Oostanaula River Gar Record Broken—Again!

For the second time inside of a month, the Oostanaula River longnose gar record has been broken. The first record was topped on March 30, 2022 when Joseph Agan caught an 18 1/2-lb. gar that set the record. However, that record is no more.

A heavier longnose gar, this one weighing 22-lbs., 6.88-ozs., was caught on April 23 by Dalton Perry, of Kennesaw. He was fishing with his buddy Brett Shullman, and the record fish bit about 6:30 p.m.

Dalton Perry with the new record gar.

“We were just cruising up and down the river north of 140 and south of 156 catching largemouth, spots and white bass,” said Dalton.

Their target species changed when they pulled into a pocket and saw quite a few gar near the surface.

“We decided to see what we could put on and start catching them,” said Dalton. “I had this cheap, $5 creek-and-pond kit from Walmart that had a pink mayfly looking thing in it. It’s like a crappie jig on a 1/16-oz. jig head. I put that on and hooked into a small one, then Brett hooked into one that was about 6 pounds.”

They lost several gar during the next few minutes since they were using 6-lb. braid that was easily cut when a gar’s teeth would touch it.

See Rachel Harrison’s 31-lb. Georgia State Record Gar

“The big one happened to get hooked in the back of the mouth,” said Dalton. “He just kept running upstream so he never was able to get his teeth on the line.”

The next day Dalton took the fish and had it weighed on certified scales at the IGA in Fairmount.

Dalton didn’t like the idea of wasting a fish, so he took the backstrap out of the gar. After experimenting with a few recipes and deciding it was too chewy for his liking, he ended up taking a meat mallet to it. He added some seasoning and stir-fried it and said it turning out really good, similar to country fried steak.

Dalton’s record fish was 53 inches long.

Oostanaula River Records

See all of GON’s official Georgia Lake & River Records here.

Requirements For Record Fish

• Fish must be caught legally by rod and reel in a manner consistent with state game and fish regulations.

• Catch must be weighed on accurate Georgia DOA certified scales with at least two witnesses present, who must be willing to provide their names and phone numbers so they can be contacted to verify the weighing of the fish.

• Witnesses to the weighing must be at least 18 years old, and they must not be members of the angler’s immediate family nor have a close personal relationship with the angler.

• Catch must be positively identified by qualified DNR personnel.

GON’s records are compiled and maintained by GON, to be awarded at GON’s discretion. Additional steps may be required for record consideration.