Texas drawing will give 150 anglers chance to catch 'fish of a lifetime'
Alligator gar
AUSTIN - An upcoming drawing by Texas Parks and Wildlife will give 150 anglers the chance to catch a quintessential Texas fish larger than is normally legal.
The Trinity River alligator gar drawing will allow the lucky few to attempt to catch "the fish of a lifetime" in a stretch of the river starting in Dallas.
Trinity River alligator gar drawing
The drawing for the chance to catch an alligator gar more than 48 inches long opens on Monday, Sept. 1., according to a release from the Texas Parks and Widlife Department.
Anglers with a valid fishing license can enter the drawing during the month of September, and winners will be alerted by Oct. 15. Authorization will be valid from the date issued until Aug. 31, 2026.
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The specifics:
Winners will be allowed to attempt the catch by any legal means from a section of the Trinity River from the Interstate 30 bridge in Dallas downstream to the I-10 bridge in Chambers County.
This section includes Lake Livingston and the East Fork of the Trinity River upstream to the dam at Lake Ray Hubbard. This includes the following counties: Anderson, Chambers, Dallas, Ellis, Freestone, Henderson, Houston, Kaufman, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Navarro, Polk, San Jacinto, Trinity and Walker.
‘Harvest the fish of a lifetime’
What they're saying:
"Fishing for alligator gar on the Trinity River is world renowned and truly a bucket list item for any angler," said Tim Birdsong, Director of TPWD’s Inland Fisheries Division. "With this drawing system, we are able to offer 150 anglers the opportunity to harvest the fish of a lifetime while also fulfilling our resource management goal of conserving this unique resource for current and future generations of anglers."
READ MORE: Elkhart man pulls 8-foot long alligator gar out of the Trinity River
"Gathering data on alligator gar harvest through the Texas Hunt & Fish app and online enhances our understanding of their distribution, sizes and numbers, and helps us maintain the best possible fishing opportunities into the future," said Birdsong.
What you can do:
Applicable anglers can enter the drawing through the Texas Hunt & Fish mobile app or online as an individual or part of a small group.
The Texas Hunt & Fish app can be downloaded free from the Apple App Store and Google Play. For more information about alligator gar fishing regulations, visit The Outdoor Annual online and the Alligator Gar Harvest Restrictions and Harvest Reporting website.
The Source: Information in this article comes from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.