Hey - Think we might have caught a new Florida record gar (possibly) this evening..

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NoobFishmasterManateeCty

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 17, 2011
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Manatee County
BTW, sorry if in wrong forum..

So basically me and my brother in law are totally noob's in the world of fishing. Crazy story, but we "borrowed" this kayak ( Don't worry we returned it ) and took off into the Manatee River.

I had a Dora the explorer plastic rod, that I swear I have caught a fish with before - he has some generic Swingline rod. Well, luck must have been on our side.

We had no idea what it was, I thought it was a sturgeon, later on this evening he tells me he figures out it is a gar, and could possibly be a record, or very close.

He is sending me the picture with the camera phone we took earlier.. I will post it as soon as it hits my Email. I would say about 3.5 - 4 ft long total.. Somewhere 5++ pounds.. but that is a very crude estimate.

I see somewhere that someone maybe caught a 7 lbs? But what from I am reading ours has to be way longer than 99.999% ... although it could have just been blind optimism at the time.

If this is indeed legit, how do we go about getting into the Florida Wildlife Hall Of Fame? I mean we should be first ballot inductees, no?

Thanks!
 
A 5lb gar will not be a record. Maybe a personal record. I did a quick search and I found the record is 7 lbs 8 ounces. This could be out dated. Maybe check the Florida fish and game website for the state records. In order to get a state record you have a fish and game officer validate the catch.
 
bigbadfish711;4974310; said:
A 5lb gar will not be a record. Maybe a personal record. I did a quick search and I found the record is 7 lbs 8 ounces. This could be out dated. Maybe check the Florida fish and game website for the state records. In order to get a state record you have a fish and game officer validate the catch.
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Cool. I am not sold on the weight, but I would say that it is at least 45 inches, conservatively. I looked around, but many inconsistent reports etc.

Ill update the thread when I know more + pix

Thanks
 
Dreamsofpeace54;4974334; said:
most states wont even recognize a record unless its been seen and verified by an official. Sorry guys. if it is a record you need to go catch it again
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It's in a tub in the garage. Going to have another friend come over and either kill my dreams or validate them tomorrow afternoon
 
NoobFishmasterManateeCty;4974344; said:
It's in a tub in the garage. Going to have another friend come over and either kill my dreams or validate them tomorrow afternoon
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I hope this tub is big and you are taking the correct steps to keep this monster alive. Are you planning on releasing it back in the wild?
 
bigbadfish711;4974505; said:
I don't know but a pic would sure prove it. How about it
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x2. Pics or it didn't happen.


As for the ID, I'm going with longnose gar because a 3.5-4' Florida gar is extremely unlikely according to the gar experts while a 3.5-4' longnose gar, on the other hand, is completely possible and is not that uncommon from my understanding.
 
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