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A father and son from Alabama caught a massive alligator gar on Thanksgiving, and the pair only recently learned that their holiday catch broke the state’s fishing record.
Keith Dees and his son, Huntley, reeled in a 162-pound alligator gar from the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, the Yellowhammer State’s largest river delta and wetland, according to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR).
In a press release issued on Thursday, Jan. 19, the ADCNR announced the pair’s alligator gar broke the state fishing record by 11 pounds.
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The father-son duo, who are from Fruitdale, Alabama, have made fishing trips a Thanksgiving tradition and have reportedly caught trout in the past.
Keith Dees, and his son, Huntley, stand next to the alligator gar they caught on Thanksgiving, Nov. 24, 2022. (Courtesy of Keith Dees via Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources)
Fox News Digital reached out to Keith Dees for comment via Facebook.
Dees told the ADCNR that he and his son traveled to the Mobile-Tensaw Delta to fish for bass. They reportedly caught "several redfish" and "numerous largemouth bass" before they caught their alligator gar.
The pair theorized that they might have hooked a large redfish or black drum, according to the ADCNR.
Dees and Huntley reportedly realized the fish was an alligator gar after about 30 minutes of reeling.
"When it comes up, I knew it was big, but I didn’t even remotely know it was a state record," Dees recalled to the ADCNR. "That never crossed my mind."
"I love to cook, so I thought I want to catch this joker so we can eat him," he continued. "I’ve got a bunch of Cajun friends, and they take it and cut it in steaks and blacken it and do medallions. It’s just delicious. I’m thinking I’m about to get a bunch of freezer meat."
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Dees attempted to reel in the record-breaking fish for another hour and a half. Eventually, he and his son managed to lasso the alligator gar, which is known for its broad snout and sharp teeth, and hauled it onto their bass boat.
Alligator gar are a ray-finned euryhaline fish that have broad snouts and fang-like teeth. The species can be found in North America and inhabit freshwater and brackish water. Here's a look at the alligator gar Keith Dees, and his son, Huntley, caught from the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, which broke Alabama's state fishing record for alligator gar. (Courtesy of Keith Dees via Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources)
The father-son team tried to weigh the fish, but multiple scales returned varied weights.
Dees reportedly called Jim Daugherty, a conservation enforcement officer with the ADCNR’s Freshwater Fisheries Division (WFF), to inform the agency that the alligator gar might be a record breaker.
He then got in touch with Tommy Purcell, a fisheries biologist at the WFF, who agreed to be the record inspector, the ADCNR reported.
But, it was up to Dees to find a commercial scale that was certified to weigh record-breaking fish.
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"Where do you keep a 7-foot-long fish?" Dees said, in a statement to the ADCNR. "You can’t freeze the fish. My buddy had an old swimming pool, so we put him in the pool at 3 o’clock. He was still alive at 9."
Huntley, a junior angler from Fruitdale, Alabama, is pictured with the record-breaking alligator gar that he and his father caught on Thanksgiving, Nov. 24, 2022. (Courtesy of Keith Dees via Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources)
Dees loaded the alligator gar into his truck and transported the fish to the Orange Beach Marina in Baldwin County with tarps and ice.
The facility was closed, but locals helped Dees get in contact with Orange Beach Marina Harbor Master Jimmy Beason, who traveled to the marina and weighed the alligator gar, according to the ADCNR.
Dees took his certification paperwork to the WFF’s District V office in Spanish Fort, Alabama, and submitted it to Purcell for species confirmation.
The WFF officially recognized the alligator gar as a new state record in early January, the ADCNR reported in its press release.
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In the state of Alabama, the daily bag limit for alligator gar is one, according to Daugherty.
The Mobile-Tensaw Delta is Alabama's largest river delta and wetland. It reportedly measures around 260,000 acres. Alligator gar and other fish can be found in its waters. (Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge/Getty Images)
The alligator-like fish reportedly inhabits Alabama’s Mobile Delta, major rivers, streams and adjacent coastal waters, according to the ADCNR.
"I think anything that draws attention to the Delta is a positive," Dees told the ADCNR. "Where else can you go to catch the variety of fish in the Delta in the fall… It’s just a neat, neat place."
The state’s previous alligator gar fishing record belonged to angler Richard Johnson, who caught a 151-pound, nine-ounce, alligator gar from the Tensaw River on Aug. 13, 2009, according to the ADCNR’s State Record Freshwater Fish Angler Recognition webpage.
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National Geographic reports that scientists believe alligator gars evolved from a prehistoric fish that lived about 157 million years ago.
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