# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Fishing >  How to clean a gar

## Bishop

I shot these today.


https://youtu.be/X_YWuq-XhJE

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## Alan R McDaniel Jr

Bishop, perhaps you explained in the video but part of my old geezerness is that I don't keep the sound on on my computer.  Why do you not simply fillet the gar like any other fish.  Personally, I have never purposely fished for gar or kept the odd one arrowed or caught on a line or trot line.  I understand they are reasonably good to eat and when I was a kid in South Louisiana I had gar balls one time.  They were gar meat mixed with celery, peppers and cornmeal and then fried.  There was nothing outstanding about them that I remember.  

But, on other rough fish (sheepshead, etc), the only fish I use an electric knife on, I just cut the fillet off normally and then slice off the skin.  I will cut out rib bones by hand later when putting the fillets up.

Just wondering if there is some reason for doing it the way you did.  I understand that some gar roe is poisonous.

Alan

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## Bishop

There scales are like armor you can't cut into them like a bass or trout there roe is poisonus a lot of people make gar balls I just like to deep fry in salt pepper flower and yellow corn meal.

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## Alan R McDaniel Jr

Like I said, I've never cleaned one.  I may give it a try the next time I get one in the boat.  Is it important to not let the roe contact the meat or can it simply be washed off?


Alan

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## Alan R McDaniel Jr

In early fall down here there are times when the gar just fill up the little estuary canals along the coast.  They can be arrowed but I'm sure the could be caught in a cast net (if you didn't want the cast net any more).  Also, in Texas, we have a one gar limit per day as per TPW (alligator gar).   

Alan

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## Bishop

It can be washed off I have never seen a gator gar here in FLA but I am sure we have them

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## madmax

Well you made that look easy.  I butchered the first gar I caught and ended up with mush after cooking.  My landlord's son took me bowfishing then and cooked ours up with 7UP.  They weren't bad at all.

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## crashdive123

How long did it take you to recover from the beating for using the ironing board as a fish cleaning table? :fishface:

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## hunter63

> How long did it take you to recover from the beating for using the ironing board as a fish cleaning table?


Actually the wooden board works pretty good for fish.
Also work well as a deer hide scraping board.

Note... buy your own at a yard sale...Momma don't do fish guts in the ironing.

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## kyratshooter

Me and my g-dad caught a gar once.

We skinned it, cut it up and threw it in a skillet.

That thing stunk the house up so bad everyone was standing outside in the rain screaming at us to throw the thing out!

Me and G-dad decided we were going to eat some of it anyway so we were banished to the workshop/feed room for our fish and fried potatoes.  

The potatoes weren't bad at all.  

We had plenty of gar left over and the dog would not eat it either.

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## Rick

They call them trash fish for a reason. That's where they wind up.

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## hunter63

I hear.... they process it by grinding it up, bleach it out....mix in some chemicals, flavorings and salt...few more fillers, bread it deep fry, add some special sauce ..... and serve it as a "Squished Fish Patty on a Bun"....

Don't know it's true or not......
What is "white fish"?

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## crashdive123

Gar tastes great with the right garnish.  Bourbon.......lots of bourbon.

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## Batch

Wrong thread

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## Rick

Spiderwebs, cobwebs, you let me walk into either and I call them....ARAEASDG@#$%WQFASEFQ$TQWGFASDFae. Or something like that.

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## Bishop

That is my mobile fish cleaning table it works great

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## hunter63

> That is my mobile fish cleaning table it works great


I agree........ 
I'm aslo big fan of "card tables"...folding tables your parents had...to actually play games '''with other people"

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