Discover the Largest Alligator Gar Ever Caught

The alligator gar is the largest member of the gar family and one of the biggest freshwater fish found in North America. It’s also a living legend! Over 100 million years, this “primitive fish” evolved into a voracious ambush predator. These bony freshwater monsters are the ultimate survivalists. They are capable of living in environments where most fish would quickly suffocate and die.

While they may appear a little scary, alligator gars serve an important ecological function. This makes them worthy of both protection and admiration. Let’s take a look at the largest alligator gar on record, and find out how these incredible fish have survived for over 100 million years.

Built to Survive

Shaped like a torpedo, the alligator gar’s olive-green body bears an uncanny resemblance to the American alligator. Their long, broad snouts look just like an alligator’s and are just as dangerous. They possess two rows of teeth along their upper jaw, which enables them to effectively prevent their prey from escaping. Serrated, bone-hard scales cover their bodies from head to tail, making them almost invincible in the water.

Alligator gars typically measure around six feet long and weigh close to 100 pounds. However, they grow exceptionally slowly, and it takes years for them to sexually mature. As a result, their lifespan is relatively long at over 50 years. However, some individuals are believed to have lived into their 90s. Their long lifespan implies that older specimens may measure significantly larger than their younger kin.

As an euryhaline fish, the alligator gar can live in habitats of different salinities. They can not only tolerate freshwater lakes, but also brackish swamps and salt-water estuaries near the coasts. While they have gills, they also evolved a vascular swim bladder lung. This adaptation allows them to breathe both air and underwater. The alligator gar is an armored tank with teeth, designed to thrive in any environment it chooses to call home. 

Masters of Ambush Tactics

At first glance, the alligator gar does not seem like a highly adaptable killing machine. They spend most of their time floating just beneath the surface of the water. They rarely move with urgency. In reality, their sluggish act is a facade to obscure their power. Like alligators, alligator gars are opportunistic hunters. They are more than willing to wait for oblivious prey to wander too close. Once their prey is in striking distance, they will lunge forward, grab on, and not let go. 

Although they are primarily piscivores, alligator gars will eat almost anything they can catch. This includes turtles, small mammals, crabs, and waterfowl. Since they are not picky eaters, they have no qualms about scavenging for food. Alligator gars occur throughout the southern United States. They can be found in Oklahoma, Kentucky, Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. In addition, their range extends south into Mexico as far as Veracruz.

The Largest Alligator Gar Ever Caught

The largest alligator gar was caught in Mississippi, completely by accident. On February 14, 2011, Vicksburg commercial fisher Kenny Williams was preparing to wrap up for the day. It was Valentine’s Day, and he had just finished bringing in a haul of buffalo fish. As he was pulling up his last net from the waters of Chotard Lake, his net caught on something. Thinking the net merely snagged on a log, Williams pulled up the net. To his surprise, tangled in the net lay a massive alligator gar.

The fish was barely alive at that point, but Williams still struggled to drag the giant into his 16-foot aluminum boat. It took him nearly 30 minutes to drag the fish on board. The humongous fish measured 8 feet, 5 inches long, and weighed 327 pounds, with a girth of about 47 inches. This officially cemented his claim of the largest alligator gar ever caught. Experts estimated the gar’s age was between 50-70 years old, but one report suggested the fish could be up to 95 years old. The fish was donated to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.

To date, no alligator gar catch has managed to break Williams’s record. However, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a giant fish out there, lurking in the shadows, just waiting to be spotted by some intrepid naturalist or lucky angler.