The “Wild Life” with Payton Moore
Payton Moore is a Texas-based angler whose YouTube Channel “Wild Life” has garnered over 53 million views. I spoke to him about fishing, his viral monster alligator gar, and the joys of educating people about the wildlife they can find in their own backyard.
How did you first get interested in fishing? Your first trip?
My introduction to fishing started as a child but I lost interest after a few years, preferring to study terrestrial animals instead. After working for the Houston Zoo for a number of years, I began searching for additional platforms to educate the public about wildlife. I had always dreamed of being a wildlife educator on TV and realized that in the age of social media, YouTube offered another avenue for such a career. Freshwater fish are underrepresented in most zoos and aquariums, so I decided to focus my newly formed YouTube channel on these animals.
Life is a series of accomplishments and I imagine posting videos to You Tube is no different. What steps on your You Tube journey have you celebrated most?
Of all the milestones I've reached on YouTube so far, I think having videos routinely reach over one million views has been the most meaningful.
You’ve used some rather unorthodox baits in the past – turkey, cow tongue, dead bullfrogs. What bait surprised you the most in terms of success and what’s the oddest suggestion for bait you’ve ever received?
I think of all the baits I've used so far, the one that surprised me the most was a piece of cotton thread wrapped around a hook.
You once encountered a mountain lion on camera? Any other unexpected encounters we should know about? I mean, there are lots of Bigfoot sightings on river bottoms.
Encountering a mountain lion up close, in the wild, was definitely the most unexpected encounter I've had to date. Before I started this YouTube channel, I caught a red bellied pacu in the Brazos River. Very few of these invasive fish have been caught in Texas.
A lot of people discovered you through your catch of an 8-foot-2-inch alligator gar. What was the massive interest in that catch like? And history tells us that alligator gar get larger than the one you caught. You think there are bigger ones out there?
That video exploded unexpectedly. I knew it would do well, but I was in shock when multiple people messaged me to let me know I was actually trending on Twitter. I actually don't believe that alligator gar have ever reached lengths much more than eight and a half feet. The only information suggesting so are unconfirmed stories from the early 20th century. None of these fish were actually well documented, so it's unlikely they grow beyond the largest specimen that have been seen in recent years. For whatever reason, nine feet seems to be the upper limit in length for most species of true freshwater fish.
One of the things I enjoy about your channel is that you prove to viewers that they don’t have to go far to find Wild Life. You fish creeks, canals, and bayous all over the Houston area. What’s the most satisfying feedback you’ve received in regards to this? I've always been fascinated by wildlife that can adapt to urban environments (leopards, foxes, coyotes, falcons, etc.). Fish are also exceptional in this regard and are much easier to film!
One of the most satisfying bits of feedback I've received actually came recently. Several old colleagues from the Houston Zoo assisted an elementary school with a series of conservation projects. One of the children chose to do their project on alligator gar conservation, because he "saw one on the news." Inside his alligator gar conservation project was the picture that inspired him, and it was a picture of me with an alligator gar on YouTube.
This piece first appeared in the Fredericksburg Standard.
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