I took a buddy on his first bowfishing jaunt. The AR river was muddy and visability was nill. Getting a shot was mighty sporty as the gar would come to the surface and give you about 1/2 a second to shoot.
We only managed 1 but it was a good one. The gar was playing possum until we got him to the boat and that is when he decided to go beserk! He took a bite out of me and I didn't even know it. He smacked Johnathon with his tail for good measure.
Johnathon had never tried gar and asked if he could bring his two teenage boys over to try it. I had to cleen it so I took photos along the way if it helps anybody.
Start by impaling the fish's head onto a nail on a board to aid in skinning and removing the fillets.
They aren't called "Armored fish" for nothing. Start by making a hole here with dia wire cutters.
Use tin snips to cut the skin along the backbone.
Now that the skin is cut use a fillet knife and peel the skin back to expose the backstraps just like on a deer.
Work both side and the straps will be ready to be removed.
Remove the straps
You end up with 2 fantastic boneless fillets. Cut them into little steaks and fry them up with batter. Great eating right there.
One fillet fed my wife, Johnathon and his two boys and myself. If you haven't tried it but would like to I hope this helps when it comes to cleaning one of these rascals.