Been noticing a lot of traffic of late looking for “fishgator” in the search engines. In part, it’s due to an alligator gar caught in Tempe, Arizona recently:

Alligator Gar Caught in Kiwanis Lake
Looking alarmingly like a cross between an alligator and a fish, the aggressive garfish has a long snout and several sharp teeth that are rather visible. It is also not native to Arizona, causing authorities some alarm.
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So those of you that want to know what one is, here’s the wikipedia information:

Alligator gar are found in the southeastern United States: Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri, Florida, Maryland, and in Paris, Illinois in the Twin Lakes area. They have also been known occasionally to come as far north as central Kansas, off the Republican River and up into Clarks Creek. They inhabit sluggish pools and backwaters or large rivers, bayous, and lakes. They are rarely found in brackish or saltwater, but are more adaptable to the latter than are other gars. In February 2007, a 1.5-foot alligator gar was found roaming far in the city of Jakarta, Indonesia, when the city was hit by a major flood (see External Links below). In January 2008, a 3-kg gator gar was found by fishermen in Bera, Pahang (East Coast State of Malaysia), when it was caught entangled in a fishing net. July 28th, 2008 an Alligator Gar was caught at Kiwanis Lake in Tempe, AZ by father and son Joe Chavez Sr. and Jr. of South Phoenix.

Feeding

The alligator gar is an aggressive, solitary fish that lives in fresh water bodies in the southeastern U.S. It is carnivorous. However, it is not ordinarily aggressive towards humans. Alligator Gar feeds by lurking amongst reeds and other underwater plant life, waiting for food to pass by. Though subsisting mostly on fish, the alligator gar will also eat waterfowl.

Alligator gar have also been known to attack humans in some very rare cases

Breeding

Though the alligator gar prefers slow-moving waters, it appears to need running water in order to spawn.

That from Wikipedia.

It would be a heck of a battle in a kayak, let me tell you. In Western New York, I certainly don’t have the wherewithal to fish for them. Going to ask my buddy from Big Bass Country if he’s ever bumped into one.