It was also close to shattering a rod-and-line record catch in North America. Efforts to release the fish unfortunately failed. "It literally pulled our boat around in circles," Weston said. "But nowadays, people are more interested in catching different species of fish and have a bucket list. They're very rare too, you know, theyre weird looking but pretty cool, Guerrero said. The Texas record for largest alligator gar (not pictured)weighed 302 pounds when it was caught in 1953, according to the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife. "I definitely went out there with a big fish in mind, but I was very surprised at how big that fish turned out to be," he said. Then he motored slowly back to shore with only 4 inches of freeboard. Moore isn't divulging where he caught the fish for its protection. Four weighed between 75 and 100 pounds. He also used a 100-pound wire at the end of his line to ensure the robust and heavy fish didnt bite it in half. but several large water systems such as the Choke Canyon Reservoir and portions of the Trinity River have thousands of alligator gars. Critically endangered sawfish found with saws removed: "Cruel", Half of missing fisherman's body found after being eaten by sharks, Dolphin calf in critical condition rescued by police, Trans People Are an Inseparable Part of the LGBTQ Community, It's Time to End This Gender Madness. Daugherty says its the goal of TPWD to maintain the population of Texas largest freshwater fish, andrestrictionsare in place to make sure overfishing and over harvesting dont happen. "It's very, very uncommon to catch one at 250 or plus is like less than 1%," Weston said. The largest documented alligator gar we could verify this 327-pounder that measured 8-feet, 5-inches long with a girth of 47 inches. Trinity River of Texas is widely regarded as the world's best alligator gar fishing location, putting the biggest and best of the gar species right in the middle of Texas. Payton Moore, a conservation educator and fisherman, says the massive 8-foot-2-inch alligator gar weighed an estimated 300 pounds. [18/18] Wearing a t-shirt with he and his wife Beverly Rasnick pictured, Odell Allen . Theyre not dangerous. The alligator gar video currently has over 160,000 views. Not only does Valverdes catch top IGFAs list, its also the heaviest documented freshwater fish ever taken on a rod-and-reel in Texas, andafter more than 70 years in the booksthe states longest-standing freshwater rod-and-reel record. " YouTube fisherman is kind of the unofficial. Current World Record Alligator Gar: 327lb Mississippi MONSTER In May 2021, less than a year after guiding Blasingame to his monster, Meshell took first place in the annual bowfishing South Texas Gar Tournament with a 210-pound alligator gar of his own. I caught it using cut carp for bait and the battle lasted 25 minutes until Captain Kirk Kirkland was able to lasso it, Weston tells Field & Stream. "Which means with your hands, it's like baby hair you can pull it and the line would break.". Jakob Hals and crew head down to the Trinity river in Texas to fish Alligator Gar.Watch Jakob catch Gar with In-Depth Outdoors at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYU2l5mcYrcTo read the full report on the texas adventure visit http://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/reports/alligatorgar/--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Website: http://www.northwoodsangling.comFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/northwoodsfishingInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/northwoodsangling/ Here are 10 of the biggest alligator gar ever caught. For this Texas angler, this prehistoric-looking fish is an excellent part of natural history that deserves protection. Even among the four species of gar that occur in Texas longnose . Fishing was something that the 32-year-old man from Sugar Land, Texas, a suburb of Houston, would do from time to time growing up. Heavy liftin': Texas alligator gar records Bowfishing: 290 pounds, 96 inches long - Harvested on July 8, 2001, from the Trinity River by Marty McClellan. On January 1, 1951, Bill Valverde caught a 279-pound alligator gar in the Rio Grande. They've been around, the fossil record of ancestral gars have been around for 200-plus million years. This fish would have lived through the revolution of the 60s, would have lived through the rise and fall of The Beatles," Moore said. A man from Pennsylvania has told Newsweek about the incredible moment he caught a huge alligator gar in Texas' Trinity River. Commercial fisherman Kenny Williams discovered the fish tangled in a net hed put out for buffalo on Mississippis Lake Chotard on Valentines Day 2011. Kirk Kirkland. Pierce Jr. on January 1, 1953, in the Nueces River. People want to catch the biggest fish. The longnose gar, caught on the Coosa River near Rome, weighed over 31 pounds. It was not the 279-pound all-tackle record that was set in 1951, but it was the biggest one of any other IGFA record. The gar, which was measured 44 inches in girth, was caught near what Naegeli said was a ten-foot alligator. He said it is the largest such fish ever filmed alive in North America, but that's not an official record. The current world record for the 80-pound line class is a 191-pound gar caught in the same river in 2015. My body was just so tired, man. That was the case with a 7-foot, 9-inch alligator gar reeled in by Cleveland, Texas, angler Joseph Williams in April 2011. "I swim with them and handle them just about every day and have never been seriously injured.". READ MORE: Anglers wow Facebook by reeling in 11-foot tiger shark at Padre Island National Seashore. Weston told Field & Stream he caught the gar