Cooking and eating Gar

Longnose gar may not be the first fish you put on the dinner table, but not because of lack of flavor. This rough fish, while it is labor-intensive to clean, is rather delicious. Fresh from a fishing trip on Kentucky River, our host, Tim Farmer, joins colleague Rick Hill in the kitchen where the prize is in the prep.
Subscribe to Kentucky Afield's Channel:
kzbin.info_c...

[@owlbusdumbledork9966]

Caught one and cleaned it for the first time ever today. Watched one video (a different one), and that was enough to learn it quickly. Fried it up in a breading of flour, panko bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and parmesan. Made nuggets. It was absolutely delicious, and tasted more like chicken than fish. 100% my favorite freshwater fish.

[@nathanneal4827]

I heard a gar recipe from an old timer. He says you nail the gar to a cedar plank, season it liberally with cilantro and lemon juice, and roast over an open flame for 45 minutes. You take the gar off the plank, discard it, and eat the plank.

[@fishin3196]

You know what i heard something like this to

[@mso1ful]

That’s the recipe for carp, here in Texas 😂😂

[@triela420]

@@mso1ful That's my recipe for freshwater drum (gasper goo). I've tried about 20 different ways of cleaning and cooking them, always comes out tasting pretty crappy.

[@davidknight114]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🍺🍺🍺👍

[@mikid3032]

@@mso1ful Because you are ignorant :D

[@KevinCODunn]

When I was a kid in the Everglades they would skin the gar and then parboil it and the kids would comb the flesh away from the bones until there was a good size pile of the fish and then the flakes were rolled in a corn meal and made into fritters and deep fried -- we'd dip 'em in cocktail sauce that was heavy with horse radish and it was great.

[@KevinCODunn]

We'd use forks to do the combing.

[@romoe69]

Nice

[@GoHerp]

Nobody lives in the Everglades it’s a national park. We’re you in homestead? Everglades city?

[@Coopersboy7]

I do it a bit different, I chop the the head off and the end the end of the tail off, then I use tin snips right up the back, then run my knife under the skin on top, on both sides, then I just peel him back like an orange.

[@jonathanwhite6881]

Coopersboy7 me too. doesn't take nearly as long as this...

[@michael102]

Thank you so much for the video! It inspired me and my son to go catch one to try out and it was sooo good! We caught 2 spotted gar and fried them with what we had on hand. They were cut into nuggets and put in a bowl with lemon, Tex Joy, then taken out and rolled in pan cake batter(I know it was what I had lol), and fried. I was shocked at how amazing the meat tasted... Not fishy at all with a texture more like gator then fish.

[@andreg36k]

Thank you. I learned a lot watching this.

[@ssearl3231]

I really enjoyed the video. Now I'm looking forward to those July and August trot line Gar. Thanks guys

[@wrthrash]

Tim Farmer is an Emmy award winner and I enjoy every one of his vids. A motorcycle accident in 1984 severely damaged his right arm, so not sure if he lost the arm or just is not able to use it, not that it matters, when you watch his vids you never even notice. He is a super journalist.

[@xenomorphfromlv-4263]

I watched this literally twenty minutes after unexpectedly catching one. Thanks, this helped so much.

[@CS-er9xv]

How'd it taste?

[@xenomorphfromlv-4263]

@@CS-er9xv it was good, not as good as sandbass, but still good.

[@OCALARV]

Thanks for the tips. Really appreciate the video.

[@superdave2112]

We have tons of Gar here in the river next to us. I was wondering about it. Thanks for the tips, ESPECIALLY about the eggs!

[@turkey2003]

You can grill gar in their shells. Just gut them and season the meat from the inside with some salt and lemon. When they are ready the shells separate from the meat easily. They make great fish tacos.

[@wickedoutdooradventures6694]

Another Awesome Video !!!! Regardless of the species or content; you always produce world-class videos ! Your quality work and dedication to producing the very best informative series of videos; keeps us fans always anticipating your next production. Hope 2018 is a wonderful year for you as well.

[@chrisburris1488]

Gar is really good! I mixed in gar, Asian carp, drum, wallet, and crappie all together as a joke at my last fish fry and no one had a clue! It was really funny cause people were talking about how nasty drum and carp were, but they didn't have any problem eating it! There first or second helping! My wife and I were laughing our butts off when we told everyone later!

[@ironik86]

It is funny how people put fish in a class system and swear off anything that tastes even a little different and say its trash fish. Just like different animals, different fish taste different! Who knows, that fish you're calling trash might taste better than the one you swear by! Thanks for the idea, I might have to do this!

