Photo courtesy of N.C. WRC J.T. Bryant and his new state record longnose gar. It weighed 19 pounds, 8 ounces and was 51 3/4 inches long.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Like many other anglers fishing the Roanoke River at Weldon in mid-April, James Thomas Bryant was hoping to land a monster striped bass.

He landed a monster all right, but not the striped kind.

After only 30 minutes fishing off the rocks near the boat ramp, the Henderson angler reeled in a new longnose gar state record on April 16, using a Berkley Lightning spinning rod, an Ambassador 5600 reel and a green bucktail lure. The fish weighed 19 pounds, 8 ounces and measured 51¾ inches in length.

“I had no clue that it was a state record,” Bryant said. “I thought the state record was much bigger. I was pretty excited to find out it was a state record.”

Bryant’s catch surpassed the previous longnose gar state record by 4 ounces. That record had been held by Joseph M. Mobley of Wallace since May 15, 2002.

The fish was weighed on certified scales at Spanky’s Produce in Oxford and was verified by Kirk Rundle, a fishery biologist with the Commission.

To qualify for a state record, anglers must have caught the fish on a hook and line, must have the fish weighed on a certified scale witnessed by one observer, have the fish positively identified by a qualified expert from the Commission and submit an application with a full, side-view photo of the fish.