A Texas Kayak Fisherman Nearly Capsized When He Reeled In A Monstrous Seven-Foot Prehistoric Beast

As Hernandez tries to maintain balance on his kayak, he battles to reel in his huge catch. The beast’s great head breaks the surface of the water, sending waves surging across the river. And as Hernandez spots the monster snarling and thrashing just before him, he feels a pang of fear. Will he actually be able to take down this colossal creature?

Well, as a triathlete in prime physical condition, Hernandez is in a better position than most. But the strength of the creature is incredible, and it’s not giving up without a fight. “He was dragging me all over the river,” Hernandez later recalled to the San Antonio Express-News. “For a minute I thought I was going to lose my pole because it was like halfway in the water.”

The beast even used its tail to try and flip Hernandez’s boat. “If my [kayak] would’ve tilted a couple more inches, it would’ve took in water,” he admitted. But what kind of creature was Hernandez tangling with? Well, in the freshwater rivers of Texas, there are a few denizens of the deep that are shockingly ancient in origin.

Could it have been a paddlefish on the end of Hernandez’s line? You’d hope not! The species is safeguarded by the State of Texas, making it illegal to land or hurt it in any way. And while the fisherman’s foe had shark-like qualities similar to those of a paddlefish, Hernandez thankfully didn’t become a felon that day for tussling with a protected animal. So, what on Earth was he wrestling with?

Well, as a seasoned fisherman, Hernandez may well have been aware of the possible culprits. And there are a few species native to Texas freshwater that are worth considering. First of all, there’s the smallmouth buffalo, which is found in many of the larger waterways in the state. This fish can sometimes be mistaken for the common carp, but there are a few ways to differentiate the two.

According to Clearwater Consulting – a lake and fisheries management company in Magnolia – the smallmouth buffalo “has a dark upper body and a pale belly.” Apparently, this fish also possesses “large scales and a distinctive sucker mouth.” But the beast Hernandez was battling with had jaws like a great white! So, that’s the smallmouth buffalo scratched off the list of suspects.

Another common fish in the area is the Rio Grande cichlid, which has a more unique appearance. The cichlid has, as Clearwater Consulting explains, “cream and turquoise colored spots [and] five to six anal-fin spines. Adult males [also] sometimes have a noticeable hump on their head.” Again, that description doesn’t exactly align with the fearsome foe Hernandez encountered.

What about the blue catfish, then? That’s the biggest sport fish found in the freshwaters of Texas. And as members of the species can each weigh as much as 100 pounds, they’re more than capable of putting up a fight. They tend to be found in bigger rivers, too, which sounds promising. Do we have our contender? Not quite! The blue catfish’s bloated mouth is a far cry from the thrashing vice of Hernandez’s catch.

Another dead end! Perhaps we need to consider the Lone Star State’s more obscure species. As well as a vast array of fish, Texas is also home to several more varieties of marine life. There are hawksbill, loggerhead, and green sea turtles as well as a gastropod known as the lightning whelk. But they just don’t fit the bill of Hernandez’s beast.

But what about the most iconic – and possibly most vicious – prehistoric predator in Texas? Yes, we’re talking about the alligator! Typically found in warm bayous, swamps, and marshes, alligators are gargantuan, semi-aquatic reptiles. Their prominent scales, long bodies, and sharp teeth all make them intimidating presences – and not too dissimilar to what Hernandez hooked.

But anglers simply don’t tend to reel in ’gators. No, the largest marine animals hauled out of Texas water are typically fish. In April 1984, for example, Joe Stooksberry was informed by the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame that the drum fish he’d caught was the biggest in the world. He was east of San Angelo in the Concho River when he snagged the 16-pound, 2-ounce beast.

It took Stooksberry 20 long minutes to get the creature into his kayak – and he nearly tipped into the water several times in the process. “When the fish bit, I thought I had hung my jig on the bottom. I started jerking my pole around to free it, and the fish started moving,” he told San Angelo’s Standard-Times.

