A 327-pound alligator gar may be largest caught
Seems no sooner did Outposts mention the International Game Fish Assn. all-tackle world record for alligator gar in a Wednesday post than word comes that the record may be bested.
Angler Kenny Williams of Vicksburg, Miss., landed an alligator gar Monday that tipped the scales at 327 pounds, possibly a new record for the species. The current IGFA record belongs to a 279-pounder pulled from the Rio Grande in Texas in 1951.
The fish, caught by Williams in Mississippi's Chotard Lake, measured 8 feet, 5 1/4 inches with a 47.95-inch girth.
"At first I didn't think he was that big. But as I was getting him into the boat, it was like, 'How big is this thing?' It was a lot of effort just to get him into the boat," Williams told ABC affiliate WAPT-TV in Jackson, Miss.
Williams donated his catch to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science in Jackson, where it will be mounted and placed on display.
-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts
Photo: Mississippi Museum of Natural Science staffers look over the 327-pound alligator gar caught Monday by angler Kenny Williams. Credit: Ricky Flynt / Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks
The biggest gar you refer to caught in Texas in the early 50's was 375 lbs.
Posted by: mark fallon | May 25, 2011 at 05:46 PM
That is a damn big fish to be in a lake. What was he fishing for? What kind of gear was he using?
Good job Kenny!
Posted by: robert | February 21, 2011 at 12:04 PM