Man catches massive 153-pound alligator gar in Soccerplex pond

"Sharing what was my most challenging catch of my life," Sidney Snappér wrote on Facebook after landing a massive alligator gar in Germantown.

The 7-foot-3-inch behemoth weighed in at 153 pounds and Snappér said it took him nearly four hours to reel it in at the Maryland Soccerplex pond.

The massive 153-pound alligator gar is the largest fresh water fish ever caught in Maryland.

Snappér said he saw a story on Fox5 DC about a false alligator sighting at the pond and had a hunch that it was an alligator gar, the largest freshwater fish in North America and virtually unchanged since the Early Cretaceous period over 100 million years ago.

Snappér claimed the massive alligator gar was the largest fresh-water fish ever caught in Maryland, five times larger than the previous record holder, a 33-pound muskellunge caught in 2022.

Commentors on Snappér’s Facebook post had high praise for the catch.

"You are one in a million Mr. Sid Snappér!" one comment read. "Leave it to you to spot an alligator gar in a grainy YouTube video."

"Congratulations sir!" another read. "Tremendous accomplishment. Thanks for clearing up the mystery."

Other commentors had jokes.

"They make great Fish Cakes. Take some to Marina Marraco and Jim Lokay and say they are gator nuggets."

Alligator gar are not native to Maryland. Parks officials speculate Snappér’s Germantown catch was dropped many years ago when no larger than a coconut by a migrating English Swallow.