• UPDATE
  The Alligator Gar Technical Committee will hold its Annual Meeting in conjunction with the Southern Division American Fisheries Society Spring Meeting. This year the SDAFS meeting is in Wheeling, West Virginia from February 18th – 21st. It will be held at the Oglebay Resort and Conference Center. More information on the SDAFS meeting can be found here  http://sdafs.org/wvafs/meetings/.
  With the meeting rapidly approaching we need to move quickly to plan and organize our Technical Committee meeting. This is a first call for presentations, talks, posters, or topics of interest to discuss at the alligator gar tech comm meeting. We would like to hear an update from all states, learn about recent, ongoing, and upcoming research, and allot time for discussion of your choice. We also need to cover basic tech comm meeting guidelines, and would like to discuss the future direction of our gar group. We have lots to add to the agenda so please send in your talk titles soon so we can get an agenda out to you guys as quickly as possible.
  Alligator Gar Technical Committee Meeting
  Oglebay Resort and Conference Center
  Wheeling, West Virginia
  Thursday-February 18, 2016
  8:30 am – 5:00 pm
  Meeting Room B
  Please reply to alligatorgartechcomm@gmail.com with an email and let us know if you will be able to attend and if you request a time slot for presenting. Last, if you would like to be removed from this mailing list or someone needs to be added please let us know so we can update this listserv. Please forward to anyone interested.
  Thanks and have a great day!
  -Kayla Kimmel

.

• 2014 Alligator Gar Technical Committee Meeting Minutes from SDAFS, Charleston, SC: Click Here
• For reports and additional information presented at the meeting: Click Here

.

• 2013 Alligator Gar Technical Committee Meeting Minutes from SDAFS Nashville, TN: Click Here
• For reports and additional information presented at the meeting: Click Here

.

• The latest official information on the new Mississippi State Trophy Fish alligator gar record caught in the Yazoo River, Mississippi:

  PHOTO 1

  PHOTO 2

  Photo Credit:  Allen Katzenmeyer, US Army Corps of Engineers

  Robert Belk(orange shirt) and Randy Rippy shot the fish at the same time. Taylor Belk (son) shot it first, but the arrow bounced off.
  Total Length- 7 foot 2 inches
  Girth 43 ½”
  Sex – female
  Certified Weight 234 lbs

  Robert Belk (orange shirt) and Randy Rippy shot this 234 pound Alligator Gar while bowfishing on 6/24/2011 in the Yazoo River (Warren Co. Mississippi) below the Hwy 465 bridge just downstream from the Steele Bayou water control structure.

  This alligator gar, when certified,  will be the new State Trophy Fish record for Alligator Gar. The State Trophy Fish List is for fish caught on any sport fishing gear (jugs, yoyos, trotlines, bowfishing) that is not a rod and reel catch. The previous State Trophy Fish Record for alligator gar was 175 pounds set in 1993.

  Tissue samples were taken for future genetic testing.

• UPDATE – The 2011 SDAFS Alligator Gar Technical Committee Meeting was a great success. Thank you to everyone that worked so hard on organizing the meeting, presenting, and providing a fantastic fish fry. The Tennessee folks really went above and beyond with their hospitality.

  Meeting information, minutes, photos, and presentations from the meeting will be posted on the site as they become available. Check back often for updates on the Meeting Page.

• Here is the latest official information on the alligator gar recently caught in Chotard Lake, Mississippi:

  FOR PHOTOS CLICK HERE

  Total Length (TL) – 254.7 cm (8 feet 5 ¼ inches)
  Standard Length (SL) – 214.6 cm (7 feet 11 1/16 inches)
  Girth – 121.8 cm or 47.95 inches
  Weight on 2/15/11 – 327 pounds
  Caught in a net on 2/14/11 at Chotard Lake, Mississippi (an oxbow lake of the Mississippi River)

  Caught by a Commercial fisherman’s net on February 14, 2011.
  Donated to MS Museum of Natural Science for permanent display.

  Official Contact:
  Dennis Riecke, CFP Fisheries/Environmental Coordinator
  Mississippi Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries & Park
  1505 Eastover Dr.
  Jackson, MS 39211-6374
  v. 601-432-2207
  f. 601-432-2203v

  E-mail: dennisr@mdwfp.state.ms.us

• Information on the new Oklahoma state hook and line record alligator gar: Click Here for Photos and more info.

  James Tucker of Ardmore pulled in a 192-pound, 1-ounce alligator gar Jan. 27 from the Red River in Love County, establishing a new state record. The record-breaking fish measured seven feet, seven and a half inches long and was an impressive three feet, three inches in girth. Tucker snagged the monstrous fish about 10 a.m. using a 65-pound test line.