Williams said the fish was barely alive when he came upon it, and it died soon after. We couldnt kill a little gator this year.. We landed there in the bottom of the boat together and I was so tired I couldnt move. We just followed the fish with the boat because I wanted my $20 lure back.. The state record for the heaviest caught is 302 pounds. Giant Alligator Gar: Trash Fish or Trophy Gamefish. It had been a good morning, the boat was full of fish., But as Williams began pulling up that last net, which was set in about eight feet of water 75 yards off shore, it seemed to hang up on something. It is the largest . We LGBs Need to Divorce the TQI+s, Convicting Trump 'Not Going to Be Difficult' After Meadows News: Kirschner, Lake Mead's Water Level Rises as Hilary Brings Heavy Rainfall, Trump Co-Defendants Get Conditions for Staying Out of Jail, How Donald Trump's Saving Himself From Prison, Three Named Storms Emerge in Atlantic in 24 Hours. "It actually turned the boat around in a circle when we were fighting it." Cass Anderson is the Editor-in-Chief of BroBible. The problem at the moment was trying to get the massive fish in the boat. Facebook users took to comments under the photograph of Hefner, amazed at the large catch. I really wanted to keep the fish alive and donate it to an aquarium, but it took so long to get back and the fish died on the way. The fishs age is estimated to be between 50 and 70 years. The largest known alligator gar, caught in 2011 in Mississippi, was 327 pounds and estimated to be at least 95 years old, TPWD said. It felt almost like I had hooked into slow-moving vehicle," he said. Ive observed high early-life growth rates of gar in these habitats unlike anywhere else.. Keith was using a medium-action baitcaster setup lined with 15-pound test, which is perfect for largemouths and reds, but not quite heavy enough for a giant gator gar. By Sage Marshall | Published Apr 6, 2023 10:00 AM EDT Conservation Fishing A giant gar netted in 2011 has yet to be topped. ", Highlights: Texas stuns California in Little League World Series, 90 percent chance of cyclone forming in Gulf in next 48 hours, Houston shatters 114-year heat record as tropical cyclone forms, TX electric vehicle drivers billed an extra $200 under new law, 56-year-old burger joint gets lifeline after social media plea. They are also a popular catch with anglers, who will often try to catch large ones, competing to break records. Theyre out there. The fish was estimated to be somewhere between 50 and 70 years old. I catch gar on a pretty regular basis, but theyre usually around three or four feet or so, 30 to 50 pounds, just average-size gar. This gar, however, was far from average. one Facebook user said. All rights reserved. A group of friends caught more than they bargained for at the start of Alabama's alligator hunting season. Many have been caught with Kirkland, who Weston has been fishing with for five years. Big alligator gar are apex predators in their respective ecosystems, says David. They are found throughout the United States and particularly throughout the South. The fish replaces the current Alabama state record of 151 pounds, 9 ounces. Pictures of the giant 7 foot 8 inch alligator gar caught by a fisherman using a bow and arrow have gone viral on Facebook. Check out this pending world record fish: A post shared by Capt Kirk Kirkland (@captkirkkirkland). Reaching weights of up to 300 pounds, the alligator gar can stretch to lengths over nine feet. But the reptile, though hooked and lined in multiple places, sat on the bottom of the slough for an hour and a half. According to the Florida Museum, Gars also have a highly vascularized swim bladder connected to the pharynx by a pneumatic duct. Alligator gar feed primarily on fish, but are known to eat ducks and other water birds. I thought, Lord, dont let him put up a fight, because hes going to hurt me. Kirkland's advice for landing a record breaking alligator gar? The all-tackle fishing world record for alligator gar was a 279-pound fish caught in Texas back in 1951. Tuckers fish broke the previous alligator gar record by more than six pounds. Art Weston and Captain Kirk Kirkland had a scale handy to weigh their massive alligator gar. The fact that Capt. It took me a good long while. As soon as his boat was unloaded, Williams took the gar to his brothers house. He sent his photographs and story to Field and Stream and this truly was a legitimate dinosaur. The second biggest alligator gar to date was a 279-pound specimen caught in Texas back in 1951.. So it just worked out perfectly this trip.". | Brent Crawford Brent Crawford wasn't even fishing when a friend alerted him to a "car-sized" fish in a canal near his house on Lake Corpus Christi in 2012. When the fish arrived at the museum it caused quite a stir. We still didnt know how big it really was. On January 1, 1951, Bill Valverde caught a 279-pound alligator gar in the Rio Grande. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. It's just delicious. BroBible is the #1 place on the internet for the very best content from the worlds of sports, culture, gear, high tech, and more. Alligator Gar usually measure a few feet in length and under 50 pounds but he quickly realized this was a prehistoric beast when it was virtually impossible to get in the 16-foot aluminum boat: I was almost finished for the day and had caught about 90 percent of my weekly quota, says Williams. This requires keeping the fish alive in a cooler or baitwell on a boat. "When it comes up, I knew it was big, but I didn't even remotely know it was a state record," Dees told Outdoor Alabama, the official website of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). . Awesome looking fish! Art Weston's recent alligator gar catch measured 90.5 inches in length and 45.5 inches wide. I rarely post alligator gar stories. The hype that followed the hunt made going to work nearly impossible for Stokes, she says. With her husband holding the light, she stood ready with the shotgun. The behemoth 251-pound alligator gar would beat the existing IGFA fishing world record for the 80-pound line class by a whopping 60 pounds. It gets its name because of its hard, boney, interlocking scales, protruding snout, and fang-like teeth. Since this fish was caught in a net it won't touch that record . Alligator gars are often referred to as "living fossils" because their fossil record dates back nearly 100 million years. Captain Kirkland told Travis Hall of Field & Stream they had a certified crane scale