Holy Dick Fritters! This Texas Bro Caught A Dinosaur Fish Big Enough To Eat An Actual Alligator

The Alligator Gar is one of the most peculiar looking freshwater fish species in America, looking more like something you’d expect to find in a book of dinosaurs than a fish you’d expect to see in a swamp. Alligator Gar are amongst the largest freshwater species of fish in the United States, though they can withstand saltwater and brackish water (brackish water is a salt/freshwater mixture), and they’re found all throughout America.

Angler Kevin Willis from Texas just caught himself an absolute trophy specimen when he landed this gargantuan alligator gar near Matagorda Bay, Texas, a saltwater estuary in the northern Gulf of Mexico about halfway between Corpus Christi and and Houston. After catching this prehistoric looking fish angler Kevin Willis released his once-in-a-lifetime alligator gar back into the wild so that another fisherman might have a crack at it one day, but not before snapping an amazing photograph.

I don’t want to sound like a dick here because this phrase is extremely overused, but this is definitely one of those ‘everything is bigger in Texas’ situations. Seriously, I’ve held baby/juvenile alligators before here at zoos in Florida and this fish is 100% capable of eating them (and probably has).

As I mentioned before the alligator gar is one of the most peculiar looking species of fish around, growing up to 10-feet-long and weight up to 300-pounds while looking quasi like an alligator (they also breathe air), they’re true dinosaurs. In recent years alligator gar have become a popular fish for ‘bow fishing‘ enthusiasts, here’s an example of what that sport looks like if you’re not familiar:

And here’s a video of an alligator gar feeding in a fish tank, in case you were curious as to how it uses that strange/elongated mouth:

As for how alligator gar taste I cannot speak, because I’ve never eaten them before. But if you’re interested in learning more about the best tasting fish around you should totally check out my VERY serious ranking:

The 25 Best Tasting Fish In The World

(h/t The Houston Chronicle)