And although he knew his catch was big, Stooksberry had no idea that it was a record-breaker. He confessed, “I didn’t realize at the time that the drum would be a world record, or I would have had him mounted. I’m afraid we ate him for dinner the day after I caught him.” Whoops.

Then, in 1991, another San Angelo angler named Wayne Peck landed himself a 63-and-a-half-pound catfish at the O.C. Fisher Reservoir. At the time, he was competing in the San Angelo Bass Club’s Open Tournament. Even if he’d caught a bass that weighed just a tenth of the creature he actually snared, he still would’ve won the first prize of $1,000. Instead, he reeled in a world record-setter.

Fast-forward to November 2019, though, and Hernandez has finished reeling in his colossal catch. He then posts some photographs and footage of the creature to his Facebook page, and these leave his friends and family stunned. You see, the images show the keen angler standing and then lying next to an absolutely enormous beast of the deep. And in the caption to his post, he exclaimed, “Fought this sucker for 40 minutes.”

The exhausted triathlete then explained why he had disappeared off screen for a short period during the clip. “In the video, I was out of it for a second,” he wrote. “Had to rest, but I remembered my kayak was still in the water. So, I had to go get it.” All in all, though, his day had been “awesome.”

And Hernandez also acknowledged his cousin Luis Manuel Trevino for helping him wrangle the creature. He wrote, “Thank you… for following me on top of the bank and breaking way through all the monte (trees and branches) to get to where I was, to help me get this monster out of the water and onto land. Man, the heart was really pumping.”

Then, during an appearance on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, Hernandez explained how he had frantically tried to grab Trevino’s attention. He said, “Well, I get to the side, and I’m holding on to [my catch] with the gaff. And I’m like, hurry up, cuz! Hurry up. Come get – come help me.”

Then, with the aid of his cousin, Hernandez was able to hoist the beast up the levee to the shore. “And, like, man, it was so heavy. So, then once we got it to the top, I just threw myself to the floor,” he revealed. Hernandez also thanked God for helping him get through the battle and for blessing him with such a huge catch.

The exhausted fisherman knew he’d been in a war, though. “My body was just so tired, man,” he admitted. But Hernandez had seen the battle coming right from the start. He told NPR that from the moment he pulled on his rod, he knew that what he had on his line was large. “Little did I know that it was that big,” he joked.

“How big?” asked host Scott Simon, before answering himself by saying, “Seven feet long. Tall enough to play in the NBA, 200 pounds…” And he wasn’t wrong. That was quite some catch! Still, Hernandez managed to reel it in from just a small, single-man kayak. “Fortunately, the 44-year-old barber and father of six is also a triathlete,” Simon explained on air. That sure must have helped!

Yet Hernandez still struggled to pinpoint how he mustered the strength and stamina to overpower the fish without capsizing his boat. He said, “You have to keep it balanced out. It just comes to you when you’re doing it – you know, the adrenaline and everything. It’s just like, if you know how to do it, you know? I don’t know. I don’t know how to explain it.”

Finally, Simon revealed that that the beast had been “an alligator gar – so named because it actually does resemble an alligator.” According to the host, that meant it had “teeth and scales so sharp and fearsome it’s said they make good arrowheads, which you don’t want to dig out of your leg.” Yes, Hernandez had reeled in a prehistoric fish – a species that has existed since the time of the dinosaurs.

For Hernandez, the reward for his incredible catch was a delicious meal and a new status as a local celebrity. He told NPR, “As far as an alligator gar, the meat is really, really good. It doesn’t taste like fish. And it does not have the texture of fish. It’s like a chicken nugget. It’s very, very delicious, brother.”

Meanwhile, in his native San Benito, Hernandez has become the talk of the town – especially at his workplace King Kuts. He revealed, “Everybody comes up here. It’s a barbershop. So, it’s a big ol’ topic, you know? And then like across the barbershop they’ll be like, ‘Hey Chris, I heard about the gar you caught. Man, that was big, bro.’”

