A routine night of bowfishing for invasive Snakehead on the Bush River took a turn when a group of Harford County fishermen spotted a nearly four-foot fish, native to southern Gulf States like Texas, lying in wait in shallow, grassy water.

The fishermen, Wyatt Biensach, 24, and Will Porter, 20, were alerted to the fish around 1:30 a.m. July 27, when their friend pointed in shock to the grass just off the shore of the Bush River near Edgewood.

Each of them gazed off the side of the 18-foot Polar Kraft they had outfitted for nighttime Snakehead fishing to see their lights capture the dark green and grey body of a large fish sitting just below the water’s surface.

Without hesitation, Biensach reached for his phone to take a video and Porter raised his bow.

“Once we got it in the boat, we realized it was an Alligator Gar and how rare it was,” Porter said.

Alligator Gar are predatory fish primarily known for their long bodies and broad snouts that are filled with sharp teeth. Unlike Longnose Gar — which have a much slimmer snout and smaller teeth — Alligator Gar are not native to Maryland.

Biensach and Porter had been fishing the Bush River together multiple times a week for the past four years and said they have never seen a Gar, let alone an Alligator Gar, in the waterway.

“We see about 20 to 30 Longnose Gar in the Susquehanna Flats each year, but never in the Bush River,” Biensach said. “I knew no one would believe it, so we contacted DNR to confirm it.”

The following day, Biensach took the fish to have its weight certified. After blood loss, the nearly four-foot fish weighed 24.04 pounds.

Biologists with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources visited Porter’s home to analyze the fish and confirmed that it was an Alligator Gar that was between 35 and 40 years old, based on its size.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources confirmed that Alligator Gar are native to Texas and Gulf States and can grow as large as 10 feet and up to 350 pounds.

Officials said in a post on Facebook that they believe the Alligator Gar was “most likely” an “aquarium release.”

“The fascinating thing is that it survived for several years in the Bush River,” officials said in the post.

Biensach said he and Porter are expecting to receive a certificate for the fish, but since it is not an established species, the State of Maryland will not deem the catch a state record. However, the catch is pending as a state record through the Bowfishing Association of America — a nonprofit that tracks bowfishing records across the United States.

“Seeing that big of a fish in the Bush River and it being an Alligator Gar, we are just amazed,” Porter said. “This is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime thing, so we are just taking it in.”

Have a news tip? Contact Matt Hubbard at mhubbard@baltsun.com, 443-651-0101 or @mthubb on X.