Discover the Largest Spotted Gar Ever Caught in Indiana

The largest spotted gar ever caught in Indiana was caught in a town called Gravel Pit in Vermillion County, Indiana. The 6-pound, 12.5-ounce fish broke the old record set only the year before. Many species of gar grow to huge proportions. For instance, the alligator gar can reach well over 6 feet in length.

Spotted gar are primarily nocturnal fish, preferring shallow water hunting in the late night hours. Despite their large size, they prefer to remain in shallow and even stagnant waters, where there isn’t much in the way of current and plenty of brush or underwater vegetation to hide in.

The average length of a spotted gar is just a shade under 30 inches, and they reach weights of up to 8.80 pounds. In some regions of the country, they are on the endangered list, depending on the type of gar. They are not uncommon in Indiana, ranging from the Great Lakes down to Texas.

Indiana Record Spotted Gar

In 2016, a 13-year-old angler caught what was then the record, with a gar that weighed 6 pounds even, with a length of 34.7 inches. With the average gar nearly 5 inches shorter, a 34.7-inch gar is an exceptional catch. But, unfortunately, the state record didn’t hold up for long.

Nick Waugh broke it in short order, which is usually how these things go. Waugh’s spotted gar increased the record weight by 12.5 ounces, making the prospect of breaking it that much more difficult. There are three types of gar in Indiana’s lakes, rivers, and streams — spotted, longnose, and shortnose.

Many anglers in Indiana throw gar back if they catch them, though they are relatively safe to eat. The locals think of gar as a trash fish, which is the prevailing opinion across state lines, as well. For instance, anyone north of the Mason-Dixon line sees mullet as a trash fish as well.

The eggs that female gar produce are poisonous to people; if birds or other fish consume them, they will die. Still, to be able to claim you’re the record holder for the largest spotted gar ever caught in Indiana, comes with a sense of pride, regardless of whether or not the fish is edible.

Largest Spotted Gar: World Record

In 2021, a Williamsville, Missouri, angler by the name of Devlin Rich broke the world record for spotted gar with a 10-pound, 9-ounce haul. The 9-pound, 12-ounce record, set back in 1994, is now a part of history, sitting in the number two position.

The world record is nearly three times bigger than the record, spotted gar from Indiana.

How Are Spotted Gar Caught?

Gar can bite right through a monofilament or fluorocarbon fishing line, so anglers resort to other measures to catch them. Steel leaders are the answer — roughly a foot or more of steel line tied onto the end of regular fishing line.

Either that or anglers bow hunt gar. This method uses a traditional bow and arrow, with a fishing modification, otherwise known as bow fishing. Since gar prefers shallow water and has a tendency to sit very still, just below the surface, bow fishing is an excellent way to catch them.

This simplifies things a great deal. Anglers who fish for gar in the traditional manner use hooks that are much larger than anything used for catching bass or similar-size fish. The diameter of the treble hook is often between 2 and 3 inches long.

Either way, it’s not a sure thing. Gar are colossal fish and are more than capable of putting up a fight.

Types of Gar in Indiana

As mentioned above, there are three types of gar in Indiana. Occasionally, an alligator gar will make its way up into Indiana waters, but it’s exceedingly rare to find them that far north. Shortnose and longnose gar are exactly what their name implies, and that’s the best way to tell the difference between the two.

Other than their noses, shortnose and longnose gar are cylindrical, and long, and tend to reach similar weights. Spotted gar (Lepisosteus oculatus) aren’t much different either, except for their large spots, which dot the length of their bodies.

Like their longnose and shortnose cousins, spotted gar are cylindrical, have sharp teeth, have diamond-shaped scales, and an eye-to-gill distance of nearly a third of the gar’s snout length. As with all gar, the snout is unusually long and easily its most distinguishing feature.

Largest Gar Caught in Indiana

Spotted gar grow to pretty extraordinary sizes, but they don’t have anything on alligator gar. It’s a very rare thing for an alligator gar to make its way up into Indiana, and, until the record catch, Indiana’s records go back over 60 years to find the next alligator gar.

This rare alligator gar chose the wrong time to swim up into Indiana waters. It made its way into the White River, which flows through southern Indiana, where a bow-fisherman waited, shooting and ultimately hauling in the 63-inch, 55-pound monster.

Indiana’s DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife keeps tabs on county and state records, and they’re likely to have the 55-pound alligator gar on their record books for a very long time. The same division frequently tests Indiana’s many freshwater lakes, rivers, streams, and reservoirs, recording what they find in terms of fish species and population.

The DNR division determined the rarity of such a catch, with the last alligator gar meeting the same fate over six decades prior. Despite the size of the monster alligator gar, it is only 1/6 of the size of the world record alligator gar, which the history books list at 327 pounds.

Where is Indiana Located on a Map?

Indiana, located in the Midwestern United States, is the 38th largest state by area and the 17th most populous among the 50 states. The capital and largest city of Indiana is Indianapolis. It became the 19th state to be admitted to the United States on December 11, 1816.

Here is Indiana on a map:

Final Thoughts

Spotted gar, nor any other type of gar, will never find its way onto the finest menus at premium seafood restaurants, though some eat them. Still, to hold the state record for the largest spotted gar is a pretty nice feat.

However, there is a lot of spotted gar haunting the rivers, lakes, and streams of Indiana. Since gar grows to prodigious sizes, the record is under threat every time a new angler heads out the door to do some gar fishing.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Vladimir Wrangel/Shutterstock.com