and a game wench on hand, and we recorded it and released it alive. This was a crucial step in certifying the pending world record alligator gar. The first thing that came to my mind was, Wow, thats a big foot. This led us to wonder: Can this world record ever be topped? Rio Grande is a 3034 kilometres long river shared by Mexico and the United States. Nine years ago I netted one that I think was almost as big as this one. At first, Dees thought he had hooked a redfish, but when the animal finally surfaced the pair realized it was an alligator garand a large one at that, measuring around seven feet in length. In total, this alligator gar weighed 327 pounds and measured 8-feet 5 1/8 inches long with a 47-inch girth. He also told Field & Stream they were using cut carp for bait and they fought the fish for 25 minutes on rod and reel before they were able to lasso the fish and get it to the scale. Do you have a question about alligator gars? Prosecutors, Glenn Kirschner argued, might be able to call "exclusively" Republican witnesses against Donald Trump. The catch is just one of six pending IGFA records that Weston qualified for during the recent multi-day fishing trip, he said. Fishing The alligator gar's range extends from the Florida Panhandle to Mexico and north into the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri River drainages. But there was a problem: Williams weighed 170 pounds. Subscribe to OL+ for our best feature stories and photography. The gar was caught on the Trinity River near Huntsville, Texas. The alligator gar on the boat. On Sunday, with the help of the "world's best alligator gar guide" Captain Kirk Kirkland, Weston was able to catch and release a gargantuan 251-poundalligator gar that would beat the current International Game Association (IGFA)fishing world record for the 80-pound line class by a whopping 60 pounds. Once targeted, they stalk their prey until they are close enough to attack. The fish tipped the scales at 162 pounds. He immediately rolled over just belly up. a gar caught in Mississippi weighing 327 pounds broke the world record. It got real hectic so we try not to take [the gator] places anymore., The taxidermist found a 3-year-old doe, two squirrels, a duck, and part of a cow or calf in the alligators belly. Alligator gars of this size are usually a few decades old. Alligator gar can grow up to 10-feet-long, and are said to have weighed over 300 pounds in the past. It wrecked my net and got away. Let us know via nature@newsweek.com. Some said it must have been very old to grow to such a large size. Its believed the fish was a female. Keith Dees and his son, Huntley were fishing in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, which feeds into the Gulf of Mexico in the southwestern corner of the state, this past Thanksgiving when they made the record-breaking catch. "I can barely hold on to him," Moore says in the video. "It's like walking a T-rexthis is a massive fish.". "original catch and release alligator gar fishing guide. "We were able to measureher with all the requirements for the world record and then were happy because we were able to release her alive and well," Weston said. Kris Millgate And thankfully, it didnt really fight that much., But there was a problem: Williams weighed 170 pounds. And the best part of this story is that the fish was released alive and healthy back into the water. Normally, a fish would need to be taken to a certified scale at a marina, or a shipping center. I thought another big redfish hit, Keith said in an interview with The Call News. The second biggest alligator gar to date was a 279-pound specimen caught in Texas back in 1951., Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, Meet the Potoo: This Cartoon-Like Bird Actually Exists, These Bats Make Epic 100km Trips for Food Every Night, Battle of the Birds: Hawk Tries to Kill Cuckoo, An Intellectually Stimulating Childhood Makes Jumping Spiders Smarter. And thankfully, it didnt really fight that much.. December 28, 2021 11:50 am ET Two 18-year-olds with experience fishing the Buffalo Bayou in Houston hooked into what they first thought might be an alligator snapping turtle, but it ended up. "When he hit the boat, we cut up like two schoolgirls, like nobody is going to believe this happened," Dees said. They called an Alabama game warden to learn if it was legal to keep the fish. published 13 May 2022 The catch was "an excellent specimen." Educator and outdoorsman Payton Moore documented his capture of the enormous fish, which measured over 8 feet (2.4 meters) long. But gator hunting was a new interest. In Texas, authorities have imposed a "one-per-day bag limit" on the species. The animal's name refers to its distinctive alligator-like snout and sharp teeth. These animals may seem passive, floating languidly beneath the surface of the water, but they are really just sitting in wait for their next meal. The largest alligator gar officially recorded was inadvertently caught in the net of fisherman Kenny Williams of Vicksburg, Mississippi, while he was fishing the oxbow lakes of the Mississippi River on February 14, 2011. The current IGFA all-tackle world record for the species is a 279-pound monster that was caught from the Rio Grande in Texas by angler Bill Valver in 1951. Man Catches Rare Golden Fish Whose Unusual Color Is Caused by Mutation, Massive bluefin tuna caught in dramatic video: "epic experience", Trans People Are an Inseparable Part of the LGBTQ Community, It's Time to End This Gender Madness. When he eventually did get the gar into the boat and back to the docks then it became a massive task just to weight this beast. I'm thinking I'm about to get a bunch of freezer meat.". Their most distinctive characteristics include a torpedo-shaped body, short broad snout, and rows of sharp teeth with a double row on their upper jaw. After graduating from college, he worked as a freelance journalist for two years before returning to the F&S team full-time in 2021 as the brands News Editor. I talked to Brent Crawford, the bowfisherman pictured here, to get the full story behind a gar that could have gone over 400 pounds and easily broken the Texas state record. Ariana Garcia joined Chron in 2021. I kept trying to hoist him in the boat and he kept slipping back into the net. This went on for almost a half-hour before Williams finally managed to get both hands under the gars gill plates and with the last of his strength, pulled the fish into the boat. 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