In search of the elusive and fearsome alligator gar: part fishing, part tracking, part target shooting

John Paul Morris needed help from three other men to get this 8-foot-3-inch long alligator gar out of the Trinity River in Texas. "Fishermen despise the gar because they believe the fish devour prized bass and crappie," Tom Benning reports for The Wall Street Journal. "But in recent times, alligator gar have experienced a kind of trash-to-trophy renaissance as sportsmen discovered the thrill of hunting the beasts. . . . In the rural South, the prospect of bagging a trophy gator gar inspires a special brand of enthusiasm." (Bass Pro Shops photo; Morris is son of CEO Johnny Morris)

A gar expedition is "part fishing, part tracking and part target shooting," since the preferred method of bagging the fish is with crossbow and "stainless-steel, prong-tipped arrows that can pierce the gar's thick scales," Benning writes. The pursuit has become so popular, Texas has imposed the first limit on the fish, one per day. "The limit has infuriated commercial fishermen, who catch gar by the hundreds to export to Mexico, where they are a popular menu item," Benning reports. "After September, every Southern state with gar populations except Louisiana will have some kind of alligator gar fishing limits." (Read more)