Fishermen reporting double trouble: 2 gar in Iroquois Lake

PHOTOGRAPHER: Zachary Matson

Mike Kissinger, left, and Mark Brown, of Cobleskill, drove to Schenectady's Central Park on Wednesday night to try to catch an alligator gar loose in the park's Iroquois Lake.

On Tuesday, 14-year-old Nathan Holt of Schenectady caught a 6-pound channel catfish in the Mohawk River; he showed off a picture of the large haul on his cellphone as he dunked his treble hook into Iroquois Lake at Central Park on Wednesday night.

This time, Holt was looking for a different type of fish all together: an alligator gar known to be prowling Central Park’s centerpiece pond and, according to some accounts, possibly with a partner by its side.

“I just want to catch it and cross it off my bucket list,” Holt said. He heard about the gar a few days ago and said he had already hooked it for about 30 seconds before it pulled away from his line. His plan was to snag it by landing the big, unbaited treble hook in its side or in its mouth.

Across the pond, however, Mark Brown, 22, and Mike Kissinger, 25, both of Cobleskill, tried all manner of fake bait and hooks as they rummaged through their tackle box and looked for something that would get the job done — but to no avail by the time they were nearly ready to pack it in.

They drove into Schenectady on Wednesday night after they had heard about the gar earlier in the day, when Department of Environmental Conservation crews unsuccessfully attempted to catch and remove the invasive fish from the pond.

“I tried everything I’ve got, and I didn’t catch nothing except sunfish and weeds,” said Brown.

But if the alligator gar — a picture of which made the rounds on social media after Julian Canavan caught and released it about two weeks ago — poses a risk to the pond’s other inhabitants, the situation could be even worse than initially thought.

Three Central Park fishing regulars said Wednesday they think there are two alligator gar in the pond. Fishing buddies 15-year-old Michael Ogborn and 20-year-old Stephen Able, both of Colonie, said they have seen two different-sized gars in the pond, and that they first caught a glimpse of the invaders as early as late April or early May.

Mike Seeram of Schenectady, who was fishing in a different part of the pond, said he had seen two gar swimming together — one big one and one slightly smaller, the same description that Ogborn and Able provided. The regulars said they weren’t interesting in catching the gar — with the nasty teeth and all — but they hoped it didn’t eat the pond’s smaller bass and sunfish.

Canavan estimated that the gar he caught was 37 inches long and weighs 12 pounds.

“They look like an alligator,” Seeram said. “They ugly, man, they are ugly; trust me, they ugly. I wish I could describe exactly what they look like, but they don’t look like any fish you want to eat.”