The Pacu Fish or Tambaqui - Another Amazing Freshwater Fish

Pacu Fish - Tambaqui

Another one of my favorite freshwater fish, the pacu fish also known as tambaqui! This is a omnivorous fish that lives in South America and is related to the piranha, the most notable feature of the pacu fish is its unique teeth, it's one of the few species of fish with teeth similar to humans. The red belly pacu is favorite among exotic fish collectors, click here to see more about the pacu.

Wind Power Solutions At Home - My Friends Success

A couple years ago my friend really got big into going green, especially going green on anything that could save him money or better yet make him money. So he research and researched on how to reduce power usage or even make your own power at home, and he eventually came across this home guide from Earth 4 Energy that taught him everything he needed to know about wind power solutions at home, windmill design, how to build a wind turbine, wind generator, solar generators, and even bio fuels. To say the least he is now living off the grid! Not only are his power bills reduced, they are nonexistent from his wind power solutions at home! As a matter a fact the power company pays him now for his extra renewable home energy! I was not a believer at first till he shown me his setup and proof, it blew me away. So I asked him if he could help me setup and convert my home to renewable energy through wind and solar, and now we have just started work at setting it up! There is a picture below of us creating one of the wind mills! Anyway he tells me this guide is really easy to follow and implement and my friend says that any decent handyman could follow the instructional videos and guides. So if anyone out there is interested in hoping into the renewable energy scene and is tired of paying the electric company I recommend you check out this instructional system now.

Goonch Catfish - Another Amazing Freshwater Fish Spcies

The Goonch Catfish

The goonch catfish also known as the giant devil catfish or Bagarius yarrelli is one of the most amazing looking freshwater fish in the world, and is one of only a few catfish species with large sharp teeth! In June of 2012 a  goonch catfish record was made, caught on rod and reel weighing 192 lbs!

One of My Favorite Fish - Payara Fish - (Hydrolycus Scomberoides)

There are so many amazing fish out there, but the Payara or Hydrolycus Scomberoides has to be one of my favorites. This is a freshwater fish found in the Amazon basin, payara fish are known for the aggression and immense fight, thus they are a favorite among fishing anglers of the world looking for a challenge. Check out this article to learn more about this fish!

Largest Alligator Gar Ever Caught? The World May Never Know

Today I got up and went to Yahoo.com to look at the news for today much like I do everyday, and the first article I seen was about a large alligator gar caught that could be a record, when I seen this I almost fell out. I immediately clicked the article to see the picture of this monster I have been waiting for! But wait, the article says were not sure if it was a record, because the weight is not fully known...NOOOOO.

Ok so apparently a man named Brent Crawford in Texas, caught word of some big alligator gar nearby in a canal at Texas' Lake Corpus Christie, he went to investigate with his bow and encountered this giant in some shallow water. After carefully following his giant he lined up the shot and fired a direct hit, the fish according to him when crazy upon the hit, as you would imagine. But what Brent didnt count on was the nylon cord from the bow becoming tangled around his feet! Brent tried to get the line away from his feet but then got the cord tangled around his hand, it was to late the fish pulled the line and yanked BRent into the water headfirst! But get this, upon being pulled over Brent's dog, Bleux, tried to save brent from getting pulled in by grabbing the bottom of Brent's jeans, who says dogs arent man's best friends?

Brent soon after gets his hand free and the battle continues for nearly 45 minutes, before Brent gets the fish to the bank, there he jumps on the fish's back and calls for a friend who upon arriving shoot the fish to kill it. The men then use an ATV to pull the catch to Brent's house.

Ok, so here is  where this story gets bad for me, they attempt to weigh the fish, but the scale they have only goes up to 300 lbs, and as you might have figured the fish tops the scale out! It is more than 300 lbs but we don't know how much, because after measuring and weighing the fish they then filleted it, just my luck.

The largest alligator gar fish ever caught was 365 lbs oddly enough caught by bow fishing too back in 1991. This 300+ pounder just caught is by far the biggest alligator gar caught in a while, I just wish we could have known exactly how big it was. With the picture you can tell it's huge, but more than 365 lbs I don't know.

When I seen this story I immediately was happy but then sad, because as an wildlife enthusiast I love to see and big stories especially anything about large animals being found, but at the same time I'm sad to see them be killed, especially such an amazing creature that was very old. In todays mordern world it's believed that these giants were a thing of the past that you just cant find them anymore, and while that is partially true, it is nice to see that some are still out there. This was a fishing tale for the ages, and it let's us know that beautiful monsters still do exist.

Quantum Fishing Triax TRX20F/602ML Spin Fishing Rod and Reel Combo

Product Description

Size 20 reel on a 6', 2 piece, medium light IM7 graphite rode with a balanced cork handle and aluminum oxide guides

Largest Alligator Gar

There have been many big alligator gar seen, caught, and spoken of, but there is no one answer for the largest alligator gar ever caught, the answer depends on what you consider a legit form of caching a fish. There is a record for the largest alligator gar ever caught on rod & reel, there is a record for the largest alligator gar ever caught with bow fishing, and there is a record alligator gar for the largest ever caught with net.

Largest Alligator Gar Caught with Net

On February 14, 2011 Kenny Williams from Mississippi caught a 8 ft 5 in long, 327 lb alligator gar by means of net making it a new record for the largest alligator gar caught by net. (See picture below)

327 lb alligator gar fish

Biggest Alligator Gar caught with rod & reel

The biggest alligator gar caught on rod & reel was caught in 1951, the 279-lb alligator gar was caught on the Rio Grande in Texas. This world record alligator gar for rod & reel is the benchmark all anglers have been trying to best. The picture below is the reported picture of this amazing catch.

