River Monsters (2009–2017): Season 1, Episode 3 - Alligator Gar - full transcript
Jeremy is on the hunt for an armor plated, 300 pound, river fish suspected of being a man-eater that lives, can you believe it, in the United States.
Try and catch me!
In the Deep South,
a monster is accused
of a series of violent attacks.
A creature as deadly as a shark
and as big as a gator is blamed.
Wherever we have alligator gar,
there are myths of monsters.
The state authorities said
it should be electrocuted.
Now I'm on a mission
to get face-to-face
with this river monster...
You better be strapped in.
To find out
if this animal really is guilty
of the crimes it's blamed for.
I'm Jeremy Wade,
a fisherman and a biologist
with a passion
for freshwater giants.
I've traveled the globe,
putting my life on the line to
find truly monster-sized fish.
It's become something
of an obsession for me
to get into really remote parts
of the world
and to find the animals
that nobody else can.
But the creatures
I hunt and find
are not just monsters in size,
but in attitude, too.
And now I'm on the trail of one
that has a reputation
for attacking humans.
I've heard some alarming stories
of this creature
over many years, but I've never
seen one in the flesh.
It's the alligator gar,
a truly prehistoric monster.
There are five species of gar
that inhabit the United States.
All gar are ancient fish.
They've existed on earth
for over 100 million years.
Their survival is in part
because of their unique
defense system...
Scales made from a super-hard
enamel called ganoin.
This armor plating
has seen them survive
predatory dinosaurs.
The alligator gar, however,
is in a class apart.
Named for the profile
of its snout,
it's the largest of all gar,
reaching some 10 feet in length
and weighing over 365 pounds.
It has a further
defining characteristic...
A double row
of dagger-pointed teeth
along the length
of the upper jaw.
But these attributes
have not been enough
to defend it against
a more modern threat... man.
Before 1930,
their range extended
beyond American borders.
But the impact of people means
that now they're not found
above the bootheel
of Missouri and Tennessee.
Alligator gar stand accused
of savage attacks on humans.
I've trawled the archives,
and all the attacks
I've come across
are concentrated
in the Deep South.
They certainly have
the teeth for it.
But I've been unable to find
any hard evidence
that these fish
are the culprits.
If I'm going to find
an alligator gar guilty
of these crimes,
I'm definitely looking
for a very big fish.
The experts I've spoken to
suggest Texas is the place
where the biggest specimens
are still to be found.
I'm heading directly
to the Trinity River,
a 710-mile-long waterway.
Here people have caught gator
gar longer than I am tall.
Bigger when you get close,
isn't it?
To help me,
I'm recruiting Bubba Bedre.
He's a specialist
in finding alligator gar
that weigh over 100 pounds...
Sometimes for food,
but normally for bow fishermen
after trophies.
But I'm not planning
to catch a fish for a trophy.
I want to find out
if this creature
has committed the crimes
it's accused of.
Bubba is taking me straight
to a section of the Trinity
that he believes holds the best
hope of finding large gar.
What we're doing now is we're
just drifting with the current,
and we've just come to a bend
in the river
that doubles 'round.
And Bubba's just said this is
the hole, this is a known haunt.
I can imagine the current
has actually dug out
a bit of a hole
in the bottom here.
And apparently
they are very aware...
More aware than a lot of fish...
Of sort of knocking
and noises in the boat.
So we're literally just drifting
with the current
and just looking to see if we
can see them come up and breach.
Gar have a swim bladder
that works like a lung,
an adaptation
that helps them survive
in oxygen-poor backwaters
and creeks.
However, this brings them up
to the surface to breathe.
It's a chink in their armor,
giving away their presence.
Oh, yes.
So they're just coming up
and gulping air and going down?
Yeah.
That fish there is mad.
He knows we're here.
Yeah, exactly.
When he splashes hard like that,
I'd guess...
Assume to spook us off.
I've come across
the same thing in the Amazon.
There's a fish there
that comes up and gulps air,
and if they do it gently,
they don't know you're there.
If they're like that, you think,
"Oh, that's a good fish,"
but it's s actually getting up
and going down
as quickly as it can.
So it's the same behavior.
The rivers here
have murky water.
With visibility limited,
gar use a band of highly
sensitive vibration receptors
along their body
called the lateral line.
This enables them
to locate prey and predators.
To avoid detection,
we decide to abandon the boat
and fish from the shore.
I'm still experimenting
with baits,
and I'm going to start off
using a treble hook...
Standard issue
for big, predatory fish.
Although the water's muddy,
I've seen several come
and break the surface.
I know they're here.
I know there are fish
of 100-pounds-plus, you know,
within a 25-yard radius
of my bait, you know?
That's quite a feeling.
It's one of those moments
in fishing
where things can go
from being very quiet,
like they are at the moment,
to... You know,
suddenly you can have
an animal over 100 pounds
on the end of your line,
trying to pull you in the water.
But if there is a monster gator
gar in these Texan waters,
it's not
giving itself up easily.
If I'm to find one that fits
the crimes it's accused of...
it has to be
at least as big as me...
a real river monster.
140 miles from the ocean,
I'm on a mission
to get face-to-face
with a monster
of the Deep South...
the alligator gar,
a shark-sized river dweller.
At Lake Livingston
on the Trinity River in Texas,
I seek out legendary fisherman
Bobby Fly
for some clues on how to find
a giant specimen.
He caught one 7 feet long
that put him
in the Hall of Fame,
and he believes
there are still big gar around
on the Trinity.
You ain't got to move your boat
100 yards one way or the other
to catch good garfish
right there.
Now, I have seen one 14 foot
long down there... garfish.
- Oh, really?
- Mm-hmm.
I was tied up
on top of a willow tree
with a 14-foot flat-bottom,
and this bad boy
come right up beside me
and just surfaced right there.
And I seen the front of my boat
and the back of my boat,
and I seen fish all the way.
So I immediately
pulled up the slack,
undone my rope,
and went on to the house.
I didn't hang around.
But this sighting was in 1987,
and his record catch
was landed in 1991.
Other anglers have pulled out
large specimens,
but no fish
over 8 1/2 feet in length
has been caught
in the last decade.
The big question is...
Are there still any gar left
large enough to commit
the attacks they're accused of?
And if so, how will I catch one?
That's interesting.
Bobby Fly caught his giant
using a bait of a carp-like
fish called a buffalo.
And how did you prepare
the buffalo to...
Okay, you take the buffalo,
and you want a nice one
about, oh, 5, 10 pounds.
Then you take a mallet
and beat him up.
- What, like a hammer?
- A mallet.
Well, a little baseball bat's
what we use.
And you just whup on him
real good.
And then you take your claws,
your fingernails,
and just get its tail,
and you just strip the fins off.
And then you cut him up
in little bitty squares,
like 1/4-inch squares.
The blood... The reason why you
beat on the fish with a mallet
is to get that blood
all into the meat, see?
'Cause that's what
they're smelling out there.
They want that blood.
You just put it on that hook
and throw it up there.
That's very interesting.
All I got to do now
is go out and try
and get something similar-sized.
Something close to that
will make me happy.
Well, you will.
You will.
There's some big ones out there.
You go down there
where I told you to go,
and you'll be all right.
Bobby Fly's optimism
about the size of these fish
is ringing in my ears.
But I'm still unsure whether
this fish is as aggressive
as its reputation suggests.
