Sometimes when you’re swimming in a lake or a river you’ll feel a fish brush up against your leg or dart away from your foot as you plod forward on the sand.

Do you ever imagine what’s actually down there?

I always picture a trout, even if I’m not in a stream. On my darker days I’ll think maybe it was a Muskie. But not this:

Next time I feel something in the water, I’m going to scream “Longnose gar!”

And don’t think you’re safe just because you stay in relatively shallow water. The longnose gar can gulp air at the surface, allowing it to live in “hot, shallow water where most other fish can’t.”

Hooray!

We found this along the St. Croix River at Afton State Park. Freja, our dog, sniffed it but then didn’t want anything to do with it… gar isn’t good eatin’. She’s a carp gal all the way.

Mind your toes!