Hampshire Avon Monster Salmon - 11/06/2010

An angler has caught the biggest salmon for more than 30 years from Hampshire’s River Avon.

Surrey-based Stewart Allum hooked a massive 32lb 12oz fish on the fly on the famous river between Fordingbridge and Ibsley. He weighed and measured the mighty salmon before returning it to continue its epic journey. The male or ‘cock’ fish is the biggest confirmed salmon from the famous river since Dave Steuart’s 39lb 8oz fish from Ringwood in 1979, and is almost certainly the biggest English river salmon in that time. What’s even more impressive is that this is Stewart’s first salmon on the fly.

He told TFF: “I’m totally thrilled and feel very privileged, but above all else this is just fantastic for salmon fishing. It will galvanise anglers to know that there are fish of this magnitude to be caught.”

To reach over 30lb a salmon will have spent a minimum of three years at sea and is known as a multi sea-wintered fish. It will probably be five years old and have spent two years in the river as a par and three at sea. It is unlikely that it has ever run the river before as most cock fish die during spawning.