I've heard many stories
of these fish attacking humans,
but one particular incident
sticks in my mind,
a really gruesome report
from the neighboring state,
Louisiana.
Try and catch me!
On a warm, humid, spring day,
a 9-year-old schoolgirl,
Elizabeth Grainger,
and her 13-year-old brother,
George,
are playing on the shoreline
of the lake.
Race you!
It's not fair.
You always win.
Elizabeth, only a few feet
away from her brother,
dangles her feet in the water.
You always win.
You always do.
Suddenly something grabs hold
of her leg.
Dr. Robert B. Payne
has worked as a physician
for almost 40 years.
But he has never seen
wounds like this.
What have we here?
My goodness.
The press report George's claim
that what attacked his sister
was 7 feet long...
and that he believed it
to be a garfish.
In his medical report,
Dr. Payne describes the wounds
as being like coarse needles
inserted in a board.
A wave of paranoia soon follows,
and the alligator gar
is held accountable
for many similar attacks.
Although this was
a well-documented event,
the identity of the attacker
rested entirely
on the testimony
of a 13-year-old boy.
But was an alligator gar
really the culprit?
Or, with its threatening,
prehistoric appearance,
was it just
an obvious scapegoat?
I turn to Mark Spitzer,
an expert on the gar.
You've got sort of
an inch thick or so.
Is that what you...
Is that the official gar history
as far as you've...
This is my gar history.
I've been intensely researching
gar for the last few years,
and, you know,
all over the country,
wherever we have alligator gar,
there are myths of monsters.
These fish were the fishes
of nightmares, and so...
I mean,
one rumor that was created
was that these fish eat
twice their weight in a day
and stuff like that, and
that they attack human beings.
So, I mean, were there lots of
stories of that kind of nature?
There was an article
that appeared
in the New Orleans newspaper
called "Alligator Gar
More Dangerous
Than So-Called
'Man-eater' Shark."
And this is a copy
of the article.
It was written
by an anonymous journalist
who basically said
if you should emerge
from swimming or taking a bath
and you find out
that you have a limb missing,
do not blame the shark.
It is probably the alligator gar
that did it.
It's, where does the fact end
and the imagination
and sort of fantasy start?
The gar can certainly grow
to a large size.
And it has a ferocious armory
of teeth.
But does this prove an
inclination to attack humans?
Is it a natural-born killer?
I need to find hard evidence.
Using the advice
of fishing legend Bobby Fly,
I'm going for a bait
of buffalo fish.
This, I hope,
will let me get my hands
on the alleged culprit.
But I'm learning on the job.
My best hope is to try and get
into the mind of the gar.
I've only been here
a very short time.
And because so few people fish
for these fish...
It's a big, ugly,
stupid-looking fish,
so let's use
fairly basic tackle.
And normally
it's a thick bit of wire,
some heavy line,
and a big treble hook.
I think they're
actually quite sensitive.
You can still be sensitive even
if you've got a bogey mouth.
And I think thick wire...
They can feel that
when they're chomping on it.
And I think a treble hook
as well.
There's a nice, soft,
succulent bit of fish,
and there's something else
in there.
"Now, what's that?"
I think they can spit it out.
So I'm using a single hook.
And the thing about that...
It can just fold down nicely.
It's not sticking out like,
you know, three points on it.
Both Mark and I cast lines
into the river,
but it's the bait
on the single hook
that gets picked up.
Something's got it.
It's moving.
It's moving right to left.
- Isn't it?
- Yeah, it is.
I need to let the line run
very freely
to avoid the fish realizing
the bait's attached to anything.
Something's taken off.
It's on the end.
It's stopped.
He's off again.
He's off again.
- Really?
- Yeah, really.
It's good.
Good sign.
All right,
it's gonna be very soon.
Yeah.
- Oh, I think it's off.
- Aw.
Oh, no. No, no.
No, no.
It's coming toward us.
That's a small...
It's a turtle or a small fish.
- Or it's a little gar.
- Is that a needle nose?
Look at that greedy thing,
that greedy thing.
Ah!
This gator gar has eyes
bigger than its stomach.
But at 3 feet long,
it's a chance for me to test
whether these fish have
an aggressive character.
Right.
They grow 18 inches
their first year.
So it's probably, you know,
between a year and two.
That tongue's interesting,
isn't it?
Yeah.
There's those two rows
of teeth on the top.
These teeth
are 3/8 of an inch long,
1/4 of the length of those
of a fully grown gator gar.
Unh!
That's it.
Oh, my God.
You got bit, huh?
I was just in there
trying to get the hook out.
Score one for the fish.
That's a very young alligator
gar with a big appetite.
I'm just gonna lob him
back in the water... Oops!
Back in the water.
My idea that the gar
is just a misunderstood,
big, ugly, stupid fish
has caught me out.
Maybe it does deserve
its reputation after all.
This fish has actually still got
a lot of energy left.
I brought it in
on very heavy gear.
So it's actually got
a lot of energy left.
Normally they'd be
pretty tired out.
I'm just gonna
slide him over the side
well ahead
of our next fishing spot.
So here we go.
Back you go.
Even a fish this small
has managed to draw blood.
Good battle scars.
You can see
the sort of cut on it.
This is a setback to my theory
that the gator gar
may have been unfairly blamed
for these violent attacks.
The consequences,
if this fish were scaled up
to a monstrous 8 to 10 feet,
are beginning to hit home.
When you think about a gar
that size with teeth to match
and a body like a torpedo, it
really is a terrifying prospect.
You've just got
a living weapon of destruction.
In the rivers of the Deep South
lives a creature
reported to have
the immense size
and the attitude
of a man-eating shark.
I'm on a mission
to find out the truth
behind its ugly reputation.
Unh!
I know from firsthand experience
just how sharp those teeth are.
Oh, my God.
You got bit, huh?
That was just
a gentle brush with its teeth.
It wasn't particularly deep,
but they certainly drew blood.
Oops!
Back in the water.
Yet this alligator gar
is only 3 feet long.
George Grainger reported
that what bit his sister
was 7 feet long.
And other reports state
that these fish
can reach double that length.
Now, I have seen one
14 foot long down there.
Its reputation
for vicious attacks on humans
is beginning
to appear justified.
It's no wonder
that people took fright
when you consider
a beast of those dimensions
with a couple of hundred
razor-sharp teeth.
But I still don't have
hard proof.
I believe the jury is still out.
In past times,
for many of those living
in the Deep South,
this was a fish
guilty as charged,
one that should be eradicated
from all rivers and lakes.
So they took it
really seriously, then,
the whole business
of "Let's clear these things
out of the water.
They're an abomination.
They're not fit to sort of
share the planet with us."
They obviously look guilty.
Therefore,
they must be responsible
for these occasional incidents
where someone gets
their leg bitten or whatever.
But where's the evidence?
Basically, they look scary,
and so that added to people
just wanting to run them
out of town.
And so
they were run out of town.
I mean, I heard of just
sort of heaps of them...
Oh, yeah.
Bulldozered piles.
Lots of people shooting them.
Just a very despised,
hated fish.
In 1933,
the Texas Game Fish Commission
began a campaign
of extermination.
They built
an electric gar destroyer,
rigged with a 200-volt
electric net to kill the fish.
Over the next three decades,
millions of gar were destroyed
in an effort
to be rid of them forever.
Perhaps the prejudice
that the alligator gar
has always suffered
explains
the extreme fishing methods
used to catch them today.
Unless they get the protection
they need to reach full size,
giant alligator gar
may well be wiped out.