[@TheTrueLouieLou]

Gar and drum are my favorite tasting fish!

[@chrisburris1488]

Good eating!

[@romoe69]

Crap yum. I baked one and served it to friends and everyone hate crap but that day it was the fish of the day and no one could believe it was crap in till they seen the head. Lol changed some people's thinking on trash fish. Like my mama would say, "it's all in the way you cook it". You can make gold into shit and shit into gold. Lol

[@ascitiesburn672]

Chris Burris Freshwater Drum are next to none when it comes to fried fish. top 2 for freshwater period

[@TPWDpr3]

Here in central tx we have found quite a few large gar scales in Indian campsites while hunting Arrowheads. We assume they were used as arrowheads due to the shape, and how sharp they are and super light weight, perfect for an arrowhead. I have never found large quantities like where one was cleaned but maybe half a handful.

[@kristieminton8428]

I love fishin I'm from beaverdam, Kentucky

[@daniels4227]

Very well done video, gentlemen

[@colefowles4003]

Thanks for the great video!

[@SuperHank777]

Great video

[@williammills3632]

Gar scales are great small game points on wooden arrows. Waste not want not. And it's cool to use something from a fishing trip to go hunting with.

[@semco72057]

I have heard that gar meat is good if you eat the meat while it is still hot, but gets tough after it cools down. I have never caught any of them, but wanted to know how to clean them to eat and thank you all for showing us how to do it.

[@tailboard]

Gar tastes excellent IMO!

[@bigbillfoglesong8480]

i've eaten many gar , we lay them out long ways and with a sharp machete cut about 3" pieces , its not easy , we always said a table saw would be great, boil the chunks in seasoned fish boil , dont over boil , as soon as the meat is white all the way through its done, the hide with the scales peals off easier than pealing a grape, pull off a chunk of very white meat and dip it in garlic butter, i believe in a blindfold test some would think it was lobster

[@dontworryaboutit5989]

+BIGBILL FOGLESONG I hack the head off n gut it, give it a rinse, n throw it over a fire. skin will peel right off when it's cooked and makes good plates! perfect for when you're hungry out catfishin

[@woabeatz9717]

Rene Rios -dam bone fish.....

[@ChrisWildmen]

Skinned a TON of these once, old friend had gotten into bow fishing and didn't wanna waist all that good meat... So we started with your method and very quickly moved to a skill/circular saw, to replace the snips. Set it down low and your ready to go. (eyeglasses and face mask suggested) but with the skill saw you'll make quick work of them. actually was decent flavored meat to my surprise.

[@theminakins815]

We catch these up in northern Michigan at my household and cut the meat into bits for a sort of "popcorn chicken" deep fry. That meat isn't bad, but the work for processing is definitely an effort... Wonder if it tastes any different this way.

[@mainorfigueroa8664]

That looks soo good

[@MrSIXGUNZ]

wow great stuff

[@grammoore3348]

glad to know that if i am ever filleting a gar i can also build a bird house.

[@YouQube05117]

3 men eating a gar but no beer. really?

[@aaronwrecks3324]

Yeah i wouldnt want to fish with them lol

[@bobbyharper8710]

Grind him up. Add some potato and egg. Fried gar patties for breakfast.

[@romoe69]

Yum

[@Xykaru]

I know a spot on the river that is less than 6 inches deep. Thousands of gar spawn under this bridge, you can literally see them piled on top of each other. I take my niece and nephew down there and we catch/release by hand. Maybe this time we will catch and eat :) P.S. Gar are very easy to catch with a topwater if they are visibly near the surface (a pack of them per se)

[@TheKingOfHalo]

There's a lot of these in the backwoods of my town here in Florida. You can see them near the surface. Pretty big ones too. I can never catch them though lol.

[@evanbuhr534]

I've caught two. Once by accident and it also caught me, in my leg. Another an accident it got caught up in my 65lb braid when i set the hook. I've been told a frayed piece of nylon is the best bait to catch a gar.

[@seannikki2397]

I like Nathan, he aint afraid to take a real bite.

[@heidbrain]

chop the gar into 4" pieces with a hatchet. then use a fillet knife to cut on the inside of the scales and the meat and bone will come out. remove the guts. pan fry or deep fry with the bone in. works great and is 10 times faster.

[@outlawshinemaker]

Fiskas all steel scissors and the EMT Shears work great for this skinning job

[@jonathanfox3285]

You got the right ones. And just cut the half collar at the head and butt. Leave all the rest intact. Do it as safely as you can quickly. Cook ASAP.

