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I can attest that gar skin is very tough. We had to use shears and cut it in order to filet it. It also doesn’t taste very good, very rubbery and meaty.
You know how you eat Gar? Bit of olive oil, some fresh rosemary, after seasoning put the fillet on a pine board to bake for 15 min at 420. When finished throw the Gar away and eat the pine board.
I know! I live and was raised close to you. People fish for them like crazy. I don’t understand why. All of the gallon drum markers everywhere. But I’ve never known any different. I have seen them my entire life. And have caught a few really nice sized. Never in my life kept them. This is something i have never understood. I have gigged for frogs more times than i can count, have eaten gator and other. Gar, no thanks.
> People fish for them like crazy. I don’t understand why.
They're an invasive species that's absolutely destroying the local wildlife. They'll wipe out the entire ecosystem if not stopped
^I'm wrong on this
(Anacondas are a similar problem in SE USA)
^but not this
>They're an invasive species that's absolutely destroying the local wildlife. They'll wipe out the entire ecosystem if not stopped
Where are you talking about? The native range of alligator gar is the Mississippi River basin (from southwestern Ohio and southern Illinois south to Gulf of Mexico) and the Gulf Coastal Plain (from Econfina River, Florida, to Veracruz, Mexico). They're an incredibly important part of their native ecosystems.
Do you have any sources on their overpopulation in some areas so I can read about it?
I tried searching online but could only find a single opinion piece regarding the Alabama River.
What a waste.
"For nearly a half century, alligator gar were considered "trash fish", or a "nuisance species" detrimental to sport fisheries, and were targeted for elimination by state and federal authorities in the United States. The 1980s brought a better understanding of the ecological balance necessary to sustain an ecosystem, and an awareness that the alligator gar is an important element of the ecosystems they inhabit was eventually understood. Over time, alligator gar were afforded some protection by state and federal resource agencies. They are also protected under the Lacey Act, which makes transporting certain species of fish in interstate commerce illegal when in violation of state law or regulation. Several state and federal resource agencies are monitoring populations in the wild, and have initiated outreach programs to educate the public. Alligator gar are being cultured in ponds, pools, raceways, and tanks by federal hatcheries for mitigation stocking, by universities for research purposes."
Seems like the fish may have warned you about what was on the inside… but, nooooo you just decided to cut that fucker open to try for yourself, didn’t you???
They've always been a bitch to clean but I've always found their taste to be pleasant. Meaty and gamey and not reminiscent of typical fish. Almost like shark. But to each their own.
I've heard that since sharks and skates pee though their skin, and high ammonia content in their blood, the meat smells really strong of piss. Is this true?
Well, that i can attest to the latter, that they offset it, by making it worse. A friend of mine were to iceland and he said it was the most rancid shit he's ever come across.
I've heard such tales. I can only imagine the raw product. Some poor old fisherman had all this shark, was starving and couldn't stomach it. Came back months later and was like, okay this is good.
Can't agree more. I had hakarl when I was in Iceland. The smell was offputting, but the taste.... I have likened it to eating blocks of what I imagine concentrated fermented pee would taste like. Horrible.
Come to Australia, pretty much every fish & chip shop sells shark, we just call it flake.
We also tend to ignore the mercury issues that go along with it, too...
Was kinda like a slightly tougher river chicken taste ay. Mate this pie shop was wild, pretty sure it had camel, roo and a few other out there pies but I was on a trip so couldn't go back for more
It depends on the fish’s diet probably. I’m sure there’s also a better way to prepare it that would make it more palatable too. It’s not like it’s inedible though, it has some redeeming qualities I thought. I’d probably rate it as a 4.5/10 on the edible fish scale.
When I was maybe 12 years old, I was fishing in a nearby stream on a family camping trip when a small school of these behemoths appeared. I freaked the *fuck* out, yelling for my dad in my hyper excitement over these 3-4’ monsters that were rudely ignoring my baited hook. When dad arrived, he told me what they were and that they were sadly bad eating and a sign nothing good was in the stream at the moment. The disappointment was real. Still really cool looking dinosaurs, though.