And Hernandez doesn’t seem sick of speaking about his feat yet. He confessed, “So, there’s no telling how long it’s going to be going around, man – people who will be coming around and asking me. And I’ll be more than glad to tell them.”

What else is there to say about the alligator gar, though? Well, it has a fascinating history. Fossil records have been able to show that the fish – also known as Atractosteus spatula – has been a presence on Earth from as far back as the Early Cretaceous period. That makes the species more than 100 million years old. No, seriously!

The alligator gar is also one of the biggest freshwater fish in the world, although some have been found in saltwater conditions as well. The record for biggest alligator gar ever caught was set in 1951, when father and son duo Trinidad and Guillermo Valverde snagged one in the Rio Grande river. That particular monster came in at a mind-boggling 279 pounds.

The Valverdes’ alligator gar record has never been bested since. And the family refer to the men’s prize catch as “the holy fish,” as a Methodist minister had been with them on that special day. Speaking about her father in 2019, Guillermo’s proud daughter Jeanne Valverde Martinez told the Houston Chronicle, “He was a quiet force. And he absolutely loved fishing.”

Alligator gar catches are still happening today, of course. Almost a year after Hernandez snagged his 7-foot, 200-pounder, a pair of fishermen in San Antonio captured their own beast. This one was 6 feet, 5 inches and weighed an estimated 125 pounds. As one of the anglers, Daniel Uriegas, said to the San Antonio Express-News, “We ended up landing ourselves a river monster.”

Uriegas, who runs a fishing business, was with his buddy Mark Sanmiguel when they encountered the gar. Then the pair wrestled with the huge fish for 13 minutes before they safely got it on their boat. And while this wasn’t quite the 40-minute battle that Hernandez endured, it was still no small task.

Uriegas explained, “They are really big fish and have a lot of power, and they will fight until they can’t anymore.” In the end, the friends estimated they were able to get 40 to 50 pounds of meat from their catch. Yet that still wasn’t the biggest gar Uriegas had ever caught. He claimed that he had once landed an example measuring up at 6 feet, 8 inches. That’s a whole lot of fish!

Of course, if you think you could catch a bigger alligator gar than that, then just know that the most common area to find them is in the lower Mississippi River Valley. The prehistoric beasts prowl the waters of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Florida, parts of Mexico, and Texas. But don’t get them confused with a different type of gar, as there are four different varieties of them in Texas alone!

What separates an alligator gar from one of the other kinds? Well, there are a few tell-tale signs. All gars have elongated snouts, but the alligator gar’s is broader and stumpier than the others. The fish is also covered in glistening scales that are generally a sort of olive-brown shade.

The alligator gar has an advantage over its fellow fish, too. As with other species, it has gills that allow it to breathe underwater. It’s also equipped, though, with what’s called a “swim bladder” attached to the gut. This gives the creature the ability to breathe air on the surface or live in areas where the water has comparatively little oxygen.

Luckily for Hernandez – and for any other person who encounters an alligator gar – the species isn’t known to be aggressive toward humans. Its prey consists of turtles, blue crabs, birds, fish, and some smaller mammals. In terms of threats, though, real alligators have been known to occasionally eat alligator gar. Oh, the irony!

Alligator gars usually breed in April and May, although they’re notoriously unbothered about doing so. Sometimes there are no eggs spawned for years at a time. But when they do appear, they hatch quickly – within a matter of days, in fact – and proceed to eat insects and fish larvae. As a defense mechanism against marine predators, the alligator gar’s eggs are potentially lethal if eaten.

And the public perception of the alligator gar has changed a lot over the years. Perhaps because of its frightening appearance, rumors persisted that it would attack nets and eat the fish that were seen as prize catches. That led it to be dubbed a “trash fish,” and the extermination of the species remained a very real possibility right up to the 1950s.

Thankfully, folks now look on the alligator gar more kindly. Studies have revealed the fish’s long history on Earth and its role in the underwater ecosystem, for one. It’s also taken on a reputation as a delicacy, with restaurants in the American South serving fried gar filets and balls. Today, the alligator gar is very much a prized catch, then, and one that Hernandez should feel proud to have landed.