[@bloodsling]

watch at 0.5 speed for drunk fisherman

[@jennylee9278]

I like to put on the closed caps and read along. They say some crazy shit.

[@schetchyperson1233]

XD

[@laniewest7042]

Hahaha omg. This made my night!!! 😆😆😆💀

[@blakeperdue3706]

Omfg

[@ayemjake]

8:30 they sounded more like stoned than drunk lmao

[@pencilpractice9074]

Can you keep the head and scales, as well as the fins?

[@johnalmaguer7118]

Let's put on our life jackets and go get us one, other guy, whatever 😂🤣😂

[@levi501ish]

I live in south Texas and have been eating it since I was a child. To me it tastes like chicken mixed with fish. Try some lemon or lime on it fried, with a tall glass of Sweet tea or beer....mmmm, good eating man.

[@KhoaLe-rl7tl]

nice job

[@chrismaciak1374]

Thanks for the cleaning tutorial. That's a baby, don't come to my area- they get big here and everyone calls them trash fish :) Was talking to dad today on the way back from fishing. I said they can't taste bad, they're a predator fish, and fish taste like what they eat. Caught and returned three today, going to get one tomorrow to try eating.

[@DarthKraytofKansas]

About to find out! Cooking up a Gar I caught a few months back (kept in the in the freezer) right now. And I didn't use a fishing poll. Or a bow. The thing was swimming in shallow water, it was about 4 feet long! I ended up wading in behind it in about 2 feet of water, and I just tackled it with a net and a pair of gloves. :D

[@resomaniac]

I ate one in Villahermosa Mexico last week. They are called Pejelagarto there. They catch them, gut them and shove a stick in their mouth to use like a handle then throw them on a grill. They do this right by the river on the road from Villahermosa to Tacotalpa and sell them to people driving by. The skin peels off easy after it is cooked. The meat is firm and very tasty. I will try to catch one here in TN and see if I can cook it that way.

[@CocoaFanatic01]

How is it 450 degrees and just right

[@TJ41238]

tim said merry christmas at the end

[@dgrkar2002]

Years ago we use to go out and catch gar and yep they were hard to catch..dad always used twine to catch them with..and I want to say it was the gar that I was always told that after you cook it while it is still hot and it started cooling down it would start to "bleed'" and per say turn back raw...that is what I was always told...I know I loved the tasted of all fish and I did NOT know you couldn't eat gar eggs..I think we eat the eggs out of all the fish that we catch..I love fish eggs..but i guess we didn't eat gar eggs..lol but I sure didn't know they were poison..I know when we would clean them..we would rip them down the belly from the head to the tail and then pull them out of their "shell"

[@Intuitx500]

I have heard gar taste awesome i caught a needle nose gar a few days back but i didint have a cooler with me so I hung it up so i can get its skull.I just need to find out a good batter recipe

[@MissouriOldTimer]

I've heard that too that you have to eat them hot, but I go some several years ago and there was too much for one meal and I ate some later and it was fine.

[@pompey333]

Oh damn! Those scales are crazy!

[@1978strong]

It's so easy to clean a gar fish y'all make it look hard lol that's all I catch but much bigger 4,5,& 6 feet but I like the small 1's also and I have never known the eggs to poison me I touch them all the time

[@PaynekillerJim]

caddo river Indians used to use there scales as arrow heads

[@loupremo]

that water looks so calm. i'm used to the ohio river current sweeping my float half way across the river

[@losethealtitude7730]

LouPremo fuck Ohio

[@lukrativ0922]

Gar is definitely good to eat, if anything, it does not have enough of a fish taste. I only shoot gar that are 3 ft + due to the low yield of meat. I do think I am going to try to make jerky out of it next year. The consistentcy of the meat lends itself to quality jerky. Has a more salmon like texture, kind of like a spoonbill. Next, I want to see them try to eat a grinnel.

[@burtmurdoch]

great!

[@brandoneargle1]

450 degrees? I will make sure I wait to go gar fishing until it is 450 degrees out XD

[@jennylee9278]

AND humid! Kentucky weather is the worst.

[@robertbrandywine]

@@jennylee9278 Come to the southern Gulf Coast.

[@jennylee9278]

@@robertbrandywine Been there, it made me appreciate Ky. Also the gigantic bugs down there.

[@christophergarcia636]

Haha I was like wtf okaaay

[@nickstoli]

It seems to require a tremendous amount of chewing. But props to these guys for eating outside the box.

