Bill Valverde’s World Record Alligator Gar
I posted about the world record alligator gar sometime ago, but was unable to locate a photo of the enormous fish. Luckily one of our readers knew just were to find one
Without further ado, here is a photo of the late, great Bill Valverde’s world record 279 pound alligator gar caught in 1951.
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My uncle is Bill Valverde and we have an old pic of him and my grandfather with the gar. I’ll get it scanned and emailed to you if you would like. I’m kinda shocked no one in the family has contributed the photo anywhere on the to be seen on the net.
Dan
Thanks Dan!
Wow simply awesome. I can’t even imagine what that fight must have been like. Imagine the rush of catching a fish that big!
Love the oldschool baitcaster he is holding too.
Thanks for sharing the photo Dan
hey your uncle is the old school fisherman for alligator gar. I am too. it looks like he is holding a penn 309 reel. old school reel. the best reels are the old reels. and the rod he is holding is a one piece solid fiberglass rod or at least it appears that way. I have a bunch of those rods that I buy and collect. I also fish for alligator gar and have yet to catch one like the one your uncle is holding. congrats. by the way I also live in the rio grande valley, believe your uncle caught him on the rio grande river. well let me tell you there are a whole bunch of those in the river. the problem is reeling them in hahaha!
Thanks for posting this Danny! This is a picture of my grandfather and great-grandfather. We’re still telling this fish story. In fact, my 9 year-old daughter, Maggie, is presenting this story to her science class this morning with the picture, which we have framed in our home.
nice fish ive never seen a fish that big i bet you no one will ever beat that record