Now in Texas,
for the first time,
the Parks & Wildlife authorities
are trying to work out
what the cost has been
to the gar population.
On the lower Trinity,
we're en route to set
what are called juglines,
baited hooks attached to floats.
Our plan is to catch
as many gator gar as possible
and then monitor them
with electronic tags.
Dr. Dave Buckmeier
leads this project.
Dave, what's the state
of knowledge
on the gar at the moment?
Alligator gar, along with other
gars and buffalo and things,
have always been considered
kind of rough fish,
which no one really cared
much about.
Is that the same as trash fish?
"Trash fish" would be
another common name for it.
And so there was
actually even efforts
to try and eradicate
alligator gar
and other gars from populations
'cause they were believed
to have eaten desirable fish,
if you will... largemouth bass
and things we have, catfish.
They have recently
been listed as vulnerable
by the
American Fisheries Society.
That's because, in most states,
they're definitely
on the decline.
So we have some real reasons
for concerns about this species.
- Shall I chuck this out?
- Yeah, go ahead.
Throw that one out there.
And it unwinds itself, does it?
Yeah, they just... As the bait
sinks, they'll unwind.
And then that lies
on the bottom.
Right.
And that lies on the bottom.
And when the gar
come up to feed,
they'll kind of comb the bottom,
pick up the bait,
and usually run with it
for 15, 20 minutes.
And after we're confident
they've swallowed it,
we'll go pick up the bait.
Spinning nicely there.
It looks like it's gone to rest.
Not much research
has yet been done,
but it's thought few gator gar
reach their maximum life-span
of 60 years.
As we move on to set more lines,
there's a call from
the opposite bank of the river.
We've actually just put out
some juglines and nets.
But some local guys here...
They've got a trotline out,
a line going across the river
with hooks at intervals.
And they've just pulled
a small gar out on that.
So the first fish
actually now is gonna be tagged,
and then
all the measurements taken.
And 78 is the tag number.
The tag will provide
the biologists with data
about which areas of the
Trinity River the gar are using
so they can formulate a plan
to protect the species.
Sounds like a visit to the
dentist, but quite appropriate
because the scales
of these things
are made
of something called ganoin,
which is very similar
to tooth enamel.
So hence the need for a drill,
just to penetrate
that body armor.
Engineered
like medieval chain mail,
the gar's suit of armor is built
from thick,
diamond-shaped scales,
providing a formidable defense
against attack.
They're so hard
that Native Americans used them
for arrowheads.
And the fish...
I can't even feel it tensing.
It's just lying here very,
very calmly, wet towel over it.
Over the eyes as well.
Quite important.
It's just come out
of a very muddy river,
where it can't see much
into the bright light.
Unlike my last experience,
this young gar displays
no aggressive behavior.
If you'll read the top number.
Okay, this is 44433.
We're gonna just let
that one go.
The gar is released unharmed.
Oh!
- I guess he wanted to go.
- He wanted to go.
The electronic tag
will now send a signal
to a series of receivers
to monitor the fish's movements.
After several hours,
the scientists' own search
is finally successful.
Nothing on the juglines,
but one caught in a net...
A 2-foot gar.
There are no signs
of any monster-sized fish.
It looks like the population
of these fish
is in a worse state
than I thought.
Maybe in the old days, when
these fish were everywhere,
crude techniques would work.
But now I think I'm going to
have to develop an approach
that is more precise
and targeted.
I'm determined to get
face-to-face with a giant gar
and find out the truth behind
its monstrous reputation.
There we go.
So little is known
about this fish.
It's been accused
of all kinds of crimes,
but the research
into what it actually does,
where it does it,
and how it does it
is virtually nonexistent.
I'm heading for the aquarium
in Athens, Texas,
where curator Wayne Heaton
keeps some gator gar.
I need to know more about
the business end of these fish,
just what exactly their teeth
are capable of.
As far as a lot
of people are concerned,
this is very close to a shark.
And it's in freshwater.
It's in a river near you.
You know? Sort of,
"Don't go in the water."
Unfortunately, with us,
especially if it's something
we don't know much about,
we always assume the worst.
And so you see a big 6-, 7-,
8-foot gar hit the surface
with these monstrous teeth,
the first thing
that comes to your mind is,
"Well, I'm not getting
in the water."
Well, you know.
These teeth...
They're not like our teeth.
They're not kind of blunt.
We kind of have a few sharp ones
for tearing or whatnot.
These things are made to
whenever they grab something,
it's theirs.
And so these teeth are very,
very sharp.
I wonder if perhaps
they're a bit simpleminded
and they're sort of
programmed...
Even if it was dead, they're
programmed to keep it clamped
for a little while
before properly swallowing it.
When they grab it, they kind of
want to make sure
it's something that they're
gonna be able to swallow.
You might see them
hold it for a minute
to make sure
that that's what they want.
And once they decide to eat it,
you'll start see them
moving it in their mouth,
and then to the point where
they'll actually swallow it.
But then, once it's there,
even though it's a big mouth,
that process seems
to be quite a slow process.
Right. They will do it
at their leisure.
They're in no hurry because once
they have that in their mouth,
they know
it's not going nowhere.
If it's something
that's got quite a bit of fight,
they'll just keep
that mouth closed
until it wears itself out
to where they can swallow it.
You're not gonna have
something in the water
to try to find the gar.
You're basically gonna
let that gar come to you.
And he's gonna grab it.
And so when he grabs it,
you might not want to try to set
the hook right when he grabs it
because he might be
still deciding
whether he wants it or not.
But once he gets
to where he wants to swallow it
and then you set the hook,
you better be strapped in.
With the knowledge that I need
a cautious, patient approach,
I hire another fishing guide,
Mark Malfa,
to take me to a fresh section
of the Trinity River.
My plan... to hold off
setting the hook
until I'm sure the gator gar
has properly taken the bait.
That was definitely
a fish moving off.
Mm-hmm, for sure.
Not a damn thing.
This is actually very,
very frustrating fishing.
Something definitely
had that in its mouth
'cause it moved it
several yards.
But when I tighten down,
there's nothing there.
And, really, just talking
to people who fish here,
there's not much that anybody's
told me that's any use.
Very few people fish for these.
Bobby Fly got his by accident.
And the fishing that is done
on rod and line is pretty basic.
It does work.
It's a fairly low-percentage
success rate.
You chuck out a lump of dead
fish like this, and you wait,
and you let it take it
for a long time.
Most times you tighten down,
there's nothing on the end,
but sometimes there is.
And it hasn't really got any
more sophisticated than that.
That was another half-hour
with nothing to show
at the end of it.
But focused on my target,
I fish on, towards dusk.
What do you reckon...
Tighten down?
Yeah.
All right.
Normally, gar are caught
before the water begins
to cool down,
well before the sun sets.
That's gone off.
It's gone off again.
Most guides give up fishing
by midafternoon.
Set it. Set it.
Set it. Set it. Set it.
There we go.
That's it.
Please be on it.
You feel something?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's a fish.
Oh, yes!
Yes!
Oh, it's gone under the boat.
Just keep the tip away.
That soaked me.
I'm here, 4 feet above the
water, and I got a splashing.
Yes!
I'm hooked into my target,
a river monster
with a fearsome reputation...
The alligator gar.
It's pulling down.
It's pulling down.
Look at that rod tip.
Let's get him up.
Let's get him up.
