tried it last year and will not waste my time cleaning another one.We even soaked some in Louisiana hot sauce then battered it.....No thanks!!!!! Too fishy for me.

love me some garrra

i put it this way, went fishin with my buddy one morning, brought back reds, specks, and one 4 1/2' gar, fried it all up that night, and the gar got ate first, super white meat, no blood, no fishy taste. they loved it until they found out it was gar

benelliman is on the right track gar fish boullettes are the best!

Small ones that will fit on the grill just throw 'em on whole...yes, guts and all. For those who don't know, gar don't have much in the way of guts anyway. When it's done, that armor plating will just peel away. Squirt some fresh lime juice and some salt on those back straps and have at it. Hot sauce if you like it spicy. They have what is imo a smokey flavor.
Now for the big ones: with the gar on its belly raise the farthest rear fin up that's on it's back with some pliers. Using a hatchet, begin chopping toward the head just under the skin. This will expose a 2" or 3" strip along the entire back of the fish. Now just peel away the rest, chopping off the head and tail, and through the fin bones where necessary, and gut it. Done. Easy. I have a lady that puts 'em in tamales for me and she keeps some fish for herself in exchange. Good stuff.

never eaten it myself. but they actually look amazing! but you can make any food taste good with a simple sauce i make. Remember, i aint no cajun but i try lol.. ketchup, spicy brown mustard, lil mayo, and lots o Tony C

Gar balls? What if you got all females?

I caught another load of big gar today. I almost brought some home. They make a mess in gill nets. I break their neck, take a limb trimmer to their beak and toss overboard. Some of todays gar were near sixty inchers. When I break their neck the back straps pop out and makes me think I need to be trying them out. I will next week when I'm off work. The water is around 34 degrees so the flavor should be pretty good.
Randy

I caught another load of big gar today along with some big blue cats,buffalo and a monster grass carp. The river is raging right now and fishing is alot of work.
I'm gonna give those gar balls a try next week when I'm off work. Thanks for the receipe.
Randy

u can get 1.50$ a pound for gar steaks down here. once u get a method it ain't too bad. we use a 'garfish garage'' to hold the head.

that carp u caught is the best catfish bait. i use carp and bufalo all thetime. stays on the hook almost as long as catfish belley.

I have made a gar courtboullion a few times before & it was great.

I clean 'em the way mogumbo describes, I use a machete. But I've never just thrown a whole one on the grill. Might try that cuz I usually just feed the gators with the little ones.

Saute' down some onions, bell, peppers & garlic. Add a can of rotels, & tomato sauce for gravy. I usually taste it along the way for flavor. Add salt, pepper & tony's for taste. You can add whatever you like in here as well. Worcestershire, liquid smoke, hot sauce, soy sauce, etc. Even threw in sliced mushrooms once & really liked them. Experimintaion is the key.

Cut the gar meat up into bite size pieces. Once you get the gravy like you want, throw the gar meat in, & let it cook for about 30 mins. When the gar meat is tender, it's done.

This belongs in the Nig-ger Forum

All we've got are the longnose gar. I don't imagine they eat as well as the alligator gar.

If I had a market for them I would blaze them out like no other. I just can't justify cleaning them and sitting on a pile of filets.
Randy