Chasing Dinosaurs

Kentucky light line specialist finding more giants on Texas waters

• Weston is the owner of 38 current IGFA angling records linked to 14 freshwater species from six different countries. Among them is this 27-pound smallmouth buffalo he caught on two-pound line while fishing at Lake LBJ near Austin in December 2023. Fishing guide Austin Anderson with Carp Pro Texas Guide Service steered him to the catch. (Photo courtesy Art Weston)
• Weston said massive claws on the alligator snapping turtle looked almost like bear claws. (Photo by Kirk Kirkland)
• On April 7, light line specialist Art Weston of Union, KY., caught and released a 188-pound alligator gar on Sam Rayburn Reservoir using spinning gear and 4-pound test line. The fish is pending certification with the International Game Fish Association as a 4-pound line class world record for the species. Last September, Weston landed the IGFA All-Tackleworld record alligator weighing 283 pounds using 6-pound line, also on Sam Rayburn. (Photo by Kirk Kirkland)
• Fishermen never know what might find a succulent piece of cut bait soaking on bottom in big water. Weston recently caught and released this alligator snapping turtle while targeting big gar on Sam Rayburn. The alligator snapping turtle is a threatened species that is protected in Texas. Anglers who inadvertently catch one should always release it immediately. (Photo by Kirk Kirkland)

Outdoors Writer

Chalk up another IGFA line class world record alligator gar for light tackle specialist Art Weston. Caught earlier this month at Sam Rayburn Reservoir, the 7.04-footer weighed 188 pounds.

The tackle Weston used to pull it off may come as a shock. He landed the monster gar on a 6-foot, medium-action spinning rod matched with an Okuma spinning reel. The reel was spooled with 4-pound test Momoi Hi-Catch IGFA monofilament line tethered to a 175-pound test steel leader with an 8/0 Gamakatsu Big River J-Hook. IGFA is short for International Game Fish Association, the most widely recognized keeper of fresh and saltwater angling records in the world. The organization maintains all-tackle and rod and reel line class world records for dozens of species. Anglers must follow strict guidelines to qualify.

Weston, 52, is a well-known big fish chaser and globetrotter from Union, KY. He is the owner of 38 current IGFA angling records linked to 14 freshwater species and six different countries.

The angler has achieved plenty of success reeling in heavyweights using specialty tackle much better suited for pint-sized fish. Several Texas dinosaurs occupy Weston’s IGFA resume. The All-Tackle World Record alligator gar he caught and released at the upper reaches of Sam Rayburn in September 2023 is among them.

That fish, a 283 pounder, measured 8-feet, 4 inches long with a massive girth diameter of four feet. Some say it was the catch heard around the world. One photo of the massive fish was viewed 924 million times online.

Fishing guide Kirk Kirkland steered Weston to both fish. Kirkland is somewhat of a superstar in gar fishing circles. He specializes in guiding customers to heavyweight fish onboard an 18foot aluminum rig he affectionately calls the “Garship Enterprise.” He says his clients have amassed more than 100 IGFA records.

Kirkland has helped popularize the catch and release of the pre-historic looking fish using rod and reel, and perfected numerous tactics for landing them. It takes teamwork to handle the big ones successfully, especially the way Weston goes about it.

Sometimes it works out. Many times it doesn’t.

Kirkland relies on the outboard engine to follow the fish until it finally wears down. Whoppers are typically subdued beside the boat using a lasso.

Amazingly, Weston wrangled the all-tackle world record using a spinning outfit matched with six-pound test monofilament line. He used a thick chunk of fresh carp for bait. He was attempting to top the IGFA 6-pound line class record of 123 pounds, 9 ounces when the 283 pounder came calling. It took nearly three hours to close the deal.

It’s worth nothing that Kirkland also guided Weston to a 251 pounder in 2023 on the Trinity River. IGFA ranks that fish as the biggest ever caught on 80-pound test fishing line. In 2022, the angler boated a 110 pounder on two-pound line, also a line class world record caught from the Trinity with Kirkland as captain.

188 Pounder: Reeling in the 4-pound line class record The two men were up to their old tricks again on the morning of April 7. It was the second day of a scheduled eight-day trip Weston had dedicated to breaking the IGFA 4-pound test line class record of 117 pounds, 3 ounces.

Weston said is was about mid-morning when the 188 pounder gobbled up a fresh chunk of carp and took off. The battle took place in the same spot where the angler caught his 283 pounder seven months ago — a 15-acre open pasture that was flooded when the lake was built back in the 1960s. It took about an hour before Kirkland was about to get a rope on the fish, Weston said.

Interestingly, the angler said he hooked a fish the day before that may have have doubled the 117-pound mark, but lost it after it got into some stumps and broke the line after a 90-minute battle.

“That fish was huge,” Weston said. “Kirk thought it was 230-250 pounds, but I think it was 250-plus. It was incredibly big.”

Weston said he managed to work the big fish beside the boat five different times, but high winds prevented Kirkland from closing the deal with the lasso.

“The wind was blowing 20-25 m.p.h. that day and giving us a lot of trouble,” he said. “Every time Kirk would cut the engine to lasso the fish, the wind would blow the boat away. We knew we were in trouble once it got us into the stumps. Losing it was a heart breaker.”

Denizens of the Deep

Giant gar weren’t the only denizens stirring around out there that day. About noon, a monster alligator snapping turtle found Weston’s succulent chunk of carp steak on bottom and ate it.

It took some doing on the tiny fishing line, but the angler eventually worked the beast to the surface and close to the boat. Weston said Kirkland grabbed the turtle’s shell behind its head with one hand and its tail with the other, then carefully brought it onboard so they could remove the hook before releasing it.

Just so you know, alligator snapping turtles are a threatened species protected in Texas. It is illegal to harm or kill one. In 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the gargantuan turtle as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. Anglers who inadvertently catch one should always release it immediately.

“That thing was huge — wicked looking,” Weston said. “It’s head was big as a volleyball and you could have easily fit a softball in its mouth. Its arms were big as my calves and its claws were close to four inches — they looked like bear claws.”

Experts say the turtles can live as long as 75 years and reach weights beyond 200 pounds.

Adrenaline Junkie: What makes him tick

Weston is a life-long angler who got bit by the IGFA record bug in 2017. He’s been chasing records about 30 days a year ever since. He does most of his fishing in fall and spring.

“What I like about it is that it’s something that is near impossible unless you are incredibly prepared,” he said. “You have to have every possible advantage in order to have a chance at breaking these records. I like that type of planning. I try to optimize every aspect of everything. I study everything from knots and leaders to lines, rods, reels and hooks. That’s what makes it possible.”

Along with a little bit of fisherman’s luck, of course.

Matt Williams is freelance writer based in Nacogdoches. He can be reached by e-mail, mattwillwrite4u@ yahoo.com.