After fishing
for 12 hours straight,
just as dusk turns to night,
I set my eyes on the giant fish.
Do you want me to do it?
The most dangerous part
of gar fishing
is bringing the fish
aboard the boat.
Coming over.
Oh, there we go!
That's what we wanted?
That's exactly what we wanted.
That's a proper-sized fish.
As the gar comes aboard,
it thrashes its snout from side
to side like a scythe.
I haven't forgotten
that 3-footer that got me.
This fish is almost 7 feet long.
Single hook.
Single hook.
Single hook, single hook.
We've done it.
We've done it.
Fantastic, Mark.
That was really...
- Unh!
- Ooh.
Okay.
You got the gaff handle?
- Yes.
- All right.
So this will go in here.
Okay.
The teeth of this gar
are another half inch longer
than those
that scarred me earlier.
It's 123, 123 pounds.
Good, good.
Good, good.
Yes.
Finally getting my hands
on the fish
and seeing it face-to-face,
I can begin to weigh up
the evidence.
Actually laying hands
on this prehistoric beast.
This is fantastic.
This is the creature
that I came here to see.
I mean, you hear people say,
like Mark,
that these things...
They won't just devour a bait.
They're so fiddly.
They will just sit and chew it
and maybe spit it out.
I've had fish take 100 yards
of line, even.
15, 20 minutes,
you tighten down,
and there's just nothing
on the end.
Gar don't bite pieces
off their prey.
They only eat
what they can swallow whole.
This puts humans off the menu.
For all this fierce reputation,
you know, they do seem to be...
They certainly look the part,
but I'm not sure that they
actually act up to the part.
Ooh, what a thing.
What an animal.
This gator gar
seems too gentle-natured
to cause deliberate harm.
Interesting
that here's the bait.
It hasn't taken it down.
The bait is...
Oh, there we go.
There we go. There we go.
Yeah.
Girl, don't worry.
You're going back in the water
Maybe we'll throw that
afterwards as a consolation.
When it just did that,
the whole upper jaw
sort of expanded, didn't it,
when it actually came up
and gulped.
You can see the gaps
where there's flesh in between,
and the head's
allowed to expand.
Right through
these two little veins.
Right through here
and up through here.
You see that separation
from the jaw?
That actually gives.
There's flesh
in between these areas
as well as up through here.
See that?
This is solid, solid.
Right here's flesh
that attaches the joints.
So it allows the head
to flex and move.
The skin that joins
these armored plates
allows the gar's jaw to expand.
But not so much
that it could consume a person
or even a human limb.
It's very tempting
just to keep it out
and admire it, you know?
But I think what is important...
Although this animal
is an air breather,
I think it is very much time
to get it back in.
I think one last look,
and back in the water.
Up. Oh!
See how it's doing.
Okay, you got it?
It's very hard to hold.
And you got the heavier end.
I've got the bony end.
This female gator gar
measures 6 feet, 8 inches.
She's longer than I am tall.
Then, once again,
the gar draws blood.
She has a 14-inch-long mouth
full of some 500 teeth.
That's not actually the teeth
of the animal.
That is the back of a scale
or some scales.
- Slicing across your...
- Yeah, as the fish... my hand...
With the weight of the fish
on my forearm there,
the fish just slid back.
Sliding that way is fine.
Sliding this way,
the rear points
of these triangular scales
stuck in.
The Native Americans
used to use them as arrowheads,
and I can see why now.
I've got a big, old scrape down
my arm there from the scales.
Anyway, should we get, uh...
I believe I've seen enough
to clear the gar's name.
You've got that, yeah?
It's time to return
the specimen to the wild
and reflect
on other possible suspects.
Okay.
- Lift that.
- Okay.
Bye-bye, baby.
There it goes.
There it goes.
Excellent.
Wow.
Has the clue been there
all along,
in the very name
the alligator gar shares
with another predator?
If you put legs on that, it
would just be like an alligator.
It would get up and walk.
Is the real culprit
the animal it could so easily
be mistaken for...
the American alligator?
After years
of one-sided testimony,
it's time for the jury
to review the verdict
on the guilt of the gator gar.
There must be
a more logical culprit
for the many incidents that
have been blamed on the gar.
In the same rivers and lakes
that they inhabit,
there are also
many American alligators.
Not only do they share
the same habitats,
they have similar teeth.
Their size and the profile
of their snouts
could easily be confused,
one for the other.
I've come to this alligator park
in southern Texas
to get a look
at some of the other characters
that share the water
with the alligator gar
'cause I've got a sneaking
feeling that, actually,
the alligator gar has taken
the rap for somebody else.
And it could be
these characters here.
What I really want to do
is get a fairly close look
at the equipment
of the alligator.
What would be really good
would be to see them in action.
But I think that part of it
is probably best left to Gary.
Gary Saurage is a key witness
for the gar's defense.
Absolutely.
He understands
the crucial difference
between the behavior of a fish
and an alligator.
You can imagine
an animal like this
would have no problem
taking a full-grown man.
They're sneaky.
They're tremendously patient.
These animals right here...
There's no telling
how many deaths
they're really responsible for
every year.
This is the apex hunter
in the United States of America
right here.
Let's say it's a hot summer day.
You decide you're gonna dip
your feet in the water.
You're dangling down, and,
wow, they come on up and hit.
When the alligator's hunting
his prey,
he'll shoot out of the water.
They'll grab
whatever limb he can get.
And on the way down,
he'll do a death roll.
And if you were to resist that,
it's whatever limb he gets,
whether it be hand, finger,
or toes, it's coming off.
The alligator gar
doesn't have near the pressure.
The American alligator
can bite down
with 3,000 pounds
per square inch.
And I'm sure many, many times
folks may think
that it's an alligator gar
on a bad bite,
but you can rest assured
it's not.
It's normally
the American alligator.
Gar have neither the power
nor the attitude
for premeditated
violent attacks on humans.
Alligator gar don't chew.
They only eat stuff big enough
that they can swallow whole.
Depending on the size
of the gar,
it depends on what size
the food item that they'll eat.
But a good 6-to 8-foot gar
could very easily take out
a 12-to 14-inch fish.
I'm left in little doubt
that many of the attacks
attributed to gator gar
are far more likely to be
the work
of the American alligator.
I've heard all these myths
about the alligator gar
ripping people's legs off,
chopping alligators in half,
generally terrorizing
the neighborhood.
But what's interesting is,
since having come here
and spoken to people who
actually know about this fish
and having spent some time
myself on the river,
I've got this idea
that it's actually
just got a bad P.R. agent.
I think
it's a bit of a pussycat.
It just so happens
that here is a tank
with some very big
alligator gar in,
and this is actually my chance
to test my theory for myself.
I've been at the sharp end
of a 3-foot gator gar's teeth.
Oops!
Back in the water.
I've felt the muscle power
held in the serpentine body
of a 6-foot-8-inch monster.
It's 123, 123 pounds.
But now I've got
to walk the talk.
I've got to venture into
the gar's own underwater world.
None of the gar show
any intent to harm me.
In my view,
it's the alligator gar itself
that has been the victim.
It's amazing to get this close.
This fish really is a miracle
of evolution, a true survivor.
But if anyone is gonna see
the real giants,
this fish needs to be allowed
to grow without persecution.
Maybe then we'll get to see
those 14-footers again.
Oh!
That was... That...
That was an experience.
Oh, I have to say,
the size and the aspect
of those fish, though,
when I first saw them,
was really quite intimidating.
