Anglers interested in hooking an epic-sized trophy fish can apply for a 2025 alligator gar tag through Dec. 31.

Many Arkansas anglers travel all the way to the Gulf of Mexico each year in search of trophy fish like tarpon and sailfish. Most don’t know they are passing up a similar opportunity right here in Arkansas.

While not truly a dinosaur, the alligator gar was alive during the Cretaceous period. Individual gar take decades to reach 6 feet long. They are the second largest species of freshwater fish in North America, only topped by the white sturgeon. They frequently grow longer than 7 feet and weigh more than 200 pounds. The largest fish ever caught in Arkansas was an alligator gar in the Red River that weighed 241 pounds, more than 100 pounds heavier than the state’s next largest Arkansas catch, a 116-pound blue catfish that once held a world record.

Anyone may fish for alligator gar on a catch-and-release basis with an alligator gar permit, but a trophy tag is required to keep an alligator gar longer than 36 inches.

Interested anglers can enter the free online drawing through Dec. 31 for one of 200 alligator gar trophy tags for the 2025 season. Applications are available under the “Fishing License” section of the Game and Fish online license system at https://ar-web.s3licensing.com.

The drawing will occur Jan. 2. Applicants will be notified of the results by email.