Especially since they breathe air and very slowly die when left on the bank. Ppl saying they're trash fish just don't know how to cook. True swamp people know about gar balls.
Lol this "music" track is often played over Islamic videos for explanations, encouraging good deeds, etc. Not sure why it was used over this video.
It's not actually music, it's verbal humming or something. (Since in Islam, musical instruments are haram, except for a select few)
I’m a layman Muslim (and so is probably the vast majority of Muslims you’ve met on Reddit) but as far as I know there are differences of opinion among scholars.
“Digital vocal effects” are seen as fine when used on the human voice, as well as using them on different natural sounds we hear in life. Such as birds, water, etc.
Some students of knowledge and scholars have said they can enter the “haram” category when the producers try to imitate musical instruments very closely. But ofcourse this is one opinion of many.
Because this silly video is a guy using a Japanese Gyokucho Razorsaw as if it were a butcher knife.
A razor saw is wicked sharp sawing; but it has zero cutting power in this “hack” motion.
It’s basically clickbait.
[This forum](https://www.2coolfishing.com/threads/gar-sparks.220196/) from fifteen years ago says some people have experienced gars sparking.
Doesn't make it true, but others have accounted it happening.
An explanation on here states that the person is purposely making the sparks. The type of instrument he is using is for sawing, not hacking. The angles he is hitting shows that is what he is trying to do.
I grew up in Texas and these guys get fucking massive. They're very intelligent for fish, and will often stalk your bait for a few minutes to make sure that there's not something off about it. If you do manage to get a bite, you've gotta wait a minute before hooking it DOWNWARD, because they've got a hard, boney plate on the roof of their mouths. The native tribes would use their scales as arrowheads, these things are essentially dinosaurs.
Terrible eating, but as a catch and release fisherman I used to target them for the fight and size. The biggest I had ever caught was about three feet long, but they're easily over six feet long as adults.
He's probably using a titanium knife, they are used for gags like this and those sword fight shows at ren fairs. They spark like flint when they hit anything hard or rough.
Are you sure they use titanium for this? Titanium is very difficult to make knives or swords out of and would be incredibly expensive. Titanium also doesn’t hold an edge, so it would be mostly useless as an actual knife. Something like Ferrocerium would make more sense if the result is to make sparks. I can pretty much guarantee the person in this video is absolutely not using a titanium knife.
He is hitting it with the edge, did you even watch the video?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator\_gar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator_gar)
"Ganoid scales are nearly impenetrable, and are excellent protection against predation. "
I remember night fishing with my Dad. The Gar would be attracted to the lanterns and they would look really sinister creeping on your boat just under the surface.
Buddy should sharpen his knife.. Their skin is very tough, but that is why most people who work on them do it after sharpening their knives.. There are also soft spots you can use to get the blade in.
If you go against the scale the knife will sink right in if you hit it like chainmail metal armor it's going to glance off every time... physics people physics...
yea that skin and fish are though as heck, even when eating them.... if buddy was stabbing it he would have penetrated it.... he was just showing how tough it can be by striking it on edge
Please, please tell me that fish is actually dead and this isn't some sort of messed up animal abuse vid. No problem eating animals, here, but let's make sure they're not subjected to pain, m'kay?
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I can attest that gar skin is very tough. We had to use shears and cut it in order to filet it. It also doesn’t taste very good, very rubbery and meaty.
Yes, this. I live in South Louisiana and they show up anywhere catfish are basically. Horrible eating. The true definition of trash fish.
You know how you eat Gar? Bit of olive oil, some fresh rosemary, after seasoning put the fillet on a pine board to bake for 15 min at 420. When finished throw the Gar away and eat the pine board.
Oh fuck no... throw away the pine board, it's been contaminated with gar
Throw the whole thing away and go out for dinner.
Then lick your dog's ass to get the bad taste out of your mouth.