But I think this is a very,
very misunderstood animal,
and I think it really is time
that we just try to understand
this fish a little bit better.
In the Deep South,
a monster is accused
of a series of violent attacks.
A creature as deadly as a shark
and as big as a gator is blamed.
Wherever we have alligator gar,
there are myths of monsters.
The state authorities said
it should be electrocuted.
Now I'm on a mission
to get face-to-face
with this river monster...
You better be strapped in.
To find out
if this animal really is guilty
of the crimes it's blamed for.
I'm Jeremy Wade,
a fisherman and a biologist
with a passion
for freshwater giants.
I've traveled the globe,
putting my life on the line to
find truly monster-sized fish.
It's become something
of an obsession for me
to get into really remote parts
of the world
and to find the animals
that nobody else can.
But the creatures
I hunt and find
are not just monsters in size,
but in attitude, too.
And now I'm on the trail of one
that has a reputation
for attacking humans.
I've heard some alarming stories
of this creature
over many years, but I've never
seen one in the flesh.
It's the alligator gar,
a truly prehistoric monster.
There are five species of gar
that inhabit the United States.
All gar are ancient fish.
They've existed on earth
for over 100 million years.
Their survival is in part
because of their unique
defense system...
Scales made from a super-hard
enamel called ganoin.
This armor plating
has seen them survive
predatory dinosaurs.
The alligator gar, however,
is in a class apart.
Named for the profile
of its snout,
it's the largest of all gar,
reaching some 10 feet in length
and weighing over 365 pounds.
It has a further
defining characteristic...
A double row
of dagger-pointed teeth
along the length
of the upper jaw.
But these attributes
have not been enough
to defend it against
a more modern threat... man.
Before 1930,
their range extended
beyond American borders.
But the impact of people means
that now they're not found
above the bootheel
of Missouri and Tennessee.
Alligator gar stand accused
of savage attacks on humans.
I've trawled the archives,
and all the attacks
I've come across
are concentrated
in the Deep South.
They certainly have
the teeth for it.
But I've been unable to find
any hard evidence
that these fish
are the culprits.
If I'm going to find
an alligator gar guilty
of these crimes,
I'm definitely looking
for a very big fish.
The experts I've spoken to
suggest Texas is the place
where the biggest specimens
are still to be found.
I'm heading directly
to the Trinity River,
a 710-mile-long waterway.
Here people have caught gator
gar longer than I am tall.
Bigger when you get close,
isn't it?
To help me,
I'm recruiting Bubba Bedre.
He's a specialist
in finding alligator gar
that weigh over 100 pounds...
Sometimes for food,
but normally for bow fishermen
after trophies.
But I'm not planning
to catch a fish for a trophy.
I want to find out
if this creature
has committed the crimes
it's accused of.
Bubba is taking me straight
to a section of the Trinity
that he believes holds the best
hope of finding large gar.
What we're doing now is we're
just drifting with the current,
and we've just come to a bend
in the river
that doubles 'round.
And Bubba's just said this is
the hole, this is a known haunt.
I can imagine the current
has actually dug out
a bit of a hole
in the bottom here.
And apparently
they are very aware...
More aware than a lot of fish...
Of sort of knocking
and noises in the boat.
So we're literally just drifting
with the current
and just looking to see if we
can see them come up and breach.
Gar have a swim bladder
that works like a lung,
an adaptation
that helps them survive
in oxygen-poor backwaters
and creeks.
However, this brings them up
to the surface to breathe.
It's a chink in their armor,
giving away their presence.
Oh, yes.
So they're just coming up
and gulping air and going down?
Yeah.
That fish there is mad.
He knows we're here.
Yeah, exactly.
When he splashes hard like that,
I'd guess...
Assume to spook us off.
I've come across
the same thing in the Amazon.
There's a fish there
that comes up and gulps air,
and if they do it gently,
they don't know you're there.
If they're like that, you think,
"Oh, that's a good fish,"
but it's s actually getting up
and going down
as quickly as it can.
So it's the same behavior.
The rivers here
have murky water.
With visibility limited,
gar use a band of highly
sensitive vibration receptors
along their body
called the lateral line.
This enables them
to locate prey and predators.
To avoid detection,
we decide to abandon the boat
and fish from the shore.
I'm still experimenting
with baits,
and I'm going to start off
using a treble hook...
Standard issue
for big, predatory fish.
Although the water's muddy,
I've seen several come
and break the surface.
I know they're here.
I know there are fish
of 100-pounds-plus, you know,
within a 25-yard radius
of my bait, you know?
That's quite a feeling.
It's one of those moments
in fishing
where things can go
from being very quiet,
like they are at the moment,
to... You know,
suddenly you can have
an animal over 100 pounds
on the end of your line,
trying to pull you in the water.
But if there is a monster gator
gar in these Texan waters,
it's not
giving itself up easily.
If I'm to find one that fits
the crimes it's accused of...
it has to be
at least as big as me...
a real river monster.
140 miles from the ocean,
I'm on a mission
to get face-to-face
with a monster
of the Deep South...
the alligator gar,
a shark-sized river dweller.
At Lake Livingston
on the Trinity River in Texas,
I seek out legendary fisherman
Bobby Fly
for some clues on how to find
a giant specimen.
He caught one 7 feet long
that put him
in the Hall of Fame,
and he believes
there are still big gar around
on the Trinity.
You ain't got to move your boat
100 yards one way or the other
to catch good garfish
right there.
Now, I have seen one 14 foot
long down there... garfish.
- Oh, really?
- Mm-hmm.
I was tied up
on top of a willow tree
with a 14-foot flat-bottom,
and this bad boy
come right up beside me
and just surfaced right there.
And I seen the front of my boat
and the back of my boat,
and I seen fish all the way.
So I immediately
pulled up the slack,
undone my rope,
and went on to the house.
I didn't hang around.
But this sighting was in 1987,
and his record catch
was landed in 1991.
Other anglers have pulled out
large specimens,
but no fish
over 8 1/2 feet in length
has been caught
in the last decade.
The big question is...
Are there still any gar left
large enough to commit
the attacks they're accused of?
And if so, how will I catch one?
That's interesting.
Bobby Fly caught his giant
using a bait of a carp-like
fish called a buffalo.
And how did you prepare
the buffalo to...
Okay, you take the buffalo,
and you want a nice one
about, oh, 5, 10 pounds.
Then you take a mallet
and beat him up.
- What, like a hammer?
- A mallet.
Well, a little baseball bat's
what we use.
And you just whup on him
real good.
And then you take your claws,
your fingernails,
and just get its tail,
and you just strip the fins off.
And then you cut him up
in little bitty squares,
like 1/4-inch squares.
The blood... The reason why you
beat on the fish with a mallet
is to get that blood
all into the meat, see?
'Cause that's what
they're smelling out there.
They want that blood.
You just put it on that hook
and throw it up there.
That's very interesting.
All I got to do now
is go out and try
and get something similar-sized.
Something close to that
will make me happy.
Well, you will.
You will.
There's some big ones out there.
You go down there
where I told you to go,
and you'll be all right.
Bobby Fly's optimism
about the size of these fish
is ringing in my ears.
But I'm still unsure whether
this fish is as aggressive
as its reputation suggests.
I've heard many stories
of these fish attacking humans,
but one particular incident
sticks in my mind,
a really gruesome report
from the neighboring state,
Louisiana.
Try and catch me!