Yet Hernandez isn’t the only Texan to have battled with a beast of the deep and lived to tell the tale. When Chase McCray snagged himself a substantial catfish, he dragged a deadly creature out of the murky depths with it. And the vicious predator in question simply wouldn’t let go without a fight.

But McCray had his fishing knowledge to fall back on during the battle. Yes, judging by his social media, he’s an avid pursuer of the popular pastime. In McCray’s Facebook profile picture, for instance, he can be seen proudly showing off one of his catches, which appears to be one almighty catfish. And the angler has been snapped holding the monstrous water-dweller in one hand as he flashes the camera a small smile.

McCray shares regular updates about his fishing adventures on Twitter, too, where he posts under the username “ChaseThePlayBoy.” In one tweet from July 2019, the angler posted two images of himself holding yet another catch. And to make it clear how much he enjoys life by the water, he captioned the photos, “No place I’d rather be.”

In fact, fishing seems to be so important to McCray that in May 2019 he voiced his desire to find a woman who shared his hobby. Putting the request bluntly, the angler tweeted, “I need a female fishin’ partner.” It’s not clear, however, if someone answered his call for a like-minded lady.

Nevertheless, fishing appears to remain a firm fixture in McCray’s life. In July 2019, then, he set off to follow his passion at Langham Creek in Texas’ Harris County – the very area where he had also happened to go to high school. And while McCray may well be an avid angler, even he may not have have predicted what happened next. You see, on this occasion, the Texan reeled in much more than he was bargaining for.

Bayous are common features throughout America’s Gulf Coast – particularly on the delta of the Mississippi River. This means that both Louisiana and McCray’s home state of Texas are well known for the bodies of water. By definition, a bayou can be an area of marshland or a slow-flowing river or stream, although the term also describes a creek with a current that reverses once a day. And a bayou’s contents are higher in salt levels than freshwater, which in turn creates an ideal environment for some fish and plankton species.

Naturally, then, certain bayous are rich in marine life. And while species living in bayou water will vary from region to region, they may include catfish, shrimp and shellfish. That said, they may also contain crocodiles, alligators, snakes and leeches – meaning anglers need to have their wits about them when fishing there.

So while McCray’s native Harris County boasts the highest population in Texas, there are nevertheless opportunities for fishing enthusiasts like him to get close to nature. And in July 2019 the angler duly chose to escape to a bayou in the northwest of the county. During the trip, however, he got a nasty surprise when he reeled in his catch.

And what McCray found on the end of his line was so bizarre and unsettling that it almost beggared belief. The potentially lethal creature is captured on camera, too, and the resulting footage – which eventually appeared on McCray’s Twitter feed – reveals the fisherman’s incredulous response to the gruesome scene playing out in front of his eyes.

Initially, though, McCray’s video reveals the serene setting of his fishing trip. He is positioned in some long grass at the edge of the bayou, while a folding chair – which no doubt provided some comfort while he waited patiently for a tug on his line – can also be seen in the background. Yet the idyllic location acts in stark contrast to the horror unfolding on screen.

You see, while it’s clear that the angler has hooked himself a pretty substantial catfish, there’s no cause for celebration on his part just yet. Why? Well, as McCray’s footage shows, the fish had already been claimed by something much more fearsome than the fisherman’s line.

Yes, as McCray had pulled the catfish from the depths of the bayou, it quickly became obvious that it was not alone. And in the video that the fisherman subsequently filmed, the beast that has claimed the catch is revealed. Alarmingly, a huge snake has wrapped itself around the fish and already sunk its deadly fangs into its flesh.

Now that McCray has removed the creatures from the water, the catfish flaps its gills as it struggles to breath. Yet the snake refuses to loosen its grip on the ill-fated animal. Indeed, despite being exposed in such a fashion by the angler, the reptile is seemingly undeterred in its endeavor to claim his victim.

