State-Record Gar Caught

Gerald Kennedy’s name goes down in GON’s Lake and River records as holding not only the Lake Lanier longnose gar record, but for now, his 30-lb., 13-oz. fish is also the state record.

“On Wednesday (Sept. 4) I put a bream on a rod to troll,” said Gerald, who lives in Murrayville. “I heard the reel go off. My dogs were barking and jumping around in the boat.

“After about 15 minutes, he finally surfaced and jumped out of the water. I got him in the boat, weighed him and called my wife to call DNR to see what the state record was. They told her, and I took the fish to them and had him weighed and certified as a state record.”

Gerald’s gar beat the former state record, which was caught in 1995 in the Flint River by Richard Johnson. That gar weighed 28-lbs., 6-ozs.