Trinity River Monster!

[FamousAmos]

That is my little cousin, he missed the record by 12lbs

Beast, for sure.

[mudkat]

That 100 years old stuff is crap ( somebody some where Guessed that and it stuck!) the oldest one they found in their study was something like 28 years old and over 7'.if they have the food they grow fast .

[PVDT]

Speechless.

[Dale Moser]

Always someone wanting to discredit a really cool deal. Congrats to that young man on catching a fish of a lifetime.




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[Bryan2014]

Unbelievable how big they get, can't imagine the fight that thing put up

[Pedernal]

Imaging going for a swim and bumping into that

Awesome catch, congrats to the fisherman. Wonder how long the fight was on??

[AntlerCollector]

That 100 years old stuff is crap ( somebody some where Guessed that and it stuck!) the oldest one they found in their study was something like 28 years old and over 7'.if they have the food they grow fast .

Please post up YOUR proof on Gar aging. If it's crap id sure like to see how you concluded that. Everything I read would lead me to believe you are incorrect.

See post 49, unless that's crap too.

[tmstuk]

WOW! That's a monster fish! Congrats to your cousin.

[Daniel75]

Please post up YOUR proof on Gar aging. If it's crap id sure like to see how you concluded that. Everything I read would lead me to believe you are incorrect.

See post 49, unless that's crap too.

https://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files/fw-gar.pdf

Page 5, but I’m not a wildlife biologist nor can I verify the veracity of the source.

[Phillip Fields]

Please post up YOUR proof on Gar aging. If it's crap id sure like to see how you concluded that. Everything I read would lead me to believe you are incorrect.

See post 49, unless that's crap too.

News Release
Media Contact: TPWD News, news@tpwd.texas.gov, 512-389-8030

Oct. 13, 2017

60-Year-Old Alligator Gar New Brazos River Record

AUSTIN – Texas Parks and Wildlife Department research biologists have confirmed the new alligator gar bow fishing water body record for the Brazos River is 60 years old, among the oldest fish aged and documented by the department.

Angler Isaac Avery of Longview caught the 197 pound, 7.39 foot alligator gar bow fishing in the Brazos River Sept. 9 – beating the previous record by more than 4 pounds.

After noticing a TPWD research tag left of the fish’s dorsal fin, Avery called TPWD Inland Fisheries district biologist Michael Baird, who previously tagged the fish in March 2012. According to Baird, tags returned by anglers provide biologists with information on harvest, abundance, size structure and survival.

“I tagged this fish near Tawakoni Creek, a large Brazos River tributary just down from Waco, back in March 2012 while doing a mark-recapture study,” Baird said. “It appears she hadn’t moved much since we tagged her in 2012, and she grew approximately 65 mm (2.55 inches) since tagging.”

Baird assisted the anglers with locating a scale big enough to weigh the fish at the Brazos Feed and Supply Store. After weighing the fish, taking measurements and collecting the otoliths (bony structures found in the alligator gar’s inner ear), the data was sent to the Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center (HOHFSC), where researchers are conducting studies to learn more about key population characteristics of alligator gar. Researchers then used the otoliths to age the fish by counting growth rings similar to those on a tree.

“We aged the fish at 60, which indicates it hatched in 1957,” said research biologist David Buckmeier. “I looked at the gauge data from Waco around that time and sure enough there was a huge flood from April to July in 1957. What we’ve seen is that fish over the age of 50 typically come from times when these huge flood pulses occurred, and those events likely create giant year classes of these fish.”

According to Buckmeier, alligator gar typically do not spawn every year but prefer spawning habitat created by seasonal inundation of low-lying areas of vegetation – like the floods of 1957. Research on the Trinity River confirmed that the years of highest reproductive success of alligator gar coincided with years of good spring rains.

As big as this fish was, other Texas rivers and lakes hold trophy alligator gar that are even bigger. Angler Marty McClellan set the state bow-fishing record for alligator gar in 2001 with an 8 foot, 290 pound fish from the Trinity River – a record that still stands to this day. The world record, caught in Mississippi in 2011, measured 8 feet 5 inches and weighed 327 pounds. TPWD researchers examined otoliths from that fish and estimated its age at 95 years.

[mudkat]

We put on the trinity river shootout and we had Tp&w biologists there multiple years getting the bone to age the gar brought in and their study at the time had nothing over 30 years old in it,Saying all gar over 6 foot is 100 years old is crap is some one them that old yes are they all that old NO !

[BolilloLoco]

Nice trophy.
I would have killed it too.

[Kmiles84]

Nice fish. I would of released to catch again another day but don’t fault to the guy for keeping it

[Dale Moser]

So you don't know...just say you don't know.

Whatever age it is wont make it any smaller.


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[AntlerCollector]

News Release
Media Contact: TPWD News, news@tpwd.texas.gov, 512-389-8030

Oct. 13, 2017

60-Year-Old Alligator Gar New Brazos River Record

AUSTIN – Texas Parks and Wildlife Department research biologists have confirmed the new alligator gar bow fishing water body record for the Brazos River is 60 years old, among the oldest fish aged and documented by the department.

Angler Isaac Avery of Longview caught the 197 pound, 7.39 foot alligator gar bow fishing in the Brazos River Sept. 9 – beating the previous record by more than 4 pounds.

After noticing a TPWD research tag left of the fish’s dorsal fin, Avery called TPWD Inland Fisheries district biologist Michael Baird, who previously tagged the fish in March 2012. According to Baird, tags returned by anglers provide biologists with information on harvest, abundance, size structure and survival.

“I tagged this fish near Tawakoni Creek, a large Brazos River tributary just down from Waco, back in March 2012 while doing a mark-recapture study,” Baird said. “It appears she hadn’t moved much since we tagged her in 2012, and she grew approximately 65 mm (2.55 inches) since tagging.”

Baird assisted the anglers with locating a scale big enough to weigh the fish at the Brazos Feed and Supply Store. After weighing the fish, taking measurements and collecting the otoliths (bony structures found in the alligator gar’s inner ear), the data was sent to the Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center (HOHFSC), where researchers are conducting studies to learn more about key population characteristics of alligator gar. Researchers then used the otoliths to age the fish by counting growth rings similar to those on a tree.

“We aged the fish at 60, which indicates it hatched in 1957,” said research biologist David Buckmeier. “I looked at the gauge data from Waco around that time and sure enough there was a huge flood from April to July in 1957. What we’ve seen is that fish over the age of 50 typically come from times when these huge flood pulses occurred, and those events likely create giant year classes of these fish.”

According to Buckmeier, alligator gar typically do not spawn every year but prefer spawning habitat created by seasonal inundation of low-lying areas of vegetation – like the floods of 1957. Research on the Trinity River confirmed that the years of highest reproductive success of alligator gar coincided with years of good spring rains.

As big as this fish was, other Texas rivers and lakes hold trophy alligator gar that are even bigger. Angler Marty McClellan set the state bow-fishing record for alligator gar in 2001 with an 8 foot, 290 pound fish from the Trinity River – a record that still stands to this day. The world record, caught in Mississippi in 2011, measured 8 feet 5 inches and weighed 327 pounds. TPWD researchers examined otoliths from that fish and estimated its age at 95 years.

60 years, even 95 years wow! That's way more than 28 years last time I counted. I had no idea Gar lived that long.