So, the snake simply dangles off the end of McCray’s line, holding the catfish firmly between its fangs as the two creatures spin together on the line. Needless to say, it’s a strange sight to behold – and the angler leaves the viewer to look upon it for some time, too.

After a little while, though, McCray turns the camera on himself. Now, he can be seen in a red T-shirt and a floppy sun hat, and he continues to hold on to the fishing rod that hosts the snake and fish. In reaction to the scene, though, all the angler can do is stare at the lens in disbelief. He then throws his unexpected catch another glance, as if to check it’s definitely real.

And in July 2019 McCray chose to share the footage on Twitter. It seems, too, that he took the unnerving incident in good humor, as alongside the incredible clip he wrote, “The things I go through with bayou fishing.” He also added a series of emojis, including two that signify crying with laughter.

It’s perhaps no surprise, either, that the bizarre video took off online, attracting nearly 55,000 retweets and more than 215,000 likes within a matter of weeks. The disturbing clip also provoked a lot of conversation on Twitter, with many of those who had watched the video seeming pretty creeped out by the prospect of reeling in a snake like McCray had.

In a particularly dramatic comment, one Twitter user expressed their intense mistrust of serpents. Making liberal use of the caps key in order to labor their point, they wrote, “Bruuuh, SEE THIS IS WHY I HATE SNAKES!!! THEY ON THE GROUND, THEY IN THE WATER AND THEY IN BE IN THE SKY IN THEM AIRPLANES. NO ONE IS SAFE.”

Echoing similarly worried thoughts, another tweeter recommended that McCray seek out a safer spot from which to fish next time. They advised, “Think about the snakes that you can’t see in the high grass behind your chair. I think I’d fish from the bridge.” Another user agreed, although they recommended instead that the angler cast out from a helicopter next time – just to be safe.

Not everyone who watched McCray’s video was left feeling panic-stricken by what had gone down with the fish and the snake, however. In fact, just like the angler, some saw the funny side of what could have been a highly dangerous situation. And there were plenty of comments poking fun at his uncomfortable catch, too.

One such tweet brought McCray’s fishing technique into question. It read, “Did you use the snake as bait to catch the fish… Or the other way around?” Meanwhile, another commenter joked that there had been some kind of showdown between the angler and his reptilian rival. They wrote, “Y’all looking at each other trying to figure out who gone get the fish.”

A further Twitter user pointed out that McCray had gotten to the catfish just that little bit too late. They wrote, “Yeah, if the snake had hands, they could just play rock, paper, scissors for it… But honestly, the snake did have first dibs.” And another person seemed to agree. As a result, they pointed out, “Looks like the snake beat you to dinner.”

But while some people could empathize with the snake for having its meal rudely interrupted, there was also some sympathy for the catfish. After all, it managed to get caught out twice in one go. One Twitter user wrote, for instance, “It’s a bad day for that fish. Definitely a lose-lose.”

Then, after McCray’s video of the snake and catfish had gone viral, the angler’s story made it into the local media. And in an interview with ABC13 Eyewitness News, he revealed what happened after the camera had stopped rolling. McCray explained, “I took the knife to get the snake off the fish and released the fish… The snake had a few wounds from the knife, but I released it as well.”

Back on Twitter, McCray also confirmed that he had indeed released the catfish before it came to any further harm. In one tweet, he simply revealed, “The fish made it out alive.” Yet the account that the angler gave on Twitter regarding the snake’s fate differed somewhat from what he had told ABC13 Eyewitness News. There, he seemed to suggest that the serpent had in fact come to harm.

That revelation came about after one Twitter user asked McCray, “I want to know what you did after this.” Responding to the inquiry, the avid fisherman said, “I threw the fish back and killed the snake.” The Texan repeated this claim in a separate tweet, too, by writing that he had “killed the snake and released the fish.”

However, McCray faced some backlash on Twitter for claiming that he had killed the snake. One person wrote, “That’s a water snake. It’s non-venomous. It’s a completely harmless snake.” Another user berated the angler by sarcastically tweeting, “Congrats on killing a harmless snake that was just trying to live.”