On a warm, humid, spring day,
a 9-year-old schoolgirl,
Elizabeth Grainger,
and her 13-year-old brother,
George,
are playing on the shoreline
of the lake.
Race you!
It's not fair.
You always win.
Elizabeth, only a few feet
away from her brother,
dangles her feet in the water.
You always win.
You always do.
Suddenly something grabs hold
of her leg.
Dr. Robert B. Payne
has worked as a physician
for almost 40 years.
But he has never seen
wounds like this.
What have we here?
My goodness.
The press report George's claim
that what attacked his sister
was 7 feet long...
and that he believed it
to be a garfish.
In his medical report,
Dr. Payne describes the wounds
as being like coarse needles
inserted in a board.
A wave of paranoia soon follows,
and the alligator gar
is held accountable
for many similar attacks.
Although this was
a well-documented event,
the identity of the attacker
rested entirely
on the testimony
of a 13-year-old boy.
But was an alligator gar
really the culprit?
Or, with its threatening,
prehistoric appearance,
was it just
an obvious scapegoat?
I turn to Mark Spitzer,
an expert on the gar.
You've got sort of
an inch thick or so.
Is that what you...
Is that the official gar history
as far as you've...
This is my gar history.
I've been intensely researching
gar for the last few years,
and, you know,
all over the country,
wherever we have alligator gar,
there are myths of monsters.
These fish were the fishes
of nightmares, and so...
I mean,
one rumor that was created
was that these fish eat
twice their weight in a day
and stuff like that, and
that they attack human beings.
So, I mean, were there lots of
stories of that kind of nature?
There was an article
that appeared
in the New Orleans newspaper
called "Alligator Gar
More Dangerous
Than So-Called
'Man-eater' Shark."
And this is a copy
of the article.
It was written
by an anonymous journalist
who basically said
if you should emerge
from swimming or taking a bath
and you find out
that you have a limb missing,
do not blame the shark.
It is probably the alligator gar
that did it.
It's, where does the fact end
and the imagination
and sort of fantasy start?
The gar can certainly grow
to a large size.
And it has a ferocious armory
of teeth.
But does this prove an
inclination to attack humans?
Is it a natural-born killer?
I need to find hard evidence.
Using the advice
of fishing legend Bobby Fly,
I'm going for a bait
of buffalo fish.
This, I hope,
will let me get my hands
on the alleged culprit.
But I'm learning on the job.
My best hope is to try and get
into the mind of the gar.
I've only been here
a very short time.
And because so few people fish
for these fish...
It's a big, ugly,
stupid-looking fish,
so let's use
fairly basic tackle.
And normally
it's a thick bit of wire,
some heavy line,
and a big treble hook.
I think they're
actually quite sensitive.
You can still be sensitive even
if you've got a bogey mouth.
And I think thick wire...
They can feel that
when they're chomping on it.
And I think a treble hook
as well.
There's a nice, soft,
succulent bit of fish,
and there's something else
in there.
"Now, what's that?"
I think they can spit it out.
So I'm using a single hook.
And the thing about that...
It can just fold down nicely.
It's not sticking out like,
you know, three points on it.
Both Mark and I cast lines
into the river,
but it's the bait
on the single hook
that gets picked up.
Something's got it.
It's moving.
It's moving right to left.
- Isn't it?
- Yeah, it is.
I need to let the line run
very freely
to avoid the fish realizing
the bait's attached to anything.
Something's taken off.
It's on the end.
It's stopped.
He's off again.
He's off again.
- Really?
- Yeah, really.
It's good.
Good sign.
All right,
it's gonna be very soon.
Yeah.
- Oh, I think it's off.
- Aw.
Oh, no. No, no.
No, no.
It's coming toward us.
That's a small...
It's a turtle or a small fish.
- Or it's a little gar.
- Is that a needle nose?
Look at that greedy thing,
that greedy thing.
Ah!
This gator gar has eyes
bigger than its stomach.
But at 3 feet long,
it's a chance for me to test
whether these fish have
an aggressive character.
Right.
They grow 18 inches
their first year.
So it's probably, you know,
between a year and two.
That tongue's interesting,
isn't it?
Yeah.
There's those two rows
of teeth on the top.
These teeth
are 3/8 of an inch long,
1/4 of the length of those
of a fully grown gator gar.
Unh!
That's it.
Oh, my God.
You got bit, huh?
I was just in there
trying to get the hook out.
Score one for the fish.
That's a very young alligator
gar with a big appetite.
I'm just gonna lob him
back in the water... Oops!
Back in the water.
My idea that the gar
is just a misunderstood,
big, ugly, stupid fish
has caught me out.
Maybe it does deserve
its reputation after all.
This fish has actually still got
a lot of energy left.
I brought it in
on very heavy gear.
So it's actually got
a lot of energy left.
Normally they'd be
pretty tired out.
I'm just gonna
slide him over the side
well ahead
of our next fishing spot.
So here we go.
Back you go.
Even a fish this small
has managed to draw blood.
Good battle scars.
You can see
the sort of cut on it.
This is a setback to my theory
that the gator gar
may have been unfairly blamed
for these violent attacks.
The consequences,
if this fish were scaled up
to a monstrous 8 to 10 feet,
are beginning to hit home.
When you think about a gar
that size with teeth to match
and a body like a torpedo, it
really is a terrifying prospect.
You've just got
a living weapon of destruction.
In the rivers of the Deep South
lives a creature
reported to have
the immense size
and the attitude
of a man-eating shark.
I'm on a mission
to find out the truth
behind its ugly reputation.
Unh!
I know from firsthand experience
just how sharp those teeth are.
Oh, my God.
You got bit, huh?
That was just
a gentle brush with its teeth.
It wasn't particularly deep,
but they certainly drew blood.
Oops!
Back in the water.
Yet this alligator gar
is only 3 feet long.
George Grainger reported
that what bit his sister
was 7 feet long.
And other reports state
that these fish
can reach double that length.
Now, I have seen one
14 foot long down there.
Its reputation
for vicious attacks on humans
is beginning
to appear justified.
It's no wonder
that people took fright
when you consider
a beast of those dimensions
with a couple of hundred
razor-sharp teeth.
But I still don't have
hard proof.
I believe the jury is still out.
In past times,
for many of those living
in the Deep South,
this was a fish
guilty as charged,
one that should be eradicated
from all rivers and lakes.
So they took it
really seriously, then,
the whole business
of "Let's clear these things
out of the water.
They're an abomination.
They're not fit to sort of
share the planet with us."
They obviously look guilty.
Therefore,
they must be responsible
for these occasional incidents
where someone gets
their leg bitten or whatever.
But where's the evidence?
Basically, they look scary,
and so that added to people
just wanting to run them
out of town.
And so
they were run out of town.
I mean, I heard of just
sort of heaps of them...
Oh, yeah.
Bulldozered piles.
Lots of people shooting them.
Just a very despised,
hated fish.
In 1933,
the Texas Game Fish Commission
began a campaign
of extermination.
They built
an electric gar destroyer,
rigged with a 200-volt
electric net to kill the fish.
Over the next three decades,
millions of gar were destroyed
in an effort
to be rid of them forever.
Perhaps the prejudice
that the alligator gar
has always suffered
explains
the extreme fishing methods
used to catch them today.
Unless they get the protection
they need to reach full size,
giant alligator gar
may well be wiped out.
Now in Texas,
for the first time,
the Parks & Wildlife authorities
are trying to work out
what the cost has been
to the gar population.
