Monster catch
IN THESE days of fast-diminishing salmon catches, it’s good to know there are still some real monsters out there.
This giant fish was caught in September on the River Awe by Fishinguide Scotland’s Tom Bonniewell.
And this week, Tom was named as the 2017 winner of the coveted Malloch Trophy for the biggest fly-caught salmon safely returned to Scottish waters.
The cock salmon was 47 inches long and estimated at 40lb-plus.
Tom, from North Connel in Argyll, said: “I had been fishing to remove escaped rainbow trout from the lower reaches of the Awe.
“Late in the afternoon, I wanted to show my visiting friend from Zambia, Brett Saunders, a salmon, so we moved to the Huntington beat at the head of the river, where I am a part-time gillie.
“I didn’t bother to change my tackle as I did not anticipate encountering anything bigger than a grilse.
“On my fifth cast in the tail of the Barrage pool, where a couple of grilse were showing, I had a very gentle take.
“The fish moved steadily up the pool and as I applied some pressure in anticipation of landing what I imagined was a smallish fish, I quickly realised this was no grilse.
“The fish woke up with a vengeance, sped across the pool and thrashed on the surface, creating a maelstrom of white water and waves as if a seal was on the move.
“After 40 minutes of attritional battle, which included some powerful heart-stopping long runs, the light was fading fast.
“I managed to bring the fish carefully towards the bank, evading the underwater boulders.
“We had no net, so I handed the rod to Brett so that I could manhandle the salmon into the side.
“There we quickly measured and photographed it before gently letting it swim away.
“If I had lost the fish early on, I would have had no idea of its true size.”
Tom was using a 14ft Greys GR50 rod, an old Greys reel, a Hardy Mach 55 fly line, 12lb nylon and a 1cm micro-cone Snaelda tube fly with a tiny size 16 Partridge Outpoint treble hook.
He will be presented with the Malloch Trophy at the official Tay opening ceremony at Meikleour on January 15.