This is the third article in a series about Kentucky’s ancient fish.
The gar family, Lepisostidae, dates back to the Cretaceous geologic period, which began about 145 million years ago. It was a time when the Earth had a relatively warm climate, and high sea levels resulted in numerous, shallow inland seas that were populated by now-extinct marine reptiles.
This family of ancient fish includes seven living species found in fresh, brackish, and occasionally marine environments in North America, Central America and the Caribbean islands.
Gars are elongated and their slender bodies are armored with diamond-shaped (ganoid) scales. Their beak-like jaws are filled with long, sharp teeth.
Like the bowfin, the gar is a bimodal breather, which means it has the capacity to breathe both dissolved oxygen in water and atmospheric oxygen. This survival mechanism enables the gar to thrive in adverse water conditions — low levels of dissolved oxygen — that would be lethal to other fish species. The gar’s swim bladder functions as lungs as it rises to the surface to gulp air.
Gar were important in Native American religion and culture throughout the southeastern states. The Creek and Chickasaw people had ritual “garfish dances.”
Gar in Kentucky
There are four species of gar in Kentucky. Gar occur in a variety of habitats from cypress sloughs, river bottom creeks and small wetlands, to large rivers and major reservoirs — making them the most abundant and widely distributed of Kentucky’s ancient fish.
Gars are ambush predators and their long body shape allows for quick movements to catch prey. While gars are generally avoided by both commercial and sport fishermen, they play an important role as a predator of rough fish species — mainly carp, buffalo fish and suckers.
Gar has a mild flavor and its flesh is firm and white, but gar eggs are toxic to humans. In Kentucky, gar are considered rough fish so there are no creel limits or minimum size limits.
Gar can be caught on rod and reel and put up a good fight on light tackle. They are most active in the spring and summer months, post spawn. In lazy rivers they can often be found off shady banks, suspended in in small groups, just beneath the surface.
To trigger a strike, cast a small floating crankbait to the gar and twitch it slowly on the surface, like a wounded minnow. When the gar grabs the lure, set the hook hard, since gar have bony mouths.
The Kentucky state record gar (longnose) weighed 40 pounds and was caught from the Ohio River on Aug. 8, 1956 by Kelsie Travis, Jr. of Paducah, Kentucky.
Alligator Gar
The alligator gar (Atractosteus spathula) is the largest of the living gars and one of the largest freshwater fishes in North America, capable of reaching over nine feet in length and weighing over 300 pounds. It is distinguished from other gars by its short, broad snout, and heavy body.
Coloration is olive above, becoming paler below, with dark spots on fins.
The distribution of the alligator gar in Kentucky once included the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and their backwaters and embayments in western Kentucky, but sightings were sporadic between 1925 and 1977.
The alligator gar is listed as a “species of greatest conservation need” in the wildlife action plan of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR).
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In 2009 a long-term restoration program was started in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Annually, fry are obtained from the Private John Allen National Fish Hatchery.
These fry are reared at the Pfeiffer and Minor Clark fish hatcheries prior to being released into waters in four western Kentucky counties within the historic range of the species where suitable habitat remains.
Longnose Gar
The longnose gar (Lepisosteus osseus) is easily distinguished from other gars by having an extremely long and narrow snout. Coloration is brown to olive green, becoming paler on the sides and whitish to pale yellowish below.
The longnose gar is the most abundant of the four species in Kentucky, common statewide in streams, rivers, and reservoirs. Capable of growing to six feet in length and weighing up to 50 pounds, the longnose gar is the second largest gar species in Kentucky.
Shortnose Gar
The shortnose gar (Lepisosteus platostomus) is similar to spotted gar, but lacks spots on head and body. Coloration is olive green above, becoming yellowish to whitish on sides and below, with spots on the caudal and dorsal fins.
Both species are on the small size, usually less than three feet in length and weighing five to 10 pounds.
Spotted Gar
The spotted gar ( Lepisosteus oculatus) has a unique pattern of large spots on the top of head and body. Coloration is brown to olive green, becoming paler on the sides and whitish to pale yellowish below. Spotted gar and shortnose gar live in the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and in western Kentucky, from the lower Green River basin to the Mississippi River.
The gar is a “living fossil,” one of Kentucky’s remarkable ancient fish.
Art Lander Jr. is outdoors editor for NKyTribune and KyForward. He is a native Kentuckian, a graduate of Western Kentucky University and a life-long hunter, angler, gardener and nature enthusiast. He has worked as a newspaper columnist, magazine journalist and author and is a former staff writer for Kentucky Afield Magazine, editor of the annual Kentucky Hunting & Trapping Guide and Kentucky Spring Hunting Guide, and co-writer of the Kentucky Afield Outdoors newspaper column.