The one that didn't get away.

[Kirbstone]

I was suitably gobsmacked by this pic. in the Irish Times today. They're going to stuff it and mount it permanently in that pub, which I expect will attract a lot of visitors when it goes on display.

Big Brown Trout from Lough Corrib May 2012.jpg

Big Brown Trout article.jpg

I fished that lake dapping with daddy-long-legs and the biggest we got into the boat was just over 8lb, & that's plenty big enough!

Tom K.

[crfriend]

I was suitably gobsmacked by this pic. in the Irish Times today. They're going to stuff it and mount it permanently in that pub, which I expect will attract a lot of visitors when it goes on display.

I am of mixed emotions when it comes to fish of that size (and hence age). Quite likely the beast was older than the angler who caught it, and I find that rather sad -- rather like when somebody around here catches a 25 or 30 pound lobster, which, likely, is well over 80 years old, and so tough as to be inedible. Take a photo, weigh the critter if possible, and gently put it back in the water.

[Since1982]

I think it's a fake picture...notice his left hand is wider than his head, and he has no right hand?? As a lifelong pro fisher, I've seen tons of fake pictures in my life..It's quite easy to hang a pre-frozen fish up with thin silver wire out of the picture and stand behind it posing yourself at whatever distance behind it you want to make it grow to. A 1 pound fish can look like a thousand pounder in front of a 50 / 150 pound man standing anywhere from 2 feet to 100 feet behind it.

[Kirbstone]

In the fishing circles that guy moves in it's unlikely to be a fake pic. The thing will be officially viewed and authenticated if it is to go into the official record books. According to the article that guy admits he spends his time trolling the lake deeps with large bait looking for precisely that type of fish, and he's caught one before.....a 19 pounder.

Interesting photo trickery, Skip. I must bear that in mind when next I catch a tiddler worth photographing. Technically, the shot was wide-angle, which shows the whole pub frontage & more besides. The left hand is closer to the lens than his head/face, hence looks wider. The fish would have a deep soft 'gut, allowing a big indent over the visible hand, while his other hand, supporting most of the fish's weight would easily be hidden by the 'sag' of flesh there.

I agree they tend to be a great age and should be weighed, photographed and returned to the water, but he's probably been offered serious money by the pub owner for the fish. Once again the fate of a poor helpless creature is decided by money changing hands between humans. Sad.

The trout we take off the surface on the fly or by dapping are young replaceable fish, of which there is a plentitude on those large Connemara lakes.

T.

[Kirbstone]

Further to this fishy photo & weight verification thing: I submit a similar article from 2010 where an even bigger Ferox Trout from the same lake was written about but not put in the 'official' record books because the fish was only briefly weighed, photographed and returned alive.

That is exactly how it should be and anglers ought to be able to purchase in-boat weighing devices which are officially calibrated/recognised. Then there would be no 'need' to kill these proud creatures.

The submitted pics. attest that there are plenty of them about.

Czeck angler's Ferox May 2010.jpg

CeriJones23lbs12ozMay2012-480x319.jpg

Tomi-Kurman-83cm-17lbs-ferox-480x640.jpg

T.