The 300-plus pounder was caught in a commercial fisherman’s net. Here are 10 of the biggest alligator gar ever caught. It seems to be working: Decades-old alligator gar that top 200 pounds are far from rare, and 300-pounders-once found mostly in fishing lore and dusty old record books-are increasingly turning up in the social media feeds of anglers and guides who pursue the sharp-toothed giants for their fight and-conventional wisdom be damned-for their flavor. 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. Historically considered a “trash fish” by many, alligator gar are becoming an increasingly targeted species among recreational anglers. 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.
Second only to white sturgeon among freshwater fish when it comes to sheer heft, these slow-growing fish can take half a century to reach a trophy length of 7 feet, and specimens topping 8 feet have been estimated at 80 to 90 years old. In reality, alligator gar are shy, docile creatures that can live for decades. This prehistoric-looking creature named for its resemblance to the American alligator could have been dreamed up by a Hollywood special-effects master: the long snout crammed with double rows of needle-like teeth, the protective covering of interlocking scales prized by Native Americans for armor and arrowheads, and the sleek, torpedo-shaped body all appear purpose-built for combat. The term “river monster” seems made for the alligator gar.
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