Longnose gar – Syndication Server

Crooked catch is a ‘shocking’ discovery by biologists in Florida

Florida wildlife biologists conducting an electrofishing survey of Silver Glen Springs made an odd catch that resembled one from a few weeks ago.

The biologists captured a longnose gar that featured a distinct bend in the middle of its body.

“Unlike the bull shark with a spinal deformity that we shared a few weeks ago, this fish likely got its interesting shape from a spinal injury at some point in its life,” the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute stated on Facebook.

The crooked longnose gar measured 2.7 feet and weighed over 10.6 pounds.

“With their razor-sharp teeth and armor-like scales, longnose gar may look scary, but they are no threat to humans, and they play an important role as an apex predator in many of Florida’s freshwater ecosystems,” the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute stated.

While biologists caught the longnose gar in a net while electroshocking the waters of Silver Glen Springs, located between Jacksonville and Orlando, a fisherman caught the juvenile bull shark with the crooked body near Titusville, Florida, took photos and released it back into the water.

“The shark appears to have some form of scoliosis or spinal deformity affecting the vertebral column,” the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute stated. “While the condition is rare, our team has encountered similar anomalies in other shark and bony fish species.”

Catch of ‘primitive’ gar breaks nine-year-old record

A Georgia angler has established a new state record with her catch Saturday of a 31-pound, 2-ounce longnose gar.

Rachel Harrison, of Adairsville, caught the toothy gar on the Coosa River near Rome. The catch breaks a record – 30 pounds, 13 ounces – that had stood since 2013.

“State records do not get broken every day, so join us in congratulating Rachel on her impressive catch,” the Georgia Department of Natural Resources exclaimed Monday on Facebook.

Longnose gar, of the broader gar family, “are considered relics from a large group of primitive fishes,” the DNR’s Wildlife Resources Division explained in a news release.

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The fish inhabit mostly weedy areas in lakes and streams, and prey largely on other fish.

For the sake of comparison, the world record for longnose gar stands at 43 pounds. That fish was caught in the Trinity River in Texas in 2017.

Catch of prehistoric longnose gar sets record

A Maryland angler who was fishing for catfish on Monday ended up landing a state-record longnose gar.

“I didn’t even know what it was at first,” Samson Matthews, 22, said of his bizarre-looking catch on Marshyhope Creek in Dorchester County.

The fish weighed 18.3 pounds, narrowly beating a record set last year. It was announced as the new state Chesapeake Division record Wednesday by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

View this post on Instagram

NEW STATE 🐟 RECORD: Congratulations to angler Samson Matthews! He caught a longnose gar weighing in at 18.3 lbs., it was caught in Marshyhope Creek near the Nanticoke River. 🎣

A post shared by Maryland DNR (@marylanddnr) on Mar 4, 2020 at 7:25am PST

After the fish was weighed on a certified scale, Matthews released it back into the creek.

The MDNR describes the longnose gar as “a prehistoric fish distinguished by its long nose and hard scales.”

The fish have been present in North America for about 100 million years. Their tough hides were used by settlers and Native Americans as shield covers.

They’re found in inshore waters and estuaries, and prey largely on small fish, crustaceans, and insects. According to the MDNR, the most common fishing method for longnose gar is with a bow or spear.

Matthews was creek fishing near the Nanticoke River, using chunks of gizzard shad as bait for blue catfish, when he felt a heavy tug.

“Honestly, it didn’t fight much at all until it broke the surface, and that’s when I realized what it was,” Matthews told For The Win Outdoors. “Once it broke the surface it started thrashing around and jumping until we got it in the net.”

Matthews added: “I knew it was big, but I had no clue it was big enough to be a record.”

For the sake of comparison, the International Game Fish Assn. lists as the all-tackle world record a 50-pound longnose gar caught on the Trinity River in Texas in 1954.

–Longnose gar images are via the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (top) and Wikimedia Commons