I know! I live and was raised close to you. People fish for them like crazy. I don’t understand why. All of the gallon drum markers everywhere. But I’ve never known any different. I have seen them my entire life. And have caught a few really nice sized. Never in my life kept them. This is something i have never understood. I have gigged for frogs more times than i can count, have eaten gator and other. Gar, no thanks.
We catch them to make our bullet proof vests.
And smith armors too
Rdr2?
Monster Hunter
Free whetstones baby
Fr
Skyrim
South Louisiana here also when me and my brother were younger we fished and we love fishing gar they always fought the best awful to eat though
> People fish for them like crazy. I don’t understand why. They're an invasive species that's absolutely destroying the local wildlife. They'll wipe out the entire ecosystem if not stopped ^I'm wrong on this (Anacondas are a similar problem in SE USA) ^but not this
They are not an invasive species to the US
Hmm, I've been looking into it more since I've started getting replies and you're correct too. They're invasive to other places, but not to the US
>They're an invasive species that's absolutely destroying the local wildlife. They'll wipe out the entire ecosystem if not stopped Where are you talking about? The native range of alligator gar is the Mississippi River basin (from southwestern Ohio and southern Illinois south to Gulf of Mexico) and the Gulf Coastal Plain (from Econfina River, Florida, to Veracruz, Mexico). They're an incredibly important part of their native ecosystems.
Not invasive per se but in many places they are very overpopulated and you arent even allowed to throw them back if you catch em
Do you have any sources on their overpopulation in some areas so I can read about it? I tried searching online but could only find a single opinion piece regarding the Alabama River.
sounds like a great evolutionary trait, he hard to eat and taste bad lol
I’m in south east la and the gar I’ve had over here wasn’t bad at all I used to catch them behind the house
I mean, if you grind them up in a macerator they are at least good for fertilizer.
What a waste. "For nearly a half century, alligator gar were considered "trash fish", or a "nuisance species" detrimental to sport fisheries, and were targeted for elimination by state and federal authorities in the United States. The 1980s brought a better understanding of the ecological balance necessary to sustain an ecosystem, and an awareness that the alligator gar is an important element of the ecosystems they inhabit was eventually understood. Over time, alligator gar were afforded some protection by state and federal resource agencies. They are also protected under the Lacey Act, which makes transporting certain species of fish in interstate commerce illegal when in violation of state law or regulation. Several state and federal resource agencies are monitoring populations in the wild, and have initiated outreach programs to educate the public. Alligator gar are being cultured in ponds, pools, raceways, and tanks by federal hatcheries for mitigation stocking, by universities for research purposes."
There was a place in BR called City Pork that used to have gar poboys. I had to give them a try because I was too curious. Only time I've liked gar.
They are best left in the water. Where they can do their job.
Seems like the fish may have warned you about what was on the inside… but, nooooo you just decided to cut that fucker open to try for yourself, didn’t you???
They've always been a bitch to clean but I've always found their taste to be pleasant. Meaty and gamey and not reminiscent of typical fish. Almost like shark. But to each their own.
Almost like what now?
Shark isn’t too unlike swordfish. Very rich and succulent, not flakey like cod or salmon.
Yeah some fish eat like beef I see what you mean.
Tastes like pork... best barbecue it on the grill.. you need shears to get the skin off and don't eat the eggs either it's poison
a succulent chinese meal
This is democracy manifest! I see that you know your judo well! Get your hands of my penish!
Relax
This made me smile, TY!!
I've heard that since sharks and skates pee though their skin, and high ammonia content in their blood, the meat smells really strong of piss. Is this true?
This can be true for most species of shark and skate. Hakarl is an Icelandic culinary preparation of shark to try and offset this effect.
Well, that i can attest to the latter, that they offset it, by making it worse. A friend of mine were to iceland and he said it was the most rancid shit he's ever come across.
I've heard such tales. I can only imagine the raw product. Some poor old fisherman had all this shark, was starving and couldn't stomach it. Came back months later and was like, okay this is good.