[@outhouse01]

I have lived on Lake Palestine in east Texas for 10 years now. There are a lot of needle nose gar as well as alligater gar in this lake. Heck, there are alligaters here too, but I have yet to see one.

[@matthewbland6246]

put it on a grill and it will pop right open after about 15-20 mins... then you just pick away at the meat... its mushy but has a good flavor

[@PigSpinnin]

thanks for posting this. I have a ton of spotted, longnose, shortnose, and alligator gar at my place on the Brazos river here in Texas. They're all around my dock mostly at night. Knowing that they are good eating on top of being a menace to other fish is a win-win to kill as many as I can. I just got a bowfishing rig and look forward to taking tips from this vid!!!!

[@puertorican850]

"We killed that one in self defense!" LOL

[@shizzle5150]

Yes

[@shizzle5150]

LOL, me and my cousin caught bunch of spotted gar on lake table rock. We pulled up under a bluff one day and they were spawning in about 4 ft of water. I have never seen anything like it. There would be a huge 3-4 foot female with about 30 males swarming her. Well we cleaned some and I took it home. I fried it up and it was tough as hell! Didn't taste too bad you just couldn't chew the stuff up. There is supposedly a good sausage recipe for them but I'll stick with panfish for the table.

[@user-bs8qc9wm9f]

Impressive. I think we have the same bow.

[@yoy58913]

Thx you

[@dablocishot77]

Nathan was dying to get a piece of that gar.. lol looks good tho.

[@SuperOlds88]

"Look at that gaping hole" Seems I heard that in another movie I watched once.

[@VladtheNerfNeko]

Lightnin Hopkins That wasnt any movie in theaters, my friend.

[@SuperOlds88]

It was 30 years ago.

[@derekborba1546]

Hahahahahaha. Best comment I read today.

[@kylebroflowski9689]

I could never eat a gar for the same reason many people won't eat a horse or a dog, but interesting video :) thanks for the upload

[@GUNTIME]

man thats alot of work.. come to dale hollow lake if you want to get some big ones. nice vid

[@mrmal1402]

.

[@stlouisx50]

An easier way to clean the gar is cut the head off and the tail. then cut down the bottom of the gar in the middle. Pull out the guts and then start pealing away the skin off the muscle. Slide your fingers back and fourth between the skin and meat and it will come right off. You may need to use a knife every now and then to get it all separated but it works. Did this for my first gar and didn't even know it would work. :) All I used to cut it open was a multipurpose knife and used the saw. No issues at all :)

[@davidwagaman68]

Lay it on a large board and cut into chunks,1-1.5 inches long with a heavy machete or corn knife and then using a thin short filet knife cut around the inside edge of the hide,remove hide and filet the loin area away from the ribs.Walla !

[@GardensoftheAncientsHerbal]

EZ catch just use tiny tiny trebles. Tiny circle hooks or use some kind of double jig in a y setup.

[@YawehthedragondogofEL]

I will give that a shot, thanks.

[@denverwalker9512]

table rock in branson missouri?

[@killerkane1957]

You guys try using rope to make a hookless lure for gar?? Great video on KZbin showing how well it works.

[@plestes]

Hey I caught One tonight went for late night crappie but Garr's were on the move. So I decided to give it a shot very nice size fish . Tim buddy hit me up some time I'd really like to do some fishing with you some time

[@historytruthseeker]

I always just put the cast iron in water and I didn't see any difference. I mean it is a metal. So I don't know if the seasoned means anything. I could be wrong. I always scrubbed it down an dthen spray it with some grease and put it away. They can't beat cast iron.

[@evanlanginais]

i fish for gar fish alot.and my fav way to cook my gar fish is on a grill raped up in foil.with a bunch of rabit food on top like onions pepers wat not.but wen i fry it i find it makes som of the best fish sandwitches.ul eva have. but you can also smoke it the meat like i do with my big gar fish i ceach.my 2 biggest gar fish was a 6 foot 3 inch gata gar and a 5 footer.

[@catfishredneck88]

asian are great table fair. i preffer them now over catfish. i do want to try gar but didnt catch any this season. im watching the vid. thanks.

[@annettehudson929]

I love gar

[@shanetemple243]

I was told by a Seminole they used to lay gar whole on hot coals and the skin would split while cooking. Since then I've found campfires with charred gar carcasses in and next to them. Anyone know anything about this?

[@wadepatton2433]

+Shane Temple Sounds quite plausible. I learned to bake fish over the campfire before I ever baked any at home. Evisceration before cooking or cooked fully intact?

[@YawehthedragondogofEL]

hmmmm, I'm gonna try that. makes sense if you think about it.

