A Texas fisherman only set a new record for Corpus Christi Lake after catching a 207-pound alligator, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Paul Hefner told KSAT he caught the massive 7-foot, 6-inch fish on April 13.
Hefner’s father, who has been fishing in that area since the 1980s, stood up on the family’s boat and took a photo of him next to his catch to better show the size of the fish.
“Not only were we targeting gar, but we were also targeting flathead and blue catfish. We also broke the Nueces River bluefish record, four separate times,” Hefner said.
He told KSAT that he and his father used nets to catch fish to use as live bait like carp, buffalo and tilapia.
“As an old man once told my father in the 1980s, ‘the bigger the bait, the bigger the fish.’ In this case, it was a 12-inch live tilapia that caught the record” , Hefner said.
He credited rains in the area with increasing river flow, which also helped stir up the fish.
“We’re not sure if the extra flow helped the gar since it was in the lake, but maybe the fresh water coming in from the river moved it. I think that was the only fish we caught that day.” , Hefner continued.
He and his father released the alligator back into the river after posing for photos. You can watch a video of the launch at Instagram post low:
The world record for an alligator is held by a 327-pound fish estimated to be 95 years old, according to TPWD. He was captured in Mississippi in 2011.
To avoid overfishing, the TPWD imposed a statewide bag limit of one alligator per day in 2009.
Despite their appearance, alligators are not known attack humans and their teeth are designed to hold and subdue prey, not to tear it apart.
“Alligators are an important part of Texas fisheries. Their ancestors have been found in Permian deposits as fossils from 215 million years ago, making them not only one of the oldest fish, but also in truly native jeans,” TPWD officials said.
Here’s another photo of one of Hefner’s record catfish catches:
Paul Hefner poses with catfish. (Paul Hefner)
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