Garzilla

Art Weston of Union, Kentucky has tangled with plenty of trophy class alligator gar over the years, but none to compare with the piscatorial titan that came calling about mid-morning on Sept. 2 as he and Kirk Kirkland waited patiently for some action at the upper reaches of Sam Rayburn Reservoir.

Weston, 52, is an adrenaline junkie and record chaser who lives for the big bite. He is particularly fond of going after heavyweights of any kind using specialized tackle, often in combination with the lightest line he thinks he can't get away with. He enjoys the challenge of fishing on the edge.

Kirkland is a former commercial fisherman turned fishing guide who has found a niché in steering customers to super- sized gar. He has helped popularize the catch and release of the prehistoric looking fish using rod and reel, and pioneered a wealth of effective tactics for landing them along the way.

Kirkland claims his clients have amassed more than 100 International Game Fish Association records, many while aboard an 18-foot aluminum boat he fittingly calls the “Garship Enterprise.” IGFA is the most widely recognized keeper of fresh and saltwater angling records worldwide.

Weston currently has 23 IGFA records under his name and numerous others pending. The current list comprises 14 species from six different countries, including eight alligator and longnose gar that have been caught with Kirkland.

Among them are a 251 pounder he caught and released last April on the Trinity River. It is a pending IGFA 80-pound line class record.

A DATE WITH GARZILLA

The beast Weston caught and released over the long Labor Day weekend at Sam Rayburn was even bigger. So large, in fact, that it is destined to crack one of IGFA’s oldest marks.

Weston’s alligator gar — an enormous 283 pounder measuring eight feet, four inches long with a 48-inch girth — is four pounds heavier than the current IGFA All-Tackle world record that dates back nearly 72 years. Experts believe Weston’s fish could be 80100 years old.

The late Bill Valverde of Mission caught the current record while fishing from shore along a remote stretch of the Rio Grande River in December 1951. A 2019 story in the Houston Chronicle indicates Valverde’s record was caught on a homemade fishing pole fashioned from bamboo using mullet for bait.

Weston’s paperwork for a new All-Tackle world record has been submitted for review by the IGFA records committee. It could be certified as early as November, according to Zack Belapiga, IGFAs’ angler recognition coordinator.

Belapigna has had plenty of dealings with Weston and Kirkland in the past. He says it was no surprise when the world record application came across his desk.

“What was a surprise is it took as long as it did for it to happen,” he said. “Texas has a lot of big alligator gar and those two guys know how to catch them.”

TINY LINE = MONSTER FISH

There is a really good story behind Weston’s fish, one that is built around dedication, preparedness and a dash of luck that couldn’t have been more timely in coming.

The light line specialist considers himself super fortunate because somehow, someway, he managed to land the monster on a six-pound test monofilament line. The Momoi line was tethered to a 70 inch, 175-pound test steel leader with a 8/0 J-hook. Weston used a 5 1/2 foot GOOFISH rod matched with a Daiwa 19 Emcast free spool spinning reel.

Plenty could have gone wrong during a dicey battle that lasted nearly three hours. Luckily, just about everything went right. Weston offered Kirkland a boat load of the credit.

“I can’t say enough about Captain Kirk and how he has helped me land so many wonderful fish,” Weston said. “There are not too many guides that will put up with a record hunter and all the effort it takes, but he is the best there is.”

Admittedly, the idea of tangling with an all-tackle world record alligator gar wasn’t on Weston’s mind as the slab of fresh carp he used for bait settled to bottom in 12-15 feet of water on the sandy flat just south of the State Highway 103 bridge. He had hired Kirkland in hopes of grabbing a few IGFA line-class records that were obtainable with much smaller fish, and the first day of the week-long trip started off on a really good note.

Weston broke the IGFA’s 12-pound line class record earlier in the morning with a 169 pounder. That’s when he sized down his line in hopes of catching a fish that would top the current six-pound record of 123 pounds, 9 ounces. As fate had it, he wound up wrangling a giant that crushed the mark with nearly 160 pounds to spare.

“I could have used the 130-pound test and it still would have been the all-tackle world record,” Weston said. “It’s just not logical to think you are going to land a 283-pound fish on a six-pound test line, but that’s the line I was using at the time and somehow it worked out. One brush against a tree limb or rock with that light line and it would have been over. I still can’t believe we pulled it off. It was a shockingly big fish.”

Kirkland was equally surprised by the world record catch, which he called the ‘Holy Grail’ of gar fishing records.

“There are all sorts of things that can go wrong with a fish like that, especially on a light line,” Kirkland said. “Everything has to go right. The line can’t give. The fisherman can’t get tired and the captain can’t run over the line. You break off a lot of fish that you never see doing this, but Art is very skilled at what he does and he’s got a bunch of other records to show for it. Last year he caught a 110 pounder on a two-pound line. He knows what he is doing.”

THE BATTLEFIELD

Kirkland described the area where the big fish bit as an old pasture that was flooded when the lake was built back in the 1960s. He said the field spans about 15 open acres and is flanked by old timber and stumps. The water is about 12-15 feet deep with a sand bottom and very few snags.

“I found it back in the 1980s and the gar are prone to school up there every year,” Kirkland said. “They were really rolling in there that day.”

Weston said it was about 10 a.m. when the big gar came calling. Interestingly, he initially thought a small fish had taken the bait. The fish raced away in high gear, stripping the line spool well into the backing before the guide was able to gather the boat anchor and start chasing it down with the outboard.

“It was literally smoking the reel,” Weston said. “Kirk and I both commented on how unusual it was for this fish to be running so fast and so far without stopping. It’s been my experience that smaller fish tend to swim faster than the larger ones. That’s what I was expecting.”

He learned differently when fish breached the surface for the first time to gulp oxygen. It was about 60 yards ahead of the boat.

“It’s back was wide and gray,” he said. “Kirk didn’t see it, but I did. I wasn't certain, but I told Kirk I thought she was big.”

Weston said the epic battle continued for about two hours and 45 minutes. It was touch-and-go the entire time as the fish never stopped swimming.

“You can’t put pressure on a fish like that with a light line,” he said. “Kirk did a great job keeping pace with the outboard and trying to stay on top of her. I have fought other fish for the past two hours and had the line randomly break. I was really dreading it at this point.”

CLOSING THE DEAL

Weston got the break he needed when the gar rose to the surface right beside the boat. Kirkland seized the opportunity and was able to get multiple ropes on it, including one lasso that cinched behind the pectoral fins. The guide paid for it with some nasty rope burns across his palms.

“She got mad and took off when she felt that rope,” Kirkland said. “Luckily, I managed to tie off to a hand rail at the bow. The boat jerked sideways when she hit the end.”

The anglers eventually subdued the fish and guided it towards a nearby beach. There, they set up a certified tripod scale, carefully secured the fish in a sling and documented the certified weight at 283 pounds.

Weston said the whole process took about three minutes, after which the men videoed the live release of what is likely to be the biggest alligator gar ever recorded in the IGFA record books. You can see the video of the live release at: facebook. com/100005069791028/ videos/pcb.2448242012021 435/816365203479430.

Matt Williams is a freelance writer based in Nacogdoches. He can be reached by email, mattwillwrite4u@yahoo.com.