*Alligator Gar at El Dorado wilderness area 3 lake*

[OnlyHappyHooknHawgz]

So im having a fun morning walking around the area 3 lake, catching a few bass, concentrating primarily on fishing the reeds as im watching small bass darting out from the reeds chasing baitfish, and hanging tight to the reeds-a few of the bigger bass just sitting still. I change to flylining a plastic swimbait and flip it into a pocket within the reeds and see my swimbait being stalked by something. As it came a little closer, im still staring at the shadow thats following close behind my lure and think: "hmm.. thats definitely not a bass.. or a bluegill, crappie, or catfish.. and i know thats definitely not a trout either..." As i reeled in a little closer (by this time my baits only about 5 - 7 ft from shore in front of me) the shadow lost interest in my swimbait and turned to swim back into the reeds, this is when i realized what kind of fish it was: it was a gar. When it turned, the distinct long nose and sleek body of the fish was a dead giveaway. It was about 1 1/2 - 2 ft long. I sat and watched the gar for about 5 more minutes as it patrolled the reeds, chasing bass out of their hiding spots until i lost sight of it and it disappeared. Anyways... just remember that you heard it from me here first about the gar in el dorado lake (just like before when i was first to report the gar in alondra :P)

[smokehound]

Dang man, that sucks. Gar are no-joke. A single large gar can decimate a small lake.

At least you know where it haunts. Hopefully it doesnt turn out to be a breeding population. That would suck.

[sshernandez]

A guy got one at one of the lakes in OC and it was the same size..

[dfisher]

bring the gaff next time out hehe..

[Hoshnasi]

New item to throw in the tackle bag... My .22lr.

[Surfer]

I'm heading out there tomorrow to try to catch it.

[smokehound]

Oh hell no. Im gonna go around some park lakes late at night and catch one of these bastards red-handed.

Damn irresponsible aquarists!

[BrandonFish]

kill that ****** gar where exactly is this i might just go kill it my self

anybody want the gar after i catch it if not im chopping him up throwing him in the trash can!

[Fishbones]

looks like no ninja wading here...lol

[OnlyHappyHooknHawgz]

the gar i saw was lurking in and out of the reeds in the wilderness area 3 lake (the lake with the concrete walkway around it) and it was on the opposite side of the paddle boat rental dock. (its in the same place as in a picture of a nice cat someone posted in the http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/sho...-are-going-off thread)

** On a quick sidenote** just got back from el dorado early morning fish session ... my fishing buddy caught 2 bass about 1/2 lb each and a crappie that was just about the same size.. and i caught 2 bass, one was close to 2 lbs and the other was close to 3 1/2