I am an avid alligator gar fisherman looking to spread awareness about the species. Most of the time when alligator gar are caught they are disregarded as “trash fish,” but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Many of the alligator gar caught are much older than the angler catching them. Not only do these fish grow to be very old, they play an extremely important role in Louisiana’s rivers, bayou, lakes, and canals. Unfortunately, alligator gar were populated in over 10 states at one point, but are now strictly limited to living in the south due to habitat destruction and overharvesting. To help the species continue to live in Louisiana, I use a 1/0 Gamakatsu live bait hook and $10 300-pound braid as a leader. This allows for the fish to swim off okay without any wire or treble hooks sticking in their stomach together, which eventually kills them. If the fish does happen to swallow the 1/0 hook, they do not experience any form of injury and starvation that a treble hook would cause. The fish I caught in this video was slightly above 6 feet, judging by the comparison next to my 7 foot Ugly Stik tiger rod. I posted this video on my YouTube channel “Reeling With Robby” where I post the alligator gar I catch and spread awareness for the species and my biggest catches in east Louisiana.