New World Record Gar… on Six Pound Line!

LISTEN: (6 min, 33 sec)

FOR THOSE WHO MAY NOT HAVE HEARD, one of the world’s oldest and most hallowed freshwater fishing records was crushed by a 283 pound alligator gar caught and released at Sam Rayburn Reservoir near Lufkin by Art Weston of Union, Kentucky.

The news of the giant fish first surfaced in early September, courtesy of Kirk Kirkland of Trinity. It really came as no surprise.

Kirkland is a veteran fishing guide who specializes in targeting the toothy titans using rod and reel. He calls his aluminum fishing boat the “Garship Enterprise.” Weston is a thrill-seeking big fish hunter and with a passion for chasing International Game Fish Association line class records. 

The Florida-based IGFA is the official records keeper of fish caught from fresh and saltwater. The organization follows a distinctive code when critiquing world record applications. The idea is to ensure that all catches are legitimate, weights are accurate, and all paperwork is in order.

Weston has a knack for cracking record marks using tackle better suited for smaller fish.  At last count, he had 23 IGFA rod and reel line class records to his name, numerous others pending and a couple that have been retired. 

His current list of certified records is comprised of 14 species from six different countries, including eight alligator gar and longnose gar that have been caught with Kirkland. One of the alligator gar line class records is a 110 pounder caught on two-pound line in October 2022 at Choke Canyon.

Weston’s previous personal best biggest alligator was a 251 pounder he caught and released in April 2023 on the Trinity River. That fish should be certified as the IGFA 80-pound line class record by now.

It’s hard to imagine catching an even bigger fish with much smaller line, but the 52-year-old financial analyst pulled it off on a muggy Saturday that fell during the heart of Labor Day weekend. 

Weston’s 283-pound bruiser measured 8 feet, 4 inches long with a 48 inch girth. It is the biggest alligator gar documented by IGFA in 72 years and tops the former world and Texas all-tackle state record by four pounds. 

The former world record — a 279 pounder — was set in December 1951 by the late Bill Valverde of Mission. In 2019, Houston Chronicle outdoors writer Shannon Tompkins reported that Valverde reeled in the huge fish using a homemade pole fashioned from bamboo. His Montague reel was spooled with nylon line of an unknown breaking strength, according to the report.

Weston used a 5 1/2 foot GOOFISH rod matched with a Daiwa 19 Emcast freespool spinning reel to haul in the new world record. Amazingly, he managed to land the fish on six-pound test line.

The Momoi monofilament line was tethered to 70 inch, 175-pound test steel leader and an 8/0 J-hook that was tipped with a chunk of carp for bait — a set-up that is well within IGFA’s legal guidelines for world record catches.

Weston was somewhat amused by the number of anglers who questioned why he would go after giant fish with such light tackle. Truth is, tangling with the all-tackle world record alligator wasn’t even on his radar when he and Kirkland went fishing that morning. His goal at the time was to catch one heavier than IGFA’s 123 pound, 9 ounce six-pound line class record.

“I could have used 130-pound test, and it still would have been the all-tackle world record,” Weston said. “It’s just not logical to think you are going to land a 283-pound fish on six-pound test line, but that’s the line I was using at the time and somehow it worked out.”

The giant gar didn’t come easy. Once hooked, Kirkland used the outboard engine to keep pace with the fish as it cruised around a 15-acre open pasture just south of the State Highway 103 bridge. The water is about 12-15 feet deep with a sand bottom and very few snags. Kirkland discovered the area decades ago. He called it a spot where the fish like to gang up.

“They were really rolling in there that day,” he said.

Weston said plenty could have gone wrong during an exhausting battle that lasted close to three hours, but it didn’t. It would have ended quickly had the thin line brushed against a tree limb or rock.

“I still can’t believe we pulled it off,” he said. “It was a shockingly big fish. I can’t say enough about Captain Kirk and how he has helped me land so many wonderful fish. There are not too many guides that will put up with a record hunter and all the effort it takes, but he is the best there is.”

Fertile imaginations might be wondering how old such a fish might be. The only way to know for certain is to examine the otolith bone inside the fish’s skull, but that requires killing the fish.

 Weston did the sporting thing and released the big gar alive after weighing it on a nearby beach using the IGFA certified scale Kirkland carries in his boat.

Dan Daughterty is a fisheries scientist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department who aged thousands of alligator gar over the years. He believes the fish could have easily been 80-100 years old. 

“Alligator gar over eight feet in length are exceedingly rare, he said. “Over the years, we have handled thousands of alligator gar. The six footers are pretty abundant, seven footers aren’t unexpected, but we’ve only seen a few in the 8-foot class. Therefore, we have very little data on the age of fish this size. The data we do have suggests this fish is likely very old. For comparison, we aged the 8 foot, 5.25 inch fish that was incidentally caught in a commercial fisherman’s net in Lake Chotard, Mississippi in 2011. The most up-to-date estimate for that fish is in the neighborhood of 100 years old. I would venture to bet the Sam Rayburn fish is in the same ballpark.”

 

Email Matt Williams at ContactUs@fishgame.com

< PREV

Return to CONTENTS Page

NEXT >