Angler snags ‘river monster’ out of Texas waters, scaring TikTok. ‘Those are dinosaurs’

Alberto Flores reeled in a fish full of teeth that was almost as big as him in Texas — but it didn’t come without a fight.

The TikTok creator posted a video March 26 of him fishing in the West Fork of Trinity River near the Dallas area. After tossing some bait into the murky water, he began to fight to reel in what he called a “river monster.”

The monster was a hefty alligator gar — a species that Texas coined its “largest and most misunderstood freshwater fish.”

Alligator gars are the largest type of gar and can grow up to 8 feet long and 300 pounds, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. They are known for their iconic long snouts.

“This girl put up a beautiful fight, beautiful fish,” Flores said between breaths after working hard to reel the fish in. After showing off his catch, he laid the gar down and let it slither down the bank back into the river.

“Awesome,” one viewer said about the catch. “Those are dinosaurs for real.”