New Record Breaking Alligator Gar Catch

[Madding]

I could have swore that most of the "experts" on here said that they don't get over 6' in the wild.

No, I don't believe this was said, and don't you think that using a new world record to argue a point is bordering on semantics? There are always genetic abnormalities to take into account, and I wouldn't say that humans get to 8'11" if an alien asked me.

But yeah, failtroll is fail.

 

[E_americanus]

No, I don't believe this was said, and don't you think that using a new world record to argue a point is bordering on semantics? There are always genetic abnormalities to take into account, and I wouldn't say that humans get to 7'5" if an alien asked me.

exactly (also echo Ryan's previous comments). large gators like this in the wild are extremely rare, that goes without saying. some individuals have the genetic potential and the correct environment to achieve this size, but many (likely most) do not. there is genetic and environmental variability to take into account, as well as the concept of basic stats...outliers anyone? this fish may not necessarily be an outlier (could be), but it's definitely on the far end of the spectrum for size range.--
--solomon

 

[Wiggles92]

No, I don't believe this was said, and don't you think that using a new world record to argue a point is bordering on semantics? There are always genetic abnormalities to take into account, and I wouldn't say that humans get to 8'11" if an alien asked me.

exactly (also echo Ryan's previous comments). large gators like this in the wild are extremely rare, that goes without saying. some individuals have the genetic potential and the correct environment to achieve this size, but many (likely most) do not. there is genetic and environmental variability to take into account, as well as the concept of basic stats...outliers anyone? this fish may not necessarily be an outlier (could be), but it's definitely on the far end of the spectrum for size range.--
--solomon

I agree.

Not trying to "troll" just trying to clear up the facts.

I believe that the "never occur over 6 feet in length in the wild" remark was previously made in regards to longnose gars; the previously mentioned giant longnose gars were just longnose/alligator gar hybrids (Croc III) instead of pure longnose gars. I remember seeing that one frequently when people who are new to gars get a longnose gar and see the maximum lengths that are listed and get all excited only to find out that those lengths are for the wrong gars...


Any who, I'm going to leave this thread now before I get too hyped up about this type of stuff.

 

[love The Jack Dempseys]

Huge!

 

[pharmaecopia]

absolutely ridiculous in both statements. gator gars don't intentionally attack humans (this has been demonstrated on several accounts - Madding referenced the river monsters episode; some of us have also seen this in person with big gators) AND the removal of the fish for others to grow is almost equally as ludicrous. not going to waste more time on that response, but it was entertaining.

A little late to this discussion, but you mentioned something here that I wanted to comment on. I read a paper that examined the effects of fishing and the size of the fish kept and the growth of the remaining fish in the lake. It showed that when a specific size range is targeted the remainder of the fish tended to increase in size. This was due to decreased competition and more resources available. So theoretically if a certain size of gar were target fished the remaining gars would experience more growth than if the gars were taken at random.

 

[ecoli73]

If any fish is to be taken out of the wild, it is better to have the old males taken. In any case, I think it is better for the wild to have that one taken out rather than say a dozen small ones.

 

[E_americanus]

A little late to this discussion, but you mentioned something here that I wanted to comment on. I read a paper that examined the effects of fishing and the size of the fish kept and the growth of the remaining fish in the lake. It showed that when a specific size range is targeted the remainder of the fish tended to increase in size. This was due to decreased competition and more resources available. So theoretically if a certain size of gar were target fished the remaining gars would experience more growth than if the gars were taken at random.

i figured this would come up eventually as it related to a general principle in fish ecology. the principle is correct, although its application here is different (may not have time at the moment to get into all of it - but will try) - this case is an individual fish, and a rare one at that. it would likely have some impact on the other fish, but doubtful that it would be significant population-wise. the ecofish principle we are talking about refers to fishing down many large individuals, not a single one. that and this is also species specific...gars are much more gape-limited than other fishes of comparable size, so their impact on other populations and other fishes is different (can expound on those details later).

so yes, removing many large individuals would have an impact on the rest of the community, but taking into account this is just a single fish, and gator gars are uncommon-rare in much of their present range, the impact of the removal of this one fish would do little to the remaining fish community, let alone other gator gars (in terms of food and growth...this was likely a large female, so taking a large egg-producing member of the population out of the picture could have some impact).--
--solomon

 

[MHcblues119]

should have let it go...

 

[pharmaecopia]

i figured this would come up eventually as it related to a general principle in fish ecology. the principle is correct, although its application here is different (may not have time at the moment to get into all of it - but will try) - this case is an individual fish, and a rare one at that. it would likely have some impact on the other fish, but doubtful that it would be significant population-wise. the ecofish principle we are talking about refers to fishing down many large individuals, not a single one. that and this is also species specific...gars are much more gape-limited than other fishes of comparable size, so their impact on other populations and other fishes is different (can expound on those details later).

so yes, removing many large individuals would have an impact on the rest of the community, but taking into account this is just a single fish, and gator gars are uncommon-rare in much of their present range, the impact of the removal of this one fish would do little to the remaining fish community, let alone other gator gars (in terms of food and growth...this was likely a large female, so taking a large egg-producing member of the population out of the picture could have some impact).--
--solomon

Thanks for elaborating on that, just figured the principle had some relation to the discussion.

 

[josh11]

yeah worst part of it is its now dead...