If the serpent McCray had inadvertently hooked had actually been a water snake, it would indeed have posed little harm to him. As the Twitter user pointed out, the species doesn’t have any venom. And while North American water snakes will bite repeatedly if they feel threatened, and their saliva does contain a weak anticoagulant, any such attacks are not usually fatal to humans.

This species of snake is native to North America and can be found as far north as Ontario and Quebec and as far south as Florida and Texas – where McCray caught his. They prey on all kinds of marine life, too – including fish and frogs – but also hunt small mammals and birds. It’s worth noting, though, that water snakes also have a number of predators themselves – with raccoons, birds, foxes and opossums among them.

And from McCray’s video, it was clear to see that the snake he’d snagged had dark bands and blotches running the length of its body. Yet while these kinds of markings could have identified it as a harmless water snake, they are also associated with more dangerous creatures such as copperheads or cottonmouths – accounting, perhaps, for the angler’s overzealous approach to the serpent.

But despite the criticism McCray faced for how he may have dealt with the snake, he seemed to revel in the attention he received on account of his viral video. After posting the clip of the deadly creature and the catfish, you see, he shared yet more snippets of his angling adventures. And it seems that the Texan was used to reeling in unexpected catches.

Indeed, on the very same day McCray shared the catfish and snake clip, he uploaded a second video. And in this footage, yet another animal is seen flailing around in the water after being hooked. Then a voice – presumably belonging to the Texan – says, “It ain’t no fish, but it’s still a good catch.” And later in the clip, the fisherman reveals exactly what he’s caught, adding, “That’s an alligator snapping turtle.”

Just like snakes, alligator snapping turtles are known for their bites, as they have incredibly powerful jaws. The reptiles hunt with their mouths open and lure in unsuspecting prey using their worm-shaped tongues. Then, once they have their victims in place, they snap their jaws shut.

And alligator snapping turtles are opportunistic hunters, meaning they feed off a number of marine animals whether they’re dead or alive. In some cases, they have even been known to eat alligators. As a result, then, these reptiles are extremely dangerous and should be treated with care when handled by humans.

You see, alligator snapping turtles’ jaws are so powerful that they can reportedly bite through broom handles. Alarmingly, there are even stories of people having their fingers chomped clean off by the animals. So, while the creatures don’t appear to have ever killed a human, McCray would nevertheless have to handle the example that he believed he’d found very carefully.

And it seems that McCray did deal with the turtle he’d hooked with sufficient caution. Another video that the fisherman shared shows him holding what looked like a snapper carefully by the shell. Then, with his hands safely out of biting reach of the beast, the angler returns the turtle to the water with one almighty throw.

But while McCray seemed to have a knack for catching unintended creatures, he isn’t the only angler to have reeled in more than they’d bargained for. Writing on Twitter, one social media user revealed, for instance, that they had somehow hooked an alligator. And unlike the Texan with his reptilian catch, they were unable to laugh the incident off.

The person in question wrote, “Bruh, when I was in Texas, I caught an alligator.” Revealing how they’d reacted to their find, the tweeter added, “Man, I threw the whole rod ‘n’ reel in the water… That s**t was prehistoric. I ain’t never seen no s**t like that before, and yo’ ass out here acting like [two crying laughing emojis].”

Yet McCray himself seems to have taken the popularity of his fishing clips as an opportunity to branch out to other social media outlets. Revealing the development on Twitter in July 2019, the angler told his followers, “Y’all go subscribe to my YouTube channel.” And in a bid to tempt people to do just that, he added, “Video dropping soon.”

McCray is yet to add a description to his new YouTube channel; judging by his first upload, though, the page will focus on his fishing adventures. In that initial clip, the Texan believes that he’s hooked another big catch. But, as ever, there’s a twist. This time, he ends up with nothing to show for his work after the unknown beastie snaps his line. And perhaps that’s for the best given the angler’s habit of reeling in terrifying creatures.