Texan Bags Alligator Gar That Approached the New World Record

A Texas man is about to claim the new alligator gar world record for a monstrous fish he took out of the Amistad Reservoir.

Darren Carr may soon claim the top spot for alligator gar. The Del Rio resident took the giant prehistoric fish face-to-face with a spear gun. The beast weighed an astounding 235 pounds and was over 7 1/2 feet in length.

The Amistad Reservoir is a cove-riddled lake located in southern Texas on the Rio Grande. It provides perfect habitat for alligator gar.

In fact, the night before Carr dove into the murky water, his buddy D.W. Senney took a 191-pounder with a bow and arrow. Carr and Senney were following a tip from a friend who'd seen a number of big gar swimming in the area.

The next day the duo tried to catch one on rod and reel, and then Carr said he was going in after them. So, with speargun in hand, he dove in and prepared to do battle.

"We anchored the boat and put some lines out trying to fish for them, and I said I'm going to go swim that cove with my spear gun. The water in there was terribly murky," Carr told the Del Rio News-Herald. "I couldn't see more than probably 4 or 5 feet. I had a carp come slinging up into my legs, scaring the you-know-what out of me, and then I came face-to-face with her, maybe 2 or 3 feet away."

That's when things got interesting.

"Instead of blasting out of there, she just sunk down to the bottom, which allowed me to get a shot on her," he recalled. "She went blasting out of that cove toward the main channel of the lake. I just held onto the line, and she dragged me around for a while. We got out into deeper water, and she actually circled around me several times, came back toward me. The scary part was that I had line all around me and I didn't want to get wrapped up in that."

Eventually Carr had subdued all 95 inches and 235 pounds of alligator gar, which is ready to officially hit the record books.

"It has to be entered, but this is pending a new world record for this type of fish taken with a spear gun," he said.

Once officials confirm Carr's fish, it'll also best the current lake record by 14 pounds. One of Carr's friends took that 221-pound fish with a bow and arrow five years ago.

The fish is estimated to be between 30 and 40 years old.

"I'm exuberant. It's a wild deal, I promise you, one-on-one with a fish like that. She swims a lot better than me," Carr said. "That's the last alligator gar I'll ever kill personally. I have an uber respect for an animal that long-lived, and they're becoming a rarity here in Texas."

Like what you see here? Experience more articles and photographs about the great outdoors at the Facebook page, Stumpjack Outdoors.

NEXT: MEET 'BIG TEX,' THE LARGEST ALLIGATOR EVER CAUGHT LIVE IN TEXAS

WATCH