Alligator Gar
Posted by Pete | Posted in News | Posted on 20-08-2010
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I was watching a program on TV the other night. The folks caught a huge alligator gar. One guy held its mouth open revealing about a thousand sharp teeth….well, a bunch of teeth anyway. It reminded me of the story in my downloads from Cousins, Chapter Nine. Some of you that live around Coal Fire Creek, Alabama may have fished that hole. Question, can that big alligator gar still be alive and well since my youthful days there in Coal Fire. The hole that has the old cypress stump was up creek from the US Highway 82 bridge near Coal Fire, probably 1/2 mile north or so..I wonder when the last time that big rascal was seen by someone. Listen, as a kid many years ago, swimming in the same hole with that monster took guts…I would not swim nude in that hole for fear of him thinking that I was trolling…that was a scary place to fish…check out Cousins, Chapter Nine in the downloads, part fiction, part true….Thanks, Pete
Since predator fish generally have a longer life span than regular edible game fish, it might be possible that the guy might be still around. Wikipedia says that alligator gars can reach weights of greater than 300 pounds. Now, this may take some guts; however, not much guts are required to swim in the same hole as a shark if the presence of the shark is unknown. Guts is only required if one continues to swim after the shark is seen. Wikipedia also says that alligator gars sometimes reach up to 8 – 10 feet in length. Can you imagine swimming with a 365 pound, 10-foot alligator gar? One may as well go to the Gulf and swim with the sharks.
Alligator gars must be somewhat on the timid side in general, at least compared to sharks. I have never heard of anyone being attacked by an alligator gar in Coal Fire creek, or anywhere else for that matter. As a side note, Wikipedia also says that alligator gars undergo a sex change when they get around 100 pounds. If that is true, this may be the reason that they seldom, if ever, attack large animals, including man.
Well, on the sex change…I never checked…Male or female hold equal terror for me…
I really enjoyed reading this post. Great step by step description!