Okay this must be the freakiest freshwater fish ever.

[Blazer]

I just saw a thing on animal planet about these and I figure I show it to you guys too.


This is a baby Aligator Gar, a member of the pike family, a predatory fish. It looks pretty cute when still small...

But don't let that fool you because these fuckers grow HUGE.


And as for why they are called "Aligator Gar", you only have to look at their mouths.


Forget about Jaws, these guys are way scarier and they live in rivers.

[Jack The Riffer]

Used to see them in the Bayous when I lived in Louisiana. Saw a dead one floating once that looked like a gator had taken a nice big chunk out of.

[Newc]

Yup. Saw a few of those myself when tubing (floating in an inner tube) in Louisiana. Definitely time to hit the beach when those things are spotted - or at least stop acting like a fish

[GinSonic]

Holy crap!
I'm familiar with gars, but I never knew they got that big. We got big fish in our rivers up here, but they're less menacing looking. The Fraser River Sturgeon:

[dg]

We have them in the rivers here, but I don't think they get quite as big as they do further South. I've seen dead ones about 6 or 7 feet long washed ashore, and live ones in the 4 to 5 foot range. They look scary, but they won't hurt you. We used to see them all the time when we'd go down the rapids in inner tubes.

[Rsmacker]

Fucking hell, "we're gonna need a bigger boat".

And here's me thinking this thread was going to be one about a little fish that swims up into your pud.

[dg]

Fucking hell, "we're gonna need a bigger boat".

And here's me thinking this thread was going to be one about a little fish that swims up into your pud.

That's exactly what I was expecting, too.

[TreeFitty]

That thing's head looks like something out of the dinosaur books I had as a kid.

[Grandturk]

Holy shnikes that thing is big. Looks like they had to use some high caliber fishing tackle to take that thing out, too.

[Strangletooth]

We've got them all over the Ozarks, lake of the Ozarks, Table Rock and some MONSTERS at Lake Norfork in Arkansas.

I've never caught one, but they say you can catch them with snagged, pulled rope, they get the rope caught in their teeth and it's on, hang on for a ride!

[Dinky93]

Holy crap!
I'm familiar with gars, but I never knew they got that big. We got big fish in our rivers up here, but they're less menacing looking. The Fraser River Sturgeon:

We have Sturgeon over here too. The big ones you can't actually keep, but you can keep smaller ones. One time my dad caught like a 10 or 11 footer. Sturgeon are a good eatin' fish.

[SEEGERMANY]

I was fishing on Toledo Bend and one "rolled" beside my boat. I'd estimate that it was 12-14 feet in length. There is a huge alligator gar in the museum on campus in Arkadelphia. It makes the one pictured above look like a minnow.

[SEEGERMANY]

Pat, we've fished for spotted gar with nylon rope, but they don't get nearly as large as the alligator gars. It's a huge sport down here to bow hunt for them at night.

[lerxstcat]

I have seen those displayed at the local July 4th fishing rodeos since I was a kid. They stay alive for quite awhile out of the water too, as often as not those jaws are still moving as they sit on the table on display.

Nobody had to tell me to keep my hands away from that mouth! They do look prehistoric, don't they?

[RacerX]

Yeah, Rich, ya don't wanna end up like this goof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iwArFqhh9E

(skip to 1:17 for the action shot)