I forgot to ask this a long time ago, but the post about the mantis shrimp/sea lice reminded me.

While trolling near the packery bridge catching schooling reds late last summer, I kept catching this bizzare and nasty looking little fish. I have grown up on Padre Island and am an avid fisherman, knowing just about every species by sight. However, I have never in my life seen one of these things.

My guess is that it is an offshore species that likes to hang around the nearshore rigs and other structure, occasionally swiming throught channels and into bay systems. I was catching them using a "redfish magic" spinner bait (pearl white with gold blade).


I caught about 5 of them, all from the same location. They where long, streamlined, and skinny. There color resembled that of a dogfish though I think it had some white specks mixed in. We joked and called them snakes because of their streamlined bodies. They averaged about 13 inches and had a set of teeth.

I wish I would have asked earlier while appearance was fresh in my mind but I think that I remembered pretty well. If I saw one again I would recognize. When I came home from the trip, I searched the internet for the species but could not google up anything. Can anyone help?

Lizardfish

Lizard fish, agree, nasty looking critter.

check this site out:

http://www.mexfish.com/fish/reefliz/reefliz.htm

was that it?

Nice link.

Those pictures of the different lizzard fish species look very similar to the one that I caught. I believe that it is a species of lizard fish but think that it is a different one than the ones posted on that site.

I caught one of those last fall in the laguna. It tackled my sand eel like a torpedo and fought like tyson!!!!

Kinda looked like a cross between a lizard and a snake and a fish. Had a mouth like a gator!

Alligator Gar?

Yea Hook, sounds like you caught an aligator gar. They are quite common in TX waters though you might not recoginize one if you dont have much fishing experience.

Though they are a fresh water fish, they also thrive in brakish waters and will sometimes enter bays through river mouths, especially during a heavy rain/flood.

Yes, they are very aggressive and will pounce on just about any type of lure you throw their way. However, hookups on lures are usually short lived due to their thin mouths. When targeting these fish, you usually let them run with the bait for quite some time before setting the hook.

Gars get real big too. Back in the day,it was possible to catch them in the double digits, and I mean feet not lbs. My mom has an old photo of her grandad and his friends with a gar that looks to be anywhere from 7-9 feet long. Amazing! They still grow pretty big today. I know a secrete gar spot where it is easy to catch them in the 4-5 ft range.

(Im going to try and get ahold of that old pic and post it on the TFF for yall)