Passport to Texas

#GARWEEK. What a lovely smile.

#GARWEEK: Alligator Gar in Texas Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Because alligator gar are often confused with other gar species in the state, it’s often thought they’re widespread throughout Texas. But that’s not the case. So where can you find alligator gar in Texas?

Alligator gar are up in the red river drainage in Lake Texoma, they are in all of the major river drainages in the east side of the state, and they are in every bay system and every river feeding those bay systems on the coastal part or portion of the state. They are also in the Rio Grande.

Noticeably absent from that list is Central Texas. Michael Baird is a fisheries biologist in the Waco district who is studying alligator gar populations in the lower Brazos River.

We have had a lot of reports of alligator gar in the middle part of the state but we’ve never confirmed reports of alligator gar in major reservoirs between Waco, Austin and San Angelo. If someone sees one we would like to see it.

After more than ten years studying this species, Inland fisheries researchers at parks and wildlife have learned a lot about alligator gar in Texas. But they don’t know much about the anglers who fish for them.

This month they will be launching a survey to learn more about how anglers and non-anglers feel about these charismatic and misunderstood freshwater fish. Pre-register to take the survey and learn more about alligator gar ID and distribution on the new TPWD alligator gar website.

Find a link to it at passporttotexas.org.

The Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.