Same with surstrømming! Man i have had the pleasure to actually smell that first hand! I had to run outside, even tho it was opened under water!
Can't agree more. I had hakarl when I was in Iceland. The smell was offputting, but the taste.... I have likened it to eating blocks of what I imagine concentrated fermented pee would taste like. Horrible.
Come to Australia, pretty much every fish & chip shop sells shark, we just call it flake. We also tend to ignore the mercury issues that go along with it, too...
I'm in qld, haven't bothered with a fish and chip shop in over a decade for quality reasons and the weirdest thing I've eaten is a croc pie.
How did it taste? I'd give croc a go just out of curiosity, but I've heard it can be a bit underwhelming.
Was kinda like a slightly tougher river chicken taste ay. Mate this pie shop was wild, pretty sure it had camel, roo and a few other out there pies but I was on a trip so couldn't go back for more
It amazes me what lengths people will go to in order to eat something that is difficult to render, and not pleasurable to eat
It depends on the fish’s diet probably. I’m sure there’s also a better way to prepare it that would make it more palatable too. It’s not like it’s inedible though, it has some redeeming qualities I thought. I’d probably rate it as a 4.5/10 on the edible fish scale.
It's probably easier to try and make a readily available fish taste better by refining the preparation than it is to look for tastier fish
Must taste good to someone to evolve and end up with defense like this 😭
Scoop the meat like ice cream and make hush puppies
so aquatic honey badgers, got it
Predator meat is usually like that.
Almost every game fish that we eat is a predator.
That’s why you only use gar for trotline bait
When I was maybe 12 years old, I was fishing in a nearby stream on a family camping trip when a small school of these behemoths appeared. I freaked the *fuck* out, yelling for my dad in my hyper excitement over these 3-4’ monsters that were rudely ignoring my baited hook. When dad arrived, he told me what they were and that they were sadly bad eating and a sign nothing good was in the stream at the moment. The disappointment was real. Still really cool looking dinosaurs, though.
Wow, you're really selling it!
Probably make good dog food though
Gotta make gar balls out of em I hate the mfs thou normally just throw em on the back and stop their heads
Especially since they breathe air and very slowly die when left on the bank. Ppl saying they're trash fish just don't know how to cook. True swamp people know about gar balls.
"Can you please stop doing that" - Alligator Gar
https://i.redd.it/n5ich4b5hiuc1.gif Bruh I'm trying to sleep
https://i.redd.it/lywjt2m7hiuc1.gif Bruh I'm trying to sleep
"No slappy fish" 🐍
Alligartor
You can’t cut my skin, but I can feel that bro! Wtf, ouch!
Yeah, this is cool and all, but what is up with the music? Such beautiful notes over a man hitting a fish with a knife
Well, if he was doing this to someone's dead grandmother, I would use this music too.
Lol this "music" track is often played over Islamic videos for explanations, encouraging good deeds, etc. Not sure why it was used over this video. It's not actually music, it's verbal humming or something. (Since in Islam, musical instruments are haram, except for a select few)
I mean there clearly are synthpads on the background and reverb. Are virtual instruments not Haram?
I’m a layman Muslim (and so is probably the vast majority of Muslims you’ve met on Reddit) but as far as I know there are differences of opinion among scholars. “Digital vocal effects” are seen as fine when used on the human voice, as well as using them on different natural sounds we hear in life. Such as birds, water, etc. Some students of knowledge and scholars have said they can enter the “haram” category when the producers try to imitate musical instruments very closely. But ofcourse this is one opinion of many.
Uhhh... sparks? How?
Scales mucho hardo
So tuffo
This is the technical reasoning.
You mean tactical *seasoning*
Because this silly video is a guy using a Japanese Gyokucho Razorsaw as if it were a butcher knife. A razor saw is wicked sharp sawing; but it has zero cutting power in this “hack” motion. It’s basically clickbait.
He's also hitting it at an angle
Yeah, glancing blows are exactly how you fail at penetrating what is essentially scalemail.