[@losethealtitude7730]

Wade Patton pretty good idea I’ll try it.

[@DC5Jordan]

We don't have these fish up in Canada, what fish would you compare the taste to? Does it taste anything like pike?

[@chillmonkey23]

Yes we do: www.ottawariverkeeper.ca/home/explore-the-river/the-wild-side/fish/longnose-gar/

[@rioclaro2]

I'm in Tennessee, US. I know a guy who eats them a lot. He says they taste similar to pork but with a different texture. Am wanting to try Muskie, personally. Have heard it described as 'poor mans lobster'.

[@dontworryaboutit5989]

+rioclaro2 I've always heard of monkfish described that way. my folks say it too. they used to eat monkfish all the time. getting a lil harder to find now, thougj

[@mikehuntsmels9680]

Air Jordan i got them in quebec...i fish them up to 6ft in lenth

[@phil2Fun4life]

Air Jordan yes we do

[@roofman2002]

just come in from a trout and black bass fishing trip on the meremac river in mo. had more fun catching the gar than the trout. we used 2lb. test and still managed to get 3 in the boat over 2 ft. long next trip we will be bringing our catfish rigs with 20lb test. good tasting fish. I did break a pair of scissors cutting the hide.

[@DeepDarkhills]

can you no longer keep them in ky?

[@riggedzone]

Just caught one yesterday. What a rush

[@Fantome1989]

Also the high levels of potassium in these fish. Around 298 Mg

[@ericneering6357]

I’m gonna trust you I can catch a lot of these up here my way we always throw them back or throw them in the trash, but go cook them up till turns out

[@joncena168]

We had one as a pet and released it

[@odin8010]

Lol 450 degrees? Were you fishing with satin

[@calebar98]

Roan Dillon I saw no sheets anywhere around there.

[@Gunsmith420]

+Roan Dillon was wondering i guess were missing something

[@bigoljoe1829]

the joke... youre missing the joke...

[@hobbyist1001]

Lol good one.

[@jaxflfreebird]

The word is SATAN. Satin is a paint sheen between GLOSSY and FLAT. DUH!!!!

[@DoyleTX]

I read today that Gar meat is best when you grind it and make patties with herbs and spices mixed in.

[@clarencehenderson2098]

I have caught 3 spotted long nosed gar in Oklahoma and prepared them as you showed. One was close to 20 pounds. One around 8 pounds and one small one in the 3 pound range. All of them the meat was so full of cartiledge It was like chewing a piece of grissle trying to find some meat. Basicly not edible?????

[@whatho85]

Had some gar and it was deep fried. The meat was dry and very mile in flavor. Reminds me of kingfish. White and meaty. Next time I'll probably try it prepared another way though.

[@iconofsin5886]

When did the gar get out of Texas?

[@jacobwalker1707]

gar are a native species in kentucky. guess the saying everything in texas is bigger, including the idiots.

[@MyBoomStick1]

so hungry

[@Hawk-Hawk-Hawk]

He´s coming right at us!

[@ceputza]

You can see the rust on the scissors.

[@FED50H]

It looks similar to snakehead meat, just harder to clean. Thank you for the video. Now that I know how to clean them, they are on the menu....

[@YawehthedragondogofEL]

They are easy to clean, this guy made it harder than it really is. Just the one cut down the middle then cut out the fillet from the top down. They are actually the easiest fish to clean once you figure it out.

[@jayzay8282]

Yea

[@dysccophresh]

where i'm from, the only longnose gar that are that skinny are little one foot long babies. the average are like three and a half feet and eight pounds, and about six pounds of the fish is nice white meat. also, this guy showed you how to avoid the eggs. in my opinion, the juice is worth the squeeze for sure.

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

I bet this would make a great tartar.

[@irecruitfish7410]

Damn I have this fish as a pet. How did I end up here?

[@jaxflfreebird]

It's interesting that the gar has such a tough hide of scales. I wonder if the hide compares closer to that of a snake or perhaps, in some ways, to an alligator. I know you can whack a gar with a machete and if you don't hit it right you might not even cut into the fish. You could even hit a gar with a boat propeller and not even hurt the fist. A gar's hide is like a leather/steel glove. Is it any wonder that most people never tried to eat a gar?

[@MrGaborseres]

I just caught a young gar fish....... Cleaned it like you guys fried it........ It don't taste like fish and it is tough meat..... No thank you....... I will never eat one again...... Thanks 👍 for the video guys 👍

[@ieribal]

NICE SHOOTING!