Posted on 04/20/2025 1:55:21 PM PDT by Red Badger
The 7-foot-3-inch behemoth weighed in at 153 pounds and Weston said it took him nearly four hours to reel in on just 2-pound test fishing line.
Credit: Captain Kirk Kirkland (Alligator Gar Fishing) and Art Weston
Art Weston reeled in this 153-pound alligator gar on Lake Livingston with the help of Captain Kirk Kirkland of Alligator Gar Fishing.
LIVINGSTON, Texas — "Sharing what was my most challenging catch of my life," Art Weston wrote on Facebook after landing a massive alligator gar in Lake Livingston.
The 7-foot-3-inch behemoth weighed in at 153 pounds and Weston said it took him nearly four hours to reel in on just 2-pound test fishing line. He said they chased the fish 2 miles before hauling it in.
(Excerpt) Read more at khou.com ...
It shouldn’t count if he used a hook and line. It would have been impressive if he had caught it noodling.
LOL!
I can’t imagine landing that with 2# test line.
Dynamite?
Do people swim in that water?
The size of that gar is embarrassing, if it’s being claimed to be a monster.
I saw an old man with a treble hook the size of a boat anchor, attached to a rope that would suffice to tow vehicles, sling it into the Sabine River, and then tie it to a tree stump. He had wired a piece of fat back, about the size of a bowling ball, onto the “hook”.
In 30 minutes to an hour, an aquatic beast about 10 feet long came swirling along in shallow waters, performing sweeping turns. It was at that moment that I understood what the old man was fishing for.
They won’t hurt you. They don’t want anything to do with you. And have swam in that very place.
2lb test line my ass.
I posted just now, and in hindsight, I am in no way meaning to take away from the efforts or accomplishments of this fine fisherman. I just wanted to say that there are in fact, bigger “monsters” out there.
I also missed that HE landed this dinosaur on 2lb test line. INCREDIBLE feat!
I have personally seen 250+ in the East Fork 80+ miles here south of Dallas.
Oops. I never use >4lb for crappie even. Dang.
WOWSER!
Divers at power plants have surfaced after going down to clean the inlet “screens” and have stated unequivocally that they saw fish so big down there, that they REFUSE to return to the waters. These are guys with many years of underwater service.
I have caught lots of crappie, bass, pike, walleye, etc. with my 50-year old 4-1/2 foot Fenwick ultralight rod and Mitchell-Garcia 408 ultralight reel with 2 pound test line, but never anything over 6 pounds.
Amazing.
Usually means that they were going for a Texas state record for 2# class.
We’d throw them on the beach when we caught them.
I bravely noodled (in my youth) catfish in Illinois.
Texas is definitely OFF the list after that report! Good gosh Almighty!
Tell you what...
Gut and scale them, season them up with Zatarain's seasoning, along with some cajun trinity (onion, celery, and red pepper).
Take a cedar plank and apply olive oil to it, then the well-prepared gar.
Start smoking it first thing in the morning over some slowly smoldering mesquite coals, or hickory or pecan.
After at least 12 hours, take it off the coals, throw the gar back in the river and eat the plank.
Delicious!!
2 pound line?
That is crazy.
Must have been fishing for bluegill.
I read that book: The Old Man and the Swamp.
“Do people swim in that water?”
We did when much younger. ... in Forida.
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