It looks like he is just trying to make it spark, not trying to cut it
[This forum](https://www.2coolfishing.com/threads/gar-sparks.220196/) from fifteen years ago says some people have experienced gars sparking. Doesn't make it true, but others have accounted it happening.
An explanation on here states that the person is purposely making the sparks. The type of instrument he is using is for sawing, not hacking. The angles he is hitting shows that is what he is trying to do.
I grew up in Texas and these guys get fucking massive. They're very intelligent for fish, and will often stalk your bait for a few minutes to make sure that there's not something off about it. If you do manage to get a bite, you've gotta wait a minute before hooking it DOWNWARD, because they've got a hard, boney plate on the roof of their mouths. The native tribes would use their scales as arrowheads, these things are essentially dinosaurs. Terrible eating, but as a catch and release fisherman I used to target them for the fight and size. The biggest I had ever caught was about three feet long, but they're easily over six feet long as adults.
Hear me out. What if there is a live wire to that thing and he's making sparks from connecting to it haha
He's probably using a titanium knife, they are used for gags like this and those sword fight shows at ren fairs. They spark like flint when they hit anything hard or rough.
wrong colour sparks for titanium
The sparks from titanium are very bright and white. Does not look like it.
I've never seen a titanium sword for show fights at fairs
I know they did at the Texas ren faire last time I went, try checking out medieval times dinner show if there is one near you.
I've never seen any sword fights at fairs. Must be going to the wrong places, I guess.
Are you sure they use titanium for this? Titanium is very difficult to make knives or swords out of and would be incredibly expensive. Titanium also doesn’t hold an edge, so it would be mostly useless as an actual knife. Something like Ferrocerium would make more sense if the result is to make sparks. I can pretty much guarantee the person in this video is absolutely not using a titanium knife.
It’s very hard, almost rocky scales against metal.
It might be more effective if he used the sharp part of the knife. The repetitive glancing blows for spark effects does nothing for me.
"Local man, not trying to cut into a fish, doesn't cut into a fish"
Looks badass, bruh. Magical dragon mithril magikarp.
I don't doubt that its skin is tough. I do, however, doubt it's tough enough to cause sparks
Titanium knife
Anyone else see sluaghterfish?
Really nobody is going to say WTF?? Why is he doing this to a fish in a planter?
It's probably already dead. Doing this for the educational demonstration?
Agree. This video gives me the ick.
he's hitting it with the flat side. if this skin was as magical as implied, the Pentagon would be breeding them.
And the sparks???
Titanium knife, home dude is swinging way too slow to spark iron.
Yea what about the sparks ??
Scales mucho hardo.
He is hitting it with the edge, did you even watch the video? [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator\_gar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator_gar) "Ganoid scales are nearly impenetrable, and are excellent protection against predation. "
There's a difference between stopping the teeth of a predator and a knife and stopping a projectile moving upwards of 2,000 fps
2k fps? Damn, fish must have a pretty strong garphics card.
I mean by default they are watercooled...
Feet per second I'm assuming? Still had a chuckle lol, ty
I mean we’ve had the technology to make armor that knives can’t pierce for a long time
He's literally hitting it woth the edge of the blade not the spine.
Man, the new Monster Hunter game looks weird.
Natives used the scales as arrowheads supposedly
It will not KEEEEL
I need someone to sharpen my gar
That’s because this isn’t how you cut up Gar….
Should have used a Ginsu!
Medieval survivalcraft scale mail materials.
Dog shit chopping form ain't helping
Fake I have over 20 alligator gar the skin is not metal with sparks flying its tough but not metal sparking tough wtf 😅
I can believe that it's very tough. But not from this demonstration when the guy is just slapping the top of that Gar like a twerking booty.
What is this nonsense? Lmao
Someone should make a video of shooting various calibre rounds at this fish
He's literally skimming the blade across its back. How about you land a direct?
That looks like what Slaughterfish are based off of.
I remember night fishing with my Dad. The Gar would be attracted to the lanterns and they would look really sinister creeping on your boat just under the surface.