using carp for bait, and he and the fish battled it out for 25 minutes. "This fish could be anywhere from 60 to 90 years old," Naegeli wrote on his YouTube page. Learn More. He regularly takes people out on his jet boat along the Trinity River, serving as a guide for folks gunning for the largest fish in Texas. From there they removed the hook and snapped a picture before returning it to the water. It didnt take Hunter Blasingame long to hook up with a trophy alligator gar on a Fathers Day bowfishing trip with gar guide Scott Meshell in June 2020. World Record Catch The biggest alligator gar catch on record weighed 327 . Moore released the fish, but not before using a rope to restrain it long enough to measure its length (8-feet, 2-inches) and girth (48 inches), which he used to estimate the gars weight at 300 pounds. His cousin helped him drag the fish onto the levee. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. The Largest Alligator Gar Ever Caught in Texas - AZ Animals Unlike sturgeon, though, which are heavily protected in many parts of their North American range, the largest of the gar sub-species thrives across much of the South and lower Midwest. Alligators are known to be in the Trinity, which is their historic habitat. They are native to Texas, they're our largest freshwater fish. Published Jun 8, 2022 6:34 PM EDT. We had a certified crane scale and a game wench on hand, and we recorded it and released it alive.. Big Tex's massive size made him a legend and a big attraction at Gator Country. Later that summer, on July 4, Williams secured another record, catching an 88-inch alligator gar on the Trinity that set the Texas catch-and-release record for the species. Massive fish caught in Houston, Texas, bayou | khou.com Just $1 per month , The massive fish is one of several pending records that Art Weston logged during a multi-day outing on the Trinity River in Texas, By Monitoring the Gulf: Tropical Storm Harold | See latest track, Payton Moore is more than just an avid angler, Liberty County man nabs 8-foot alligator gar in Trinity River with 'pawn shop special' rod and reel, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Henry Martin with the Catching Dinosaurs Guide Service says they use special hooks when catching gar. They are tolerant to salt water and can be found most anywhere in Texas waters. 2023, Charter Communications, all rights reserved. "So, the struggle was keeping it in a tight spot to tire it out instead of letting it run back and forth, which had it been able to do that, I probably would have lost the fish.". This segment of the Trinity River has become one of the most popular destinations in the world to catch a large alligator gar, but concerns have been raised about the potential for overharvest and its risks to fishing quality, said TPWD Inland Fisheries Director Craig Bonds. At that point I was just trying to keep my feet on the ground, Crawford told theCorpus Christi Caller. Gar. The 251-pound gar was so big that it drug our boat around in a circle, says Weston. Weston, an experienced angler from Union, Kentucky, said it took about 25 minutes. According to newspaper accounts, he thought hed missed, only to realize why the line attached to his arrow wasnt moving: a coil of cord had fallen off the reel and lay at his feet. The section of the Trinity River from the I-30 bridge in Dallas, downstream to the I-10 bridge in Chambers County is one of the most popular places to catch a large alligator gar. Caught and released by rod-and-reel: (No weight available) 88 inches long, caught and released on July 4, 2011, from the Trinity River by Joseph Williams. The vast majority of IGFA records for the species were caught in Texas waters, with a handful of entries coming out of Louisiana. Woman arrested years later, Texas moves large floating barrier on US-Mexico border closer to American soil, A right-wing sheriffs group that challenges federal law is gaining acceptance around the country. The fish dove to the bottom after the shot, and Blasingame was able to work it to the surface and get a second arrow in. Brent Crawford wasnt even fishing when a friend alerted him to a car-sized fish in a canal near his house on Lake Corpus Christi in 2012. A 251-pound alligator gar caught in the Trinity River in Texas is up for consideration for a world record. "They're kind of an interesting fish," he said. Alligator gar a freshwater fish typically live in large rivers, reservoirs, coastal bays and backwaters, according to the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife. In Texas, which for decades has boasted some of the healthiest overall populations and most impressive individual specimens, wildlife officials instituted a one-per-day limit on alligator gar in 2009 and now manage the fish as a regulated non-game species. Steven Hill Most of the IGFA world records for alligator gar occurred in Texas. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or rights reserved. These fish are doing a service to the fish population at large, eating up the fish that people steer clear from. Anything more will lead to a decline of the biggest and oldest fish, leaving only the young, smaller gar. "I didnt want to kill the fish by waiting for a state scale to be brought out, so I didnt weigh it," Moore said. The fish is estimated to be 80 to 100 years old at that size, Weston said. SUGAR LAND, Texas - Ask YouTube angler Payton Moore about the biggest fish he has ever hooked, and he will tell you it was like walking a Tyrannosaurus rex in the muddy waters of a Texas bayou. At one point, Weston and Kirkland thought this catch might be an actual alligator because it was so strong.

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