Bowfisherman sets shortnose gar record

Bryson Harpole of Ward didn’t only set a new bar for shortnose gar in Arkansas’s fishing records. He crushed the old record for unrestricted tackle.

His bowfishing catch from Cypress Bayou Wildlife Management Area weighed an impressive 11 pounds, 2 ounces and measured 36.8 inches long. The previous record, held by Robert Perkins of Conway and taken at Lake Conway in 1998, was 6 pounds, 12 ounces.

“This gar was nearly double the old state record and was much larger than most shortnose gar we see,” said Matt Horton, habitat biologist at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Mayflower office.

Horton said the species rarely gets larger than 4 pounds, and larger specimens can closely resemble spotted gar, so extra precautions were taken to ensure a positive identification.

“In some cases, the lack of spotting can be the only way to positively identify shortnose, and in larger specimens of spotted gar, their spots can fade and are very hard to see,” Horton said. “We had a few biologists, including our gar expert, Eric Brinkman, positively identify the fish through photographs and in person to make sure it was a shortnose.”

The catch also surpassed the 9-pound, 6-ounce shortnose gar record for hookand-line angling. Unrestricted tackle methods of harvest include bowfishing, snagging and passive fishing devices such as trotlines and yo-yos.

“The International Game Fish Association doesn’t recognize bowfishing as a legitimate capture method for hook-and-line records,” Horton said. “But I believe Mr. Harpole was looking into other organizations that qualified bowfishing records to see if he could claim a world record with the catch.”

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