On the lower Trinity,
we're en route to set
what are called juglines,
baited hooks attached to floats.
Our plan is to catch
as many gator gar as possible
and then monitor them
with electronic tags.
Dr. Dave Buckmeier
leads this project.
Dave, what's the state
of knowledge
on the gar at the moment?
Alligator gar, along with other
gars and buffalo and things,
have always been considered
kind of rough fish,
which no one really cared
much about.
Is that the same as trash fish?
"Trash fish" would be
another common name for it.
And so there was
actually even efforts
to try and eradicate
alligator gar
and other gars from populations
'cause they were believed
to have eaten desirable fish,
if you will... largemouth bass
and things we have, catfish.
They have recently
been listed as vulnerable
by the
American Fisheries Society.
That's because, in most states,
they're definitely
on the decline.
So we have some real reasons
for concerns about this species.
- Shall I chuck this out?
- Yeah, go ahead.
Throw that one out there.
And it unwinds itself, does it?
Yeah, they just... As the bait
sinks, they'll unwind.
And then that lies
on the bottom.
Right.
And that lies on the bottom.
And when the gar
come up to feed,
they'll kind of comb the bottom,
pick up the bait,
and usually run with it
for 15, 20 minutes.
And after we're confident
they've swallowed it,
we'll go pick up the bait.
Spinning nicely there.
It looks like it's gone to rest.
Not much research
has yet been done,
but it's thought few gator gar
reach their maximum life-span
of 60 years.
As we move on to set more lines,
there's a call from
the opposite bank of the river.
We've actually just put out
some juglines and nets.
But some local guys here...
They've got a trotline out,
a line going across the river
with hooks at intervals.
And they've just pulled
a small gar out on that.
So the first fish
actually now is gonna be tagged,
and then
all the measurements taken.
And 78 is the tag number.
The tag will provide
the biologists with data
about which areas of the
Trinity River the gar are using
so they can formulate a plan
to protect the species.
Sounds like a visit to the
dentist, but quite appropriate
because the scales
of these things
are made
of something called ganoin,
which is very similar
to tooth enamel.
So hence the need for a drill,
just to penetrate
that body armor.
Engineered
like medieval chain mail,
the gar's suit of armor is built
from thick,
diamond-shaped scales,
providing a formidable defense
against attack.
They're so hard
that Native Americans used them
for arrowheads.
And the fish...
I can't even feel it tensing.
It's just lying here very,
very calmly, wet towel over it.
Over the eyes as well.
Quite important.
It's just come out
of a very muddy river,
where it can't see much
into the bright light.
Unlike my last experience,
this young gar displays
no aggressive behavior.
If you'll read the top number.
Okay, this is 44433.
We're gonna just let
that one go.
The gar is released unharmed.
Oh!
- I guess he wanted to go.
- He wanted to go.
The electronic tag
will now send a signal
to a series of receivers
to monitor the fish's movements.
After several hours,
the scientists' own search
is finally successful.
Nothing on the juglines,
but one caught in a net...
A 2-foot gar.
There are no signs
of any monster-sized fish.
It looks like the population
of these fish
is in a worse state
than I thought.
Maybe in the old days, when
these fish were everywhere,
crude techniques would work.
But now I think I'm going to
have to develop an approach
that is more precise
and targeted.
I'm determined to get
face-to-face with a giant gar
and find out the truth behind
its monstrous reputation.
There we go.
So little is known
about this fish.
It's been accused
of all kinds of crimes,
but the research
into what it actually does,
where it does it,
and how it does it
is virtually nonexistent.
I'm heading for the aquarium
in Athens, Texas,
where curator Wayne Heaton
keeps some gator gar.
I need to know more about
the business end of these fish,
just what exactly their teeth
are capable of.
As far as a lot
of people are concerned,
this is very close to a shark.
And it's in freshwater.
It's in a river near you.
You know? Sort of,
"Don't go in the water."
Unfortunately, with us,
especially if it's something
we don't know much about,
we always assume the worst.
And so you see a big 6-, 7-,
8-foot gar hit the surface
with these monstrous teeth,
the first thing
that comes to your mind is,
"Well, I'm not getting
in the water."
Well, you know.
These teeth...
They're not like our teeth.
They're not kind of blunt.
We kind of have a few sharp ones
for tearing or whatnot.
These things are made to
whenever they grab something,
it's theirs.
And so these teeth are very,
very sharp.
I wonder if perhaps
they're a bit simpleminded
and they're sort of
programmed...
Even if it was dead, they're
programmed to keep it clamped
for a little while
before properly swallowing it.
When they grab it, they kind of
want to make sure
it's something that they're
gonna be able to swallow.
You might see them
hold it for a minute
to make sure
that that's what they want.
And once they decide to eat it,
you'll start see them
moving it in their mouth,
and then to the point where
they'll actually swallow it.
But then, once it's there,
even though it's a big mouth,
that process seems
to be quite a slow process.
Right. They will do it
at their leisure.
They're in no hurry because once
they have that in their mouth,
they know
it's not going nowhere.
If it's something
that's got quite a bit of fight,
they'll just keep
that mouth closed
until it wears itself out
to where they can swallow it.
You're not gonna have
something in the water
to try to find the gar.
You're basically gonna
let that gar come to you.
And he's gonna grab it.
And so when he grabs it,
you might not want to try to set
the hook right when he grabs it
because he might be
still deciding
whether he wants it or not.
But once he gets
to where he wants to swallow it
and then you set the hook,
you better be strapped in.
With the knowledge that I need
a cautious, patient approach,
I hire another fishing guide,
Mark Malfa,
to take me to a fresh section
of the Trinity River.
My plan... to hold off
setting the hook
until I'm sure the gator gar
has properly taken the bait.
That was definitely
a fish moving off.
Mm-hmm, for sure.
Not a damn thing.
This is actually very,
very frustrating fishing.
Something definitely
had that in its mouth
'cause it moved it
several yards.
But when I tighten down,
there's nothing there.
And, really, just talking
to people who fish here,
there's not much that anybody's
told me that's any use.
Very few people fish for these.
Bobby Fly got his by accident.
And the fishing that is done
on rod and line is pretty basic.
It does work.
It's a fairly low-percentage
success rate.
You chuck out a lump of dead
fish like this, and you wait,
and you let it take it
for a long time.
Most times you tighten down,
there's nothing on the end,
but sometimes there is.
And it hasn't really got any
more sophisticated than that.
That was another half-hour
with nothing to show
at the end of it.
But focused on my target,
I fish on, towards dusk.
What do you reckon...
Tighten down?
Yeah.
All right.
Normally, gar are caught
before the water begins
to cool down,
well before the sun sets.
That's gone off.
It's gone off again.
Most guides give up fishing
by midafternoon.
Set it. Set it.
Set it. Set it. Set it.
There we go.
That's it.
Please be on it.
You feel something?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's a fish.
Oh, yes!
Yes!
Oh, it's gone under the boat.
Just keep the tip away.
That soaked me.
I'm here, 4 feet above the
water, and I got a splashing.
Yes!
I'm hooked into my target,
a river monster
with a fearsome reputation...
The alligator gar.
It's pulling down.
It's pulling down.
Look at that rod tip.
Let's get him up.
Let's get him up.
After fishing
for 12 hours straight,
just as dusk turns to night,
I set my eyes on the giant fish.
Do you want me to do it?
