SNOWBIRDS EYE ALLIGATOR GAR APPREHENSIVELY

By Juan Montoya
SAN PEDRO – Even some of the local fishermen couldn’t believe it.
The splashing on the large irrigation concrete pipe sticking out of the flooded field north of this small town caught their attention as they headed to an isolated pond of resaca water. They could tell there were gar there trapped after the fields dried up.
But when they peered down the four-foot circumference concrete tube, the sight of two large alligator gar thrashing wildly inside because they were jammed in the concrete elbow made them catch their breath.
“I’d seen large gar before,” said Joe Luz Leiva. “But these two were giants. There was no way they were going to make it out the irrigation pipe. We had to go after them.”
The men eventually dropped a seine net (tarraya) into the pipe and snagged it with a wire after it draped over and under the struggling fish. The thick nylon netting was rent by the razor-sharp teeth of the fish. Afterward, two monsters, one almost seven feet long, writhed on the ground.
“Man, did we eat catan chicharrones (alligator gar fritters) that day,” Leiva recalled. Everybody in San Pedro got some and there were some left over.”
Allligator gar chicharrones have been a local delicacy here since anyone can remember. The Blue Mermaid Cafe and Seafood, 119 Billy Mitchell Blvd., has been selling catan chicharrones for almost 30 years. That menu entry has remained popular with local residents.
A Snodgrass Seafood employee said gar remains a popular choice for many local residents. He said the although many northern diners don’t have a taste for the fish, it has remained popular here.
“A lot of people who aren’t from here don’t have the tradition of eating gar at home,” he said. “But we sell a lot of it to the locals.”
Economically, a plate of the chicharrones is not much more expensive than regular seafood, although it costs less than choice shrimp or beef. Usually, a combination gar chicharron and shrimp plate sells for $8.50. A pound of chicharrones alone including tortillas, salsa and limes averages about $11.50.
“That’s really not a bad deal for seafood,” said Paula Hernandez as she munched on some. “I love catan and so do my brothers.”
Visually, the fish is a fearsome animal.
Gar have traditionally been considered rough, bottom-feeder fish by the majority of anglers. However, for a relatively few mavericks gar fishing may be quite an exciting and enjoyable sport. In Texas, alligator gar up to 279 pounds have been captured by rod and reel anglers, and over 300 pounds by trot liners.
In the southeastern part of the state, including the Rio Grande Valley, gar are commonly accepted as a fine food fish. Alligator gar are often taken by bow fishers or by anglers using nylon threads, rather than hooks, to entangle the fish's many sharp teeth.
According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife, the rod and reel world record alligator gar weighed 290 lb. and the trot line, or unrestricted division record weighed 302 lb. Both were caught in the Rio Grande River back in the 1950s, and measured a little over 7-1/2 ft in length.
Alligator gar are widely sought after by bow hunters, but a much smaller following of anglers fish for them for sport. The states of Texas and Louisiana permit regulated commercial fishing for alligator gar. However, in the rest of the state, unlike in the Rio Grande Valley, the demand is nominal.
“I’ve never eaten gar before, and I don’t know if I want to just looking at that animal,” said Doug Wolter, from Minnesota, shopping for seafood at Snodgrass. “I’ve got a policy of not eating something that looks like it could eat me.”
The scales on alligator gars protect them like a suit of armor. Some Native American Indians used the scales as arrowheads and for adornment on their tribal dress. In some places, these scales are still being used as jewelry today.
Many researchers see gar as a link between the scientific research of today and what has evolved from a primitive past. Gars can breathe both air and water, which is one of the reasons they are still around today.
Alligator gar are only present in the Gulf of Mexico coastal plain from the Econfina River in west Florida west and south to Veracruz, Mexico. There are no gar on the Pacific Ocean side. The species range extends north in the Mississippi River basin to the lower reaches of the Missouri and Ohio rivers. An isolated population also occurs in Nicaragua.
In Texas, alligator gar may be found in coastal rivers and streams from the Red River west to the Rio Grande.
Unlike Wolter, who is repelled by the fish's appearance, for Leyva spotting the tell-tale fins in the water means one thing: there's a good meal waiting to be caught.
"I'll take catan chicharrones over salmon," he said. "Right now they're priced just about the same and I can catch the catanes for free."