Father and son’s Thanksgiving fishing tradition leads to new Alabama record

A father and son have a long-time tradition of fishing on Thanksgiving — and it led to a state record in Alabama.

The record was recognized in January, more than a month after their routine holiday outing took a surprising turn. Keith Dees said he was bass fishing with his son, Huntley, when he realized something was on the other end of the line.

He figured it was another redfish, since the two hooked several that morning and caught a 32-pound one in the past. But when the fish came to the surface, he instead discovered it was a prehistoric looking alligator gar, according to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

“I knew it was big, but I didn’t even remotely know it was a state record,” Dees said in a Jan. 19 news release. “That never crossed my mind. I love to cook, so I thought I want to catch this joker so we can eat him.”

But catching the 162-pound creature would take time. The father and son, who were fishing in the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta, watched the massive fish stay in shallow water as they came up with a plan to rope it in, officials said.

“I was afraid he was fixing to destroy my $500 custom rod, but I guess with the combination of the water temperature in the 50s and him being held onto for two hours, he didn’t fight much,” Dees told wildlife officials.

That’s when adrenaline kicked in, allowing the dad to drag the fish into the boat, an online photo shows.

“It was a great memory with my son,” Dees said in the news release. “Whether it turned out to be the state record or not, it would be a story we’d be telling forever.”

But the two were still curious about the size of the fish, so they checked it for themselves. After discovering it likely exceeded the state record of 151 pounds, the two waited for a certified scale to confirm the weight.

“Where do you keep a 7-foot-long fish?” Dees said. “You can’t freeze the fish. My buddy had an old swimming pool, so we put him in the pool at 3 o’clock. He was still alive at 9.”

The record was later certified, a fitting accomplishment for Dees, a Fruitdale resident who said he’s known as a “river rat.” Though he and his son hooked a huge fish, a 327-pound alligator gar caught in Mississippi in 2011 is believed to be one of the largest ever caught, Field & Stream reported in June.

The Mobile-Tensaw River Delta is in the Mobile area, in the southwestern part of Alabama. Alligator gars are found in the delta and other coastal waters, according to wildlife experts.

The fish can be nearly 10 feet long, and “adult gars always have two rows of teeth in the upper jaw, compared to one row in all other gar species,” the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources said on its website.

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