Gator in the lake

[John Gillio]

I just saw a report that the alligator gar has been reintroduced into Il. waters. In Sept.of last year the DNR stocked 43 baby alligator gar into Hennepin-Hopper Lakes near Hennepin Il. They disapeared from Il. waters in the late 1960s. They can grow to 300 pounds and reach 10 ft. in length. They eat just about anything including waterfowl. That's all I have to say about that.

[JimR]

Hmmm, interesting. I caught one on the Fox in Wisconsin up by Montello when I was about 12 yrs old. Only about 26 inches. I had never seen one until then, and never since, (in person).

[Mike Clifford]

Good reading on this here:

Distribution of the Alligator Gar in IL

http://www.il-acad-sci.org/transactions_pdf_files/9420.pdf

[Rob G]

I know where there is or at least was one in Illinois. One night about 8 years ago at 3 AM my friend and I were bowfishing the Sangamon River just downstream of the Decatur, IL dam and the beast came right up from under the boat at the bow, his triangular head was as wide across as a dinner plate and that nice olive coloration. How long or how big not sure because we could only see his head right below us completely out of the water, while the rest of his body remained submerged below the boat. Anyway, they are protected in Illinois so we couldn't shoot it but we both stood there with our mouths open in disbelief. Fished that area several more times and did pick up some nice long nose that went 20 lbs and 59" long but never saw him again.

[Rob G]

This one my friend took legally in Texas where they are more plentiful.

 

 

[Guest rich mc]

when they raised them , i hope they feed them asian carp flavored food. rich

[Rob G]

Another fish story:

Several years ago I met this older fellow in the office and we began speaking about where he was from and he told me that he grew up on the Tennessee River which I have fished countless times. He said when he was a boy they would often fish just down below the Kentucky Dam, and there occasionally the gator gar would rise up right along the boat and they and the other locals would often feed them one of their catch. He said they were as long as his boat oar and bigger but by the time he was in his mid-teens, they no longer saw them but he did't know why.

[John Gillio]

Good reading on this here:

Distribution of the Alligator Gar in IL

http://www.il-acad-sci.org/transactions_pdf_files/9420.pdf

Thanks for info. Mike. I was wading a lower stretch of the big vermilion a bout 3 years back with my wife. We were moving upstream toward an area of deeper water with shallows on the left. There seemed to be a log in the shallows that wasn't there a day earlier. I moved ahead toward the log and it slowly started drifting toward the deeper hole. It was quite wide and about 6 ft. long. It was in and out of shadows, so I didn't get a good look at it before it slipped into the hole. It was so big it kind of freeked me out a bit, so I got Sue up into the shallows. We fished the pool for some time but I didn't see it again. My best guess is that it was an alligator gar. My biggest gar caught from the river was 41". It's girth was nowhere near that of this thing.

[Rob G]

John, any chance maybe a big cat? A huge long nose gar around here is 20-25 max lbs. and the head below is obviously different than the gator's above so it's pretty obvious. Do they have Asian or grass carp or even sturgeon in those waters? Otherwise, nothing else that I know of can obtain those lengths.

 

[John Gillio]

Rob,from looking at the size of that longnose,I supose it could have been one. I didn't get a close look at it but it seemed to be broad from head to almost the tail. There are some huge Asian carp and cats in the river but I'm quite sure it wasn't one of either. It didn't sway like a carp or cat it just had a slow glide to it. I guess I'll never really know. I've only seen one sturgeon, and it was a shovelnose. They are much thinner near the tail.

 

Did you arrow that longnose or hook and line him? It's huge.

[Rob G]

John, any chance a paddlefish/spoonbill? Now they can get 5 feet in length but not sure if they frquently inhabit your river. The fish above was arrowed downstate and if you prepare them properly actually make excellent table fare.

[John Gillio]

Rob, it may be a posibility. I have not heard of one being caught, but I saw a couple dead ones on the shore over the years.