"There are few things more exciting than catching a big garfish on light tackle at night," enthuses Evan Merritt.

And, if anybody should know, it's the Sumter County native who has targeted these pre-historic prizes for a long, long time.

Merritt has held the Florida state record for Longnose Gar (Lepisoteus osseus) since April 14, 1985, when he battled and eventually subdued a 41 pounder in Lake Panasoffkee. The world record for this species is 50 pounds, 5 ounces.

"Actually, that one beat my prior state record of 32 pounds, which was caught several years previously," mused the Bushnell real estate and insurance executive who hunts and fishes at every opportunity.

Although gar bite well during the day, Merritt prefers nocturnal hours because the fish will more often jump like a tarpon and, when in a feeding mood, readily hit live shiners with mucho gusto.

Brownish or green on its top and sides, a longnose gar's belly is creamy colored or white and is found mostly in deeper, open waters of freshwater lakes and rivers throughout all of the Florida peninsula, but mainly from the central part of the state northward. Its cousins, the Alligator Gar and Spotted Gar are at home in Panhandle waters, while smaller, free-roaming Florida and Shortnose Gar are plentiful in still or stagnant canals, ponds, lakes, slow river bends and backwaters of streams throughout the state.

Florida's most recent freshwater record is a 9.47 pound Florida Gar, caught by Patrick McDaniel, while crappie fishing with a jig and 2-pound test line, on March 25, 2001 in Lake Lawne, Orange County.  He says the fish gave him a 20-minute fight, and he was very lucky the fish was hooked through the fleshy part of the lip, keeping the line away from the sharp teeth.

Of the five known species found in Florida, the toothy, wide-snouted Alligator Gar (Lepisosteus atractosters) is, by far, the largest and is known to reach 10 feet in length and grow to more than 300 pounds. The IGFA world record for this roughouse brawler is an impressive 279 pounds, while the current Florida mark listed in the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's (FWC) Record Fish Program was caught in 1995 by Zachary Phillips in the Choctawhatchee River and hit an even 123 pounds.

If an election was held today on the most unpopular fish swimming in Florida's freshwater lakes, rivers and streams, the gar might possibly win in a landslide.

But, as the saying goes, one person's junk is another's treasure.

While a majority of fisherfolks hold the gar in disdain, there's a smattering of anglers within our boundaries, like Merritt and Tampa's Joe Brown, who think they're the greatest thing since Bill Gates introduced Windows ‘95.

Matter of fact, Brown, owner of 24-Hour Bait on Fletcher Avenue in Tampa, seldom misses an opportunity to laud the longnose gar's sporting qualities and has managed to convert a salient cadre of regular customers who now seek out this ancient breed of fish thought to have inhabited our waters since dinosaurs roamed the earth.

"Where else can you catch a yard-long fish with a $20 rod and reel from a $200 boat?," Brown asks.

"Since gar are usually more plentiful and bigger than bass in many areas, plus being able to put up an inspiring fight on light tackle, why not enjoy them?"

Gars are not difficult to find either because of their habit of rolling at the water's surface to gulp air.

Due to a gar's impressive dentures, Brown suggests using at least 24 inches of braided wire leader and a 1/0 or smaller hook. For bait, a live or dead shiner fished beneath a small cork or float near the surface is the ticket.

When a gar grabs a shiner, both Merritt and Brown suggest we let it run on the reel's free spool until it stops before setting the hook. Too often, the hook will simply pull loose because of the fish's hard, bony snout.

Opinions vary greatly when rating gar as tablefare. "I've eaten gar and, frankly, don't much care for it," said Merritt.

On the other hand, Brown points out that a big gar has a pair of tenderloin muscles running down its back, similar to that of the coveted backstrap section of a deer.

"That meat is boneless, tender and has a nice flavor whether it's baked or broiled."

We've even heard others enthusiastically compare its taste to lobster.

While people may disagree on the culinary qualities of this formidable appearing fish, there's one thing everyone should agree on - do NOT eat the roe (or caviar) of a gar due to it's toxicity, which can cause serious illness or worse.

There are no size or numbers limits in state fishing regulations for gars. In addition to hook and line methods, gars can be taken by bow and arrow or by gigs.

Ed Moyer, FWC's Director of Freshwater Fisheries, points out that gars frequent the same bodies of water as bass, bream and crappie and that the FWC's ongoing and largely effective programs of improving aquatic habitat statewide not only improve conditions for more favored gamefish, they help the gar as well.

"Since they've been around for thousands of years, long before humans or largemouth bass, they'll probably be here long after we're all gone, so we may as well adopt the philosophy of live and let live," he said. 

25 March 2001, New Florida State Record "Florida Gar" caught at Lake Lawne on a jig and 2-lb test by Patrick McDaniel.  9 lbs. 7 oz., 35 3/8" long, 14 5/8" girth.