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Scottish
Record Rod Caught Freshwater Fish
While Scotland is better known for its quality game fishing and boasts the record for salmon and brown trout there are some other cracking catches to be had for a wide range of species.
For more about the latest record fish from the Ness click here
Women hold the
top spots for record salmon in the UK. On Saturday the 7th of October 1922
Geogina Ballantyne took the record for the heaviest salmon with a 64lb
fish caught whilst harling with her father who was the ghillie on Glendelvine. The
story goes that it took Miss Ballantyne 10 hours to land the fish and her
father popped off home to get her some food which he fed to her whilst she
played the monster. The record for a salmon caught on the fly is also held
by a woman, taken in 1924 by Mrs Tiny Morison at Mountblairy, who by contrast with Miss Ballantyne landed the fish in a no nonsense manner by herself. Writing to a
friend she said 'I rushed down put my hands
in his gills and dragged him up onto the bank. He looked enormous lying
there - a huge male fish, well hooked but a beautiful shape and coloured. I
had no idea what a prize he was. We sent him to Aberdeen to get a cast
made'.
The fish looks to be about the same size as
Mrs Morison, so big in fact that a pony and cart had to be used to get the fish home.
The biggest salmon recorded was a fish of 84lbs netted off the Tay in 1869 while two fish one of 69.75lbs taken by Lord Hume off the Tweed and one of 67lbs caught by Jock Wallace on the Nith in 1812 have both been disallowed. Incidentally the biggest salmon caught in England came off the Wye in 1905 and weighed in at 63.5lbs, just a smidgen short of Miss Ballantyne's effort but again it fell to the net.
Scotland
is the home of some exceptional brown trout whether it is the potential
river record wild brownie caught on the fly on the Isla by John Sheard in
2005,
shown on the left, or the Scottish record brown trout taken on Loch Awe by
Brian Rutland in 2002 which weighed in at a colossal 31lbs 12ozs, it was 39"
long, had a girth of 25.5" and its tail measured 11". Brian returned the
fish unharmed so it is out there waiting and growing even bigger. Loch Awe,
as befits its name, is awesome holding and breaking the UK trout record
several times in the last 10 years. To put the achievements in perspective
the record 'cultivated' brown trout is more than three pounds lighter at
28lbs 1oz taken at Dever Springs. The achievement is even greater when you
find that this wild fish is bigger than the Scottish record rainbow trout
which was only 30lbs 11ozs Loch Awe fish are wild and natural.
In the old glacial lochs we have populations of Arctic char, prime fodder for the hulking ferox trout but they do grow to a decent size, the record being a fish of 8lbs 8ozs taken on Loch Arkaig in 1992 by F Nicholson. I believe that the record could be broken on loch Garry where wild char are taking advantage of the excess feed going into fish farm cages in the loch allowing them to grow on to exceptional sizes. Whether they will be classified as wild or cultivated is an other question.
Grayling were introduced into Scotland in the 19th century which is why they are located very specifically in the Clyde, Tay and Tweed river systems in particular. The record stands at 3lbs 1oz taken on the Tweed by J O'Hara in 1994. Grayling spawn in the summer, although they are of the salmonid family, which means that they are considered to be course fish and Scotland does have a varied population of course fish. Scottish course fish records compare favourable with those of south of the border and Ireland. Here is a list of the records:
Barbel: 8lbs 12ozs taken by AG McLelland in 1997 on the river Clyde.
Bream; 12lbs 7ozs taken by M Mitchell in 2006 at Castle Loch near Lochmabben. In fact Castle Loch features well in the record books with a record Carp of 29lbs 2ozs taken by S Ball in 2005 and a Tench of 10lbs taken by P Crookhall in 2003. It is worth noting that many of the course fish records have been broken in recent years which reflects the growing popularity of course fishing in Scotland and the heightened awareness of anglers to the significance of having quality course fish in a fishery.
Chub: the record for chub stands up well against the better known English fisheries coming in at 6lbs 2ozs (against a British record of 8lbs 10ozs). An other famous victory for women for Lisa was only 10 years old when she caught the fish of a lifetime nicking the title from her own father in the process.
Dace; The Scottish record for dace is 1lb 3ozs 8dr, just a few drams short of the UK record which stands at 1lb 4ozs. The fish was caught on the Tweed at Coldstream and since the river is in effect the border between Scotland and England the 'nationality' of the fish is obscure.
Eel: The Scottish record eel was taken at
Loch Ochiltree by T May in 1987, it weighed 5lbs 8ozs. A goldfish of
1lb 9ozs came off the Forth and Clyde canal in 1978 caught by B Stevenson
and an orfe of 7lbs 15zs was taken at Culcreuch Castle Loch in 2005
by M Cole.
Roach can be plentiful in Scotland and I believe there are many records out there to be broken as anglers explore and have access to more water. The record used to stand at 2lbs 11ozs taken at Strathclyde Stillwater lake by P Russel in 1987 however Colin Whyte has just blown the record out of the water with his 4lb fish from Culreuch Castle fishery in Stirlingshire, just 4 measly ounces short of the British Record, but it went back alive and kicking and still growing!
Pike and Perch; pike and perch are plentiful in Scotland and offer very exciting prospects indeed the perch record stands at 4lbs 14ozs taken on Loch Ard by J Walker in 1985. The pike record is a whopping 47lbs 11ozs from Loch Lomond in 1947 taken by T Morgan. The growing popularity of pike fishing, the respect being shown for the fish i.e. they are no longer killed on sight will no doubt see this old time record fall at some point in the future. The skull of the Endrick pike measuring 12.5 inches (estimated at 71lbs) which was found in the marshes at the mouth of the river Endrick in 1934 strongly suggests that pike have faired well in Scotland.
Records are there to be broken and It is certain that many fish have been caught that would have made it into the record books had the captors been aware or interested in registering the record. I am sure there have been bigger eels than the current record but it is certain the if a big one was caught by anyone other that an eel fisher it would have been chopped, diced and binned. Rumours are that in recent years at least a couple of salmon have been caught, one on the Deveron and possibly an other on the Dee that would have challenged Miss Ballantyne's record. These fish were returned unharmed by anglers who should be elevated to sainthood.
If you know of any new records please email me the information. If you catch a record fish contact the British Record (rod caught) Fish Committee at 51A, Queen St, Newton Abbot, Devon, TQ12 2QI, call 01626 331330.
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