Heya gang.
Tomorrow me and My wife are heading down to the Mukwonogo River to see what we can find.
(Hoping for an Orangspot, Grass Pickerel or chubsucker)
There are tons of Longnose gar in the river there.
the water is about 3 feet deep, with a good current, gin clear and pebble bottom.
Last time i couldnt get the gar to snap, i am going to tie up some rope lures tonight. but Any other tips?

Also the other gem in the river is the chubsucker. We spotted two large schools of them feeding in small weed pockets, but I couldnt get them to hit.
I talked to a buddy from the UK who fishes for tench and he suggested I put away the redworms and switch to grubs.
this is my plan.
Light line - weedy pocket- smallhook- waxworm
I know its so complex :D
any other Ideas?? Should I try baiting the area??

Personally I would use the rope lure for longnose gar. No weight just the rope. It is hard to cast far even with weight but the action is very good of the nylon moving in the water. Or as I was shown just a plain hook and a minnow and when there is a bite just open the bail and let it run.

I made some rope lures using pre-twisted wire like you would use to make a spinner. First I put on a bullet sinker on then a couple sections of 3/8" nylon twisted rope which I secured by twisting the wire around until I could not pull it out.

For my first ones I used too light of a sinker (maybe 3/8 oz) my next batch will have at least a 1/2 oz sinker to get them to cast decently. I was going to add that even with the weight on there they don't hit the water very hard. The rope almost acts like a parachute.

Granted... I haven't caught a gar on them... yet. But they are easy and cheap to make and have the added bonuses of weights and spinners.

I just wrote you a tip, but now I see that you are probably fishing right now.....May the fish gods be with you

Thanks all
We went today and did ok, not the best, we had a heavy rain the last few days and the river was up and fish scattered.

I only saw 3 gar, I had on hit a minnow but lost it after a while.
I did manage a nice Bowfin and a few other little gems.
Finally got a very good sized grass pickerel he was close to 10"
I didnt get a photo because I was wading and didnt take my digital out when wading.

I got some nice clear pictures of a Warmouth and some Longear sunfish.

I saw the chubsuckers and had one grab my grub but I set too soon.

Ill post pics in a bit.

TylerW,

Those spinners are probably going to tangle in the rope. They look too close to the rope. I tried the same thing few years ago. Now when I put a spinner on, I put it up the leader quite a ways above the rope. When you cast or when the lure puffs out when you're working it, it will tangle in the rope, you'll have a mess and the spinner won't spin of course.

Also some of my best rope lures have had no weight at all. The wet rope has enough weight to carry it a ways. Granted, you can't cast as far as with a sinker, but if you're parked in a large school of gar you don't need to cast far. This gar hit my rope lure on Wednesday as it was hanging 3' down over the side of the boat while I was tying something on a different pole. This happens quite often so when we're really getting them on rope lures we cast one pole and leave one pole with a rope lure hanging over the side of the boat.

TylerW,

I think I already posted this pic in a different thread but here's a pic of one of my rope lures with a spinner on it. Note how far up the leader the spinner is.

I make and sell lures and rigs for Gar... Check out my products at Snaggletooth Lures & Rigs

GG