Gar?

[JBooth]

Does anyone eat/know how to prepare a gar? I have heard they can be great if prepared correctly.

 

[LCfishing]

Everyone here just does gar balls dip in milk and egg solution batter in corn meal or flour with seasoning and fry. The meat is like calamari when done this way.

 

[spotco2]

We always toss a little EVOE and either lemon pepper or Cajun spice on it and grill it.

I've also had it steamed and it was very good.

 

[LCfishing]

How do yall clean these the best way? I feel like i'm in a surgical procedure when I do them lol, inch by inch along the belly then peel the outside away from the meat until i'm done.

 

[ShadowWalker]

Cut across the top of its back with tin snips. Then cut down each side before the tail and behind the head. Peel back the skin and cut it from the meat. remove back strap of meat on either side if its nerve bundle. Thats is it.

https://www.illinoisbowfishing.net/CleaningGar.html

 

[LCfishing]

Thanks for the tips will try that next time for sure.

 

[ShadowWalker]

Also, I usually cut up the backstraps into chunks, bread with breadcrumbs and seasoning, and deep fry.

 

[neighborDAVE]

Also, I usually cut up the backstraps into chunks, bread with breadcrumbs and seasoning, and deep fry.

^^^X2 on the deepfrying. Also you can take sections of the backstraps butterfly them, bread them and then chicken fry it (like chicken fried steak). Pour white peppered gravy over the top!!! YUM

IMO...I find that gar need to be at least big enough, at least 8-10 lbs to warrant the amount of work it takes to remove the backstrap. A lot of the gar I see around here, spotted and shortnose, do good to get that big. However, if I get lucky enough sometimes we get some decent longnose gar that we can fix up to eat.