A Kentucky fisherman has reeled in an enormous 200-pound prehistoric alligator snapping turtle and a potentially record-breaking gar at a lake in Texas.
Art Weston and his trusted guide, Captain Kirk Kirkland, returned to Sam Rayburn Lake, where they had previously hooked a record-shattering alligator gar in the fall.
When the famed fishermen set out on the murky waters last month, they were hoping to find another large alligator gar – one that would break another record.
During one strenuous morning on the water, Weston hooked and lost multiple record-breaking fish.
Weston and Kirkland intended to clinch a line-class record, which meant they needed to catch an enormous giant alligator gar with four-pound test line in order for it to qualify as a record.
While trying to catch an alligator gar, Art Weston reeled in a fearsome, 200lbs. prehistoric alligator snapping turtle
Weston was out with his trusted guide, Captain Kirk Kirkland. After failing to reel in a large alligator gar, they caught an alligator snapping turtle. They hooked the prehistoric beast through one of its feet
At one point, the intrepid fisherman was locked in a dramatic battle with one prodigious fish, during which their course drifted to the mouth of the Angelina River.
Among some flooded timber, Weston and Kirkland lost the fish in ‘a stumpy area’. Their world-record swam away.
But the fisherman and his guide remained undaunted and dropped another line in the water. Then they reeled in something that shocked them.
At the end of the line was a monstrous beast- a prehistoric alligator gar.
‘Art hooked something about noon while fishing for gar using a large chunk of carp for bait,’ Captain Kirkland.
‘I figured it was a turtle for the unusual way it fought. It took Art about 30 minutes to bring the turtle up, and it wasn’t very happy,’ he told outdoorlife.com.
The next day, Weston managed to catch a record-breaking alligator gar after an hour-long battle
Weston hooked the gar with four-pound fishing line. The fish weighed 188 pounds
The hook was lodged in one of the grim creature’s front feet, which proved difficult to remove.
‘There’s not much to grab, and they’re trying to fight, claw, and bite you,’ Kirkland said.
The men said that while they endeavored to remove the hook, the monstrous turtle observed their every movement and had its mouth open and ready to bite.
‘I grabbed him by the shell edge behind its head,’ Kirkland recounted.
‘Then [I] got ahold of its tail with my other hand. Then I carefully worked it into the boat.’
They theorized that the prehistoric beast weighed around 200 pounds, easily making it a contender for one of the heaviest ever caught in Texas, which is 211 pounds.
‘We got the hook out of its foot, made a few photos, then let it go because they’re protected by law,’ Kirkland said.
In Texas, alligator snapping turtles are considered a threatened species, and fishermen are required to release the fish as close to the place where they caught them as possible.
They day after Weston and Kirkland hooked the impressive alligator snapping turtle, they set out again, still hoping to reel in that elusive record-breaking gar.
After an hour long bout with a strong alligator gar, Weston was able to reel it in with a four-pound line, and break the record.
They hauled the fish in to the shore, where they used an official scale to weigh their prize and found it came in at a staggering 188 pounds.
After they finished weighing the alligator gar, the two men released it in the lake.
After hauling the massive gar to shore, Weston and Kirkland released the fish
If Weston’s record application is approved, this would be the fisherman’s 10th gar-related record and his 38th fishing record
‘We knew it was a record right away due to its size, and quickly navigated to the shore to weigh and record the catch, so that we could quickly release it alive and well,’ Weston told Fox.
Weston and Kirkland submitted their record application to the International Game and Fishing Association.
If their application is accepted, their 188-pound fish will blow away the previous record of a 117 pound 3-ounce alligator gar.
This would mark Weston’s tenth world-record for catching alligator gar and his 38th overall fishing record.