Biggest Alligator Gar caught by bow fishing

The biggest alligator gar caught by bow fishing was a massive 9 ft 6 in 365 lb fish caught by Kirk Kirkland in 1991, and this gar fish is also the largest alligator gar ever caught by any means. See picture below of the 365lb alligator gar.

Pictures of Alligator Gar

Pictures of Alligator Gar

8 foot, 3 inches long and weighed 230lbs

Alligator Gar Attacks

While alligator gar look the part of evil killer fish they are really far from that. There has never been a fatal case of an alligator gar attack on humans, while there have been a few reports of alligator gar attacks on humans none have been confirmed. The reason why alligator gar attacks should never happen to humans is because alligator gar fish don't view humans as prey, this is because the alligator gar swallows its food whole, and while alligator gar fish can get very big none get big enough to swallow even a child whole. This keeps humans from being on their menu under normal circumstances.

Eating Alligator Gar

How to Catch Alligator Gar

How to catch alligator gar you may ask? Oddly enough the original way of catching an alligator gar fish was much like that of an real alligator! The large alligator gar has long snouts with many teeth and bony heads much like an alligator. So fisherman figured out that normal tactics would not work so well with alligator gar fish, and instead designed a snare tactic of fishing alligator gar fish known as “noosing”, this is where a heavy wire leader is utilized and looped to shape a snare. A lure fish is stuck to the noose, which is placed on the bottom. An alligator gar fish will come along and grab the bait then the fisherman sets the snare and then the tug of war battle ensues similar to that of an alligator. 

Spotted Alligator Gar

Spotted Gar (Lepisosteus oculatus)

Some people refer to the spotted gar as the spotted alligator gar, but while related, the spotted gar is not a alligator gar. This is most noticeable with the large size disparity between the two.

Description

Gar are lengthy and cylindrical with stretched out mouths. Spotted alligator gar grow to a length of 3 feet, weighing 8 pounds. Their upper body is brown to olive, and they have silver-white sides. Head, body, and fins have olive-brown to black spots that help hide the fish. A wide, dark stripe is on the sides of undeveloped fish. Their long, snout-like mouth is lined with strong, sharp teeth, and their body is sheltered with thick, ganoid (diamond-shaped) scales. Spotted gar may be notable from other Texas gar species by the dark roundish spots on the top of the head, the pectoral fins and on the pelvic fins.

Life History                                          

Gar move leisurely unless trying to catch food, which it grabs in its jaws in a quick sideways charge. They often lie around near the water's surface on warm days. Fry feed mainly on insect larvae and tiny crustaceans, but fish appear on the diet of young gar very early. Prey is usually swallowed headfirst. Spotted gar are eaten by larger fish, alligators, herons, and cottonmouth snakes. 

The long-lived gar has a life span up to 18 years. Males mature in two to three years. Females mature when three to four years old. They produce in shallow water with low flow and heavy vegetation. Several males court a single larger female at the same time. Spawning season is from April to May. The number of eggs varies to a great extent, but up to about 20,000 green, adhesive eggs are attach to aquatic plants. Fry hatch after 10 to 14 days. Young gar have dedicated pads on their upper jaws that allow them to stick to vegetation. They remain attached to plants until they are about 0.75 inches (2cm) long. The pad is lost when last of the yolk sac is absorbed. 

Gar have a specialized swim bladder which allows them to gulp air and live in the badly oxygenated back waters of Texas' streams, swamps and lakes. Lepisosteus is Greek and means "bony scale", referring to the large ganoid scales. Oculatus means "provided with eyes" in Latin and refers to the dark spots on head, body, and fins. The common name, gar, is rooted in the Anglo-Saxon vocabulary and means "spear." The roe (or egg mass) is highly toxic to humans, animals, and birds.

Habitat

Spotted gar prefer clear, quiet, vegetated waters of streams, swamps and lakes. They from time to time enter brackish waters along the Gulf Coast.

Distribution

Spotted gar are very prevalent, and can be found from central Texas east into western Florida. Their region extends north through the Mississippi River drainage into Illinois, the lower Ohio River, and the Lake Erie drainage.

Other

The spotted gar is one of three gar species local to Texas. They are prehistoric fish and date back to the Cretaceous period, some 65 to 100 million years ago. The ancestors of spotted gar swam with the dinosaurs! A large gar can eat a lot of fish, including catfish, causing them to struggle with some anglers. Because of the opposition and because many people think gar are difficult to clean, gar are sometimes called a "trash" fish. This term may not be defensible when you consider that spotted gar, like all native species, have an imperative role to play in their ecosystem.

Longnose Gar

Longnose Gar (Lepisosteus osseus)

Just like the spotted gar the longnose gar is not actually an alligator gar fish, the longnose gar has a extremely elongated and slim snout containing loads of needle like teeth. Their body is long and cylindrical, enclosed with diamond-shaped, hard non-overlapping scales. They are olive or brownish colored on their back with a white belly. When they are caught from clear waters they often have many dark spots on their sides, fins, and tail. Longnose gar have a much longer snout than any other species of gar.


Adult Size Longnose Gar: Typically 24-36 inches long, can reach over 50 inches. Weighs 2-7 pounds usually, but can reach 25 pounds.

Welcome to the Alligator Gar Fish blog!

Thanks for taking interest in the amazing alligator gar fish, take some time to check out and learn a thing or two about this amazing fish.