Gar stomach contents and dissection (photo)

Do you ever dissect the fish you caught?

When cleaning fish you should take time to check stomach contents so you get a good grasp on exactly what they are eating.

Last year, my cousin Frank Moore was cleaning a five-foot long alligator garfish he caught behind a culling shrimp boat in the Intracoastal Canal. Look what he found.

There are two croaker here about a foot long, unscathed.

“Those gar in there eating the cull kind of like sharks do offshore. There are lots of croaker culled out and that is why these are just swallowed,” Moore said.

The Rat-L-Trap pictured here is another issue.

“A lot of anglers fishing out here talk about throwing lures and then hanging into something they can’t do anything with and a gar this size is just that kind of creature when you’re dealing with trout tackle,” he said.

There is also a leader typical of the kind anglers fish dead shrimp on. It looks like this gar has given a thrill (or scare) to at least two anglers in the past.

When you clean fish, check out the stomach contents. Sometimes it can be very education.

Chester Moore