Sugar Land man catches behemoth 300-pound alligator gar in Houston bayou

[Elderberry]

Houston Chronicle by Photo of Ryan Nickerson 5/11/2022

Payton Moore dreams of giant fish.

The Sugar Land resident set sail down a Houston bayou Thursday, determined to catch one of the largest alligator gars Texas has potentially ever seen.

Unofficially, he did just that, angling a humongous alligator gar more than 8 feet long and weighing upwards of 300 pounds.

Moore, 32, declined to disclose the name of the bayou for the gargantuan fish's protection, but the full-time YouTuber captured the catch on video and posted it to his channel.

The catch

When Moore first placed his reel, he thought he may have snagged a tree branch. He couldn't move the other end of his line.

The moment the fish started moving, Moore could tell he'd found a giant. "It felt like somebody's car had just started up and was rolling out of the driveway, and I'm hanging on to the end of it,"

Since the fish was too powerful to reel in while at full strength, he first had to exhaust it. He strategically made it swim in circles and constantly changed its direction to confuse it.

"They're big, they're strong, they're heavy, and they give you everything they got, right away," Moore said of alligator gars.

More: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/alligator-gar-bayou-catch-17162146.php

 WILD LIFE 5/7/2022

In this episode I catch a true river monster: an alligator gar several inches over eight feet long and estimated in the neighborhood of 300lb! Very few fish like this even still exist. Alligator gar are a native species that play a key role in their environment. Efforts to expand protections for these incredible animals is ongoing but in the meantime, should you catch one like this, be sure to release it alive! Check out some of these links below to learn more about the alligator gar and the need to protect them...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOpwlo7Lmjo&t=244s

[rustynail]

They are in Kentucky waters.  Awesome fish.

[Elderberry]

I have a lot on the bank of the Trinity River just north of Dayton TX. We've caught many up to about 6 ft. I was floating down the river one day cooling off, just treading water and about a 5 footer surfaces right next to me to eyeball me. That was spooky.

[roamer_1]

Only thing we have up here anywhere near that is sturgeon.

[Idiot]

I used to catch them when we would put out trot lines.  Ours were probably 2-3' long with long snouts.  I'd take my tree trimmers to cut off the snout to get them off the trot lines.  They are quite a nasty fish.

[berdie]

I have been told that gar are quite good to eat. Too bad I'll never know as I couldn't get past their looks to clean it.

Once the gar move into my shallow water cove...it's all over except for a few catfish that venture in. But...they are fun to catch!

[IsailedawayfromFR]

I have been told that gar are quite good to eat. Too bad I'll never know as I couldn't get past their looks to clean it.

Once the gar move into my shallow water cove...it's all over except for a few catfish that venture in. But...they are fun to catch!

I made the mistake once eating gar.

They have an incredibly great amount of small bones.  It took me 10 minutes to fish out the ones in my mouth after the first and only bite.

[berdie]

I made the mistake once eating gar.

They have an incredibly great amount of small bones.  It took me 10 minutes to fish out the ones in my mouth after the first and only bite.

There is supposed to be a part of the fish that isn't real bony and tastes like lobster. But like I said...I'll never know, lol.

Of course, this came from my BIL, an avid, everyday fisher, who never threw back any fish he caught. Including drum or carp. 

[catfish1957]

There is supposed to be a part of the fish that isn't real bony and tastes like lobster. But like I said...I'll never know, lol.

Of course, this came from my BIL, an avid, everyday fisher, who never threw back any fish he caught. Including drum or carp. 

I had a cajun friend that made gar balls at his house.  The odor alone almost made me puke.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

There is supposed to be a part of the fish that isn't real bony and tastes like lobster. But like I said...I'll never know, lol.

Of course, this came from my BIL, an avid, everyday fisher, who never threw back any fish he caught. Including drum or carp. 

I knew that. which is why I ordered it at a first class seafood restaurant.  I was still tasting only bone.