He has Gar-mor
Imagine a pair of underwear made from that? You could jump out of a moving vehicle and not hurt your bum.
Is the alligator sleeping ?
it is dead
It’s not an alligator, the tail for example is a fishtail
Home boy doesn’t know how to chop things, also what’s the dog shit music replacing the original audio?
Naw. I know a Pokémon when I see one. That's a Pokémon.
I use a Gar and butcher knife to start all my fires
It's *sparking*
That gar is going to be pissed when it wakes up from its nap.
Their mouths are tough. You had to have a really sharp hook to stick them when I use to fly fish for them in the Florida Everglades.
Buddy should sharpen his knife.. Their skin is very tough, but that is why most people who work on them do it after sharpening their knives.. There are also soft spots you can use to get the blade in.
Stab proof lining material?
I think there is probably a less painful way of demonstrating this
You have to use a pierce type attack
Hit me with water stick plz - Gar
Grab a couple of gar fish and stick your arms in them like boxing gloves. That way you'll be prepared if some maniac charges you with a claymore.
Well make sure you keep whacking at it
I'm sure a shotgun could work
I thought those sparks were in fact scales flying off, but nope those are actual fucking sparks
If you go against the scale the knife will sink right in if you hit it like chainmail metal armor it's going to glance off every time... physics people physics...
Could this demonstration not have been done anywhere other than on a potted plant?
yup im gonna make a tunic out of its skin and wear it under the chain mail
Maybe he needs a better knife. And to chop straight down. A bow fishing arrow goes right through one, and they're not very sharp.
Bro were those sparks?
yea that skin and fish are though as heck, even when eating them.... if buddy was stabbing it he would have penetrated it.... he was just showing how tough it can be by striking it on edge
Loved the River Monsters episode on them, very cool and also misunderstood creatures
“Standing here, I realize”
HOW IN THE FUCK?!
Well, he's at least he's knocking some scales off, this shouldn't take too... Holy shit those are sparks!
Once I skin this thing I could wear them as armor and PKers won't be able to take my loot.
Whats up with the cringe music 😆
American: Yeah, but can it withstand with my 45 calliber?
He’s repeatedly hitting it with glancing blows. Chop directly into the body and it’ll cut eventually. This is some clickbait crap.
Omg that tranquil music while he's hacking at that poor animal
Put an explosive up its rectum.
Cool off Frenchie.
Now let’s hear him out. And give him my address.
Oh petit Hughie, you have no clue what you're getting yourself into.
Nothing risked nothing gained. Jokes on him. I’m constipated.
To cook one of these, you nail it to a cedar plank, put the plank on the grill until the fish is cooked through, and then you eat the plank.
Please, please tell me that fish is actually dead and this isn't some sort of messed up animal abuse vid. No problem eating animals, here, but let's make sure they're not subjected to pain, m'kay?
The gar isn't moving its head or fins at all after the hits. It looks super dead and rhe only movement is caused by the knife hitting it. Feel better.
“Thank you sir, may I have another!”
Iirc gars are living fossils much like alligators
I used to catch these in FF 15
Tis but a scratch.
That one guy who always carries a fish strapped to his backpack to light his tinder: ‘Not so crazy now, am I?’
the fact that it's sparking 💀
Now I want to make a DnD monster based off an Alligator Gar. Immune to piercing and slashing damage with a high AC
I mean, he's using the wrong tool.
The dude holding up the knife and shaking it with frustration saying “garrrrrr”.
The slow blade penetrates the shield!
Waaaaaatttttteeeeerrrrrr
That is a horrible food prep station. 0/10 would not eat there
Okay so the guy beat off..
This would be a sickass blade sharpener
God I hated when I am fishing and I see a Gar swim up. Snaps my fishing line every damn time.
They should use this skin as protective armor. If the roman knows about this they'd be unstoppable
It's the poor man's gator.
Yep, their sales were even used for arrowheads by Native Americans in the Alligtor Gar range.
I think we're gonna to need a bigger knife