The most dangerous part
of gar fishing
is bringing the fish
aboard the boat.
Coming over.
Oh, there we go!
That's what we wanted?
That's exactly what we wanted.
That's a proper-sized fish.
As the gar comes aboard,
it thrashes its snout from side
to side like a scythe.
I haven't forgotten
that 3-footer that got me.
This fish is almost 7 feet long.
Single hook.
Single hook.
Single hook, single hook.
We've done it.
We've done it.
Fantastic, Mark.
That was really...
- Unh!
- Ooh.
Okay.
You got the gaff handle?
- Yes.
- All right.
So this will go in here.
Okay.
The teeth of this gar
are another half inch longer
than those
that scarred me earlier.
It's 123, 123 pounds.
Good, good.
Good, good.
Yes.
Finally getting my hands
on the fish
and seeing it face-to-face,
I can begin to weigh up
the evidence.
Actually laying hands
on this prehistoric beast.
This is fantastic.
This is the creature
that I came here to see.
I mean, you hear people say,
like Mark,
that these things...
They won't just devour a bait.
They're so fiddly.
They will just sit and chew it
and maybe spit it out.
I've had fish take 100 yards
of line, even.
15, 20 minutes,
you tighten down,
and there's just nothing
on the end.
Gar don't bite pieces
off their prey.
They only eat
what they can swallow whole.
This puts humans off the menu.
For all this fierce reputation,
you know, they do seem to be...
They certainly look the part,
but I'm not sure that they
actually act up to the part.
Ooh, what a thing.
What an animal.
This gator gar
seems too gentle-natured
to cause deliberate harm.
Interesting
that here's the bait.
It hasn't taken it down.
The bait is...
Oh, there we go.
There we go. There we go.
Yeah.
Girl, don't worry.
You're going back in the water
Maybe we'll throw that
afterwards as a consolation.
When it just did that,
the whole upper jaw
sort of expanded, didn't it,
when it actually came up
and gulped.
You can see the gaps
where there's flesh in between,
and the head's
allowed to expand.
Right through
these two little veins.
Right through here
and up through here.
You see that separation
from the jaw?
That actually gives.
There's flesh
in between these areas
as well as up through here.
See that?
This is solid, solid.
Right here's flesh
that attaches the joints.
So it allows the head
to flex and move.
The skin that joins
these armored plates
allows the gar's jaw to expand.
But not so much
that it could consume a person
or even a human limb.
It's very tempting
just to keep it out
and admire it, you know?
But I think what is important...
Although this animal
is an air breather,
I think it is very much time
to get it back in.
I think one last look,
and back in the water.
Up. Oh!
See how it's doing.
Okay, you got it?
It's very hard to hold.
And you got the heavier end.
I've got the bony end.
This female gator gar
measures 6 feet, 8 inches.
She's longer than I am tall.
Then, once again,
the gar draws blood.
She has a 14-inch-long mouth
full of some 500 teeth.
That's not actually the teeth
of the animal.
That is the back of a scale
or some scales.
- Slicing across your...
- Yeah, as the fish... my hand...
With the weight of the fish
on my forearm there,
the fish just slid back.
Sliding that way is fine.
Sliding this way,
the rear points
of these triangular scales
stuck in.
The Native Americans
used to use them as arrowheads,
and I can see why now.
I've got a big, old scrape down
my arm there from the scales.
Anyway, should we get, uh...
I believe I've seen enough
to clear the gar's name.
You've got that, yeah?
It's time to return
the specimen to the wild
and reflect
on other possible suspects.
Okay.
- Lift that.
- Okay.
Bye-bye, baby.
There it goes.
There it goes.
Excellent.
Wow.
Has the clue been there
all along,
in the very name
the alligator gar shares
with another predator?
If you put legs on that, it
would just be like an alligator.
It would get up and walk.
Is the real culprit
the animal it could so easily
be mistaken for...
the American alligator?
After years
of one-sided testimony,
it's time for the jury
to review the verdict
on the guilt of the gator gar.
There must be
a more logical culprit
for the many incidents that
have been blamed on the gar.
In the same rivers and lakes
that they inhabit,
there are also
many American alligators.
Not only do they share
the same habitats,
they have similar teeth.
Their size and the profile
of their snouts
could easily be confused,
one for the other.
I've come to this alligator park
in southern Texas
to get a look
at some of the other characters
that share the water
with the alligator gar
'cause I've got a sneaking
feeling that, actually,
the alligator gar has taken
the rap for somebody else.
And it could be
these characters here.
What I really want to do
is get a fairly close look
at the equipment
of the alligator.
What would be really good
would be to see them in action.
But I think that part of it
is probably best left to Gary.
Gary Saurage is a key witness
for the gar's defense.
Absolutely.
He understands
the crucial difference
between the behavior of a fish
and an alligator.
You can imagine
an animal like this
would have no problem
taking a full-grown man.
They're sneaky.
They're tremendously patient.
These animals right here...
There's no telling
how many deaths
they're really responsible for
every year.
This is the apex hunter
in the United States of America
right here.
Let's say it's a hot summer day.
You decide you're gonna dip
your feet in the water.
You're dangling down, and,
wow, they come on up and hit.
When the alligator's hunting
his prey,
he'll shoot out of the water.
They'll grab
whatever limb he can get.
And on the way down,
he'll do a death roll.
And if you were to resist that,
it's whatever limb he gets,
whether it be hand, finger,
or toes, it's coming off.
The alligator gar
doesn't have near the pressure.
The American alligator
can bite down
with 3,000 pounds
per square inch.
And I'm sure many, many times
folks may think
that it's an alligator gar
on a bad bite,
but you can rest assured
it's not.
It's normally
the American alligator.
Gar have neither the power
nor the attitude
for premeditated
violent attacks on humans.
Alligator gar don't chew.
They only eat stuff big enough
that they can swallow whole.
Depending on the size
of the gar,
it depends on what size
the food item that they'll eat.
But a good 6-to 8-foot gar
could very easily take out
a 12-to 14-inch fish.
I'm left in little doubt
that many of the attacks
attributed to gator gar
are far more likely to be
the work
of the American alligator.
I've heard all these myths
about the alligator gar
ripping people's legs off,
chopping alligators in half,
generally terrorizing
the neighborhood.
But what's interesting is,
since having come here
and spoken to people who
actually know about this fish
and having spent some time
myself on the river,
I've got this idea
that it's actually
just got a bad P.R. agent.
I think
it's a bit of a pussycat.
It just so happens
that here is a tank
with some very big
alligator gar in,
and this is actually my chance
to test my theory for myself.
I've been at the sharp end
of a 3-foot gator gar's teeth.
Oops!
Back in the water.
I've felt the muscle power
held in the serpentine body
of a 6-foot-8-inch monster.
It's 123, 123 pounds.
But now I've got
to walk the talk.
I've got to venture into
the gar's own underwater world.
None of the gar show
any intent to harm me.
In my view,
it's the alligator gar itself
that has been the victim.
It's amazing to get this close.
This fish really is a miracle
of evolution, a true survivor.
But if anyone is gonna see
the real giants,
this fish needs to be allowed
to grow without persecution.
Maybe then we'll get to see
those 14-footers again.
Oh!
That was... That...
That was an experience.
Oh, I have to say,
the size and the aspect
of those fish, though,
when I first saw them,
was really quite intimidating.
But I think this is a very,
very misunderstood animal,
and I think it really is time
that we just try to understand
this fish a little bit better.