{"id":26185,"date":"2019-01-28T08:00:04","date_gmt":"2019-01-28T13:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=26185"},"modified":"2019-01-28T10:21:46","modified_gmt":"2019-01-28T15:21:46","slug":"eastern-shore-angler-catches-record-longnose-gar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2019\/01\/28\/eastern-shore-angler-catches-record-longnose-gar\/","title":{"rendered":"Eastern Shore Angler Catches Record Longnose Gar"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>David Confair Nets 17.9-Pound Fish<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/StateRecordGar-17-9lbs-MarshyHopeJan2019.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-26187\" src=\"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/StateRecordGar-17-9lbs-MarshyHopeJan2019-300x162.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of state record longnose gar caught January 2019\" width=\"361\" height=\"195\" srcset=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/StateRecordGar-17-9lbs-MarshyHopeJan2019-300x162.jpg 300w, https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/StateRecordGar-17-9lbs-MarshyHopeJan2019.jpg 603w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 361px) 100vw, 361px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">A Dorchester County man set a state record for catching a 17.9-pound <a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/fisheries\/Pages\/Fish-Facts.aspx?fishname=Longnose%20Gar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">longnose gar<\/a>. Secretary resident David Confair, 44, caught the fish Jan. 23 a few miles above the historic Brookview Bridge along Marshyhope Creek.<\/p>\n<p>An experienced angler, Confair and a friend went fishing there after hearing reports of massive blue catfish. After just a few hours into their trip, Confair felt something unusual tug his line. \u201cGet the net,\u201d Confair yelled to his friend. &#8220;This is a big fish.\u201d<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Instead of a catfish, it was a longnose gar, a fish that dates to prehistoric times and can grow up to 6 feet long. <a href=\"http:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/Pages\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Maryland Department of Natural Resources<\/a> staff verified the species, and Kool Ice and Seafood Company in Cambridge certified the fish&#8217;s official weight. Confair\u2019s catch surpassed the state\u2019s previous record holder, Justin Kelly, who caught a 17-pound longnose gar in the Potomac River back in 2011.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Confair kept his catch alive for more than two days and released it back into the creek after the record was certified. \u201cIt deserves to live,\u201d Confair said. \u201cI\u2019m hoping to set a bigger record. I know there are bigger ones, I\u2019ve seen them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Maryland maintains\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/Fisheries\/Pages\/state-records.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">state records<\/a>\u00a0in four divisions \u2013 Atlantic, Chesapeake, Nontidal and Invasive \u2013 and awards plaques to anglers who achieve record catches. Fish caught from privately-owned, fee-fishing waters are ineligible.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Anglers who think they have a potential record catch should fill-out the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/fisheries\/Documents\/srapplication.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">state record application<\/a>\u00a0and call 443-569-1381 or 410-260-8325. The department suggests the fish be immersed in ice water to preserve its weight until it can be checked, confirmed and certified.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>David Confair Nets 17.9-Pound Fish A Dorchester County man set a state record for catching a 17.9-pound longnose gar. Secretary resident David Confair, 44, caught the fish Jan. 23 a few miles above the historic Brookview Bridge along Marshyhope Creek. An experienced angler, Confair and a friend went fishing there after hearing reports of massive<a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2019\/01\/28\/eastern-shore-angler-catches-record-longnose-gar\/\">&nbsp;&nbsp;Read the Rest&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[956,957,11],"tags":[3121,4953,2922,4950,4952,3069],"class_list":["post-26185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alert","category-appnews","category-fisheries","tag-cambridge","tag-david-confair","tag-dorchester-county","tag-marshyhope-creek","tag-secretary","tag-state-fishing-record"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26185"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26203,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26185\/revisions\/26203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}