Fish and Fishing in Louisiana labeled the gars as voracious pests that “are responsible for the destruction of great numbers of useful and valuable fishes.” Yet this warning went unchallenged for nearly a century and numerous populations of Alligator Gar were depleted. Richardson (1914, p 407) in a paper on breeding habits of fishes in the Illinois River warned that "Certainly if our commercial fisheries are to be properly conserved, stringent measures will have to be taken against these 'weeds' and 'wolves' among fishes." This sentiment was based only on visual observations of adult Shortnose Gar Lepisosteus platostomus and - not based on any scientific evidence of harm. During the twentieth century, gars were viewed as harmful by most anglers and even fisheries managers.
Alligator Gar are second only to the Lake Sturgeon as true freshwater leviathans. In addition to sharing in Spitzer’s many quests to catch a gator gar, we learn the many sad stories of misinformation about the Alligator Gar, gar attacks, and much more.
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