THE 



FRESH-WATER GARS 



nr 



HE gar family of fishes possess but 

 little interest to anglers, the smaller 

 species, known as billed-eel, billfish, 

 -^^- gar-pike, and needle fish, being great 

 pests when fishing for black bass with a fly on 

 inland streams. Fortunately for the rod-and-line 

 fishermen of northern waters, the alligator gar, a 

 huge, muscular fish, useless as food and reaching a 

 length of more than ten feet, is mostly confined in 

 habitat to the south, yet is sometimes found in 

 the Mississippi and other rivers as far north as St. 

 Louis and Cincinnati. The species found most 

 frequently in New England waters is the one 

 known as the long-nosed gar, billfish, and common 

 gar-pike (hepisosteus osseus, signifying " bony " and 

 "scales"). This species is exceedingly voracious, 

 feeding mostly on the surface. It may be known 

 on sight by the length of its snout, which is a little 

 more than twice the length of the rest of the head, 

 by its pale olive color on the back, and slightly 

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