An angler has caught the largest salmon for almost 20 years on a river almost decimated by falling stocks.Martin White hooked an enormous 32lbs salmon fishing from the bank of the River Nore just outside Kilkenny. He plans to get the fish stuffed and put on display reports breakingnews.ie. “This is a fish that people dream of catching and has made all the time and effort I have put into angling worthwhile,” he said. “I have loved every minute of it and I plan to get the fish mounted by a taxidermist so I can have it forever.”
Mr White was fishing with shrimp on a stretch downstream from the city in an area of the Nore known as the ’Minister’s Hole’. He caught the impressive specimen on September 25, the last week of the season.
The River Nore has been badly hit by rapidly dwindling salmon stocks over the last decade but last year recorded a massive jump in numbers returning. Some 12,430 salmon were counted going up-river. In 2007 and 2008 salmon fishing on the Nore operated on a ’catch and release’ basis to protect and conserve stocks. This month anglers given a special tag were allowed to take home one fish only.
Mr White will register his catch of a lifetime with the Irish Specimen Fish Committee (ISFC), which records big fish taken in Irish waters. Records show the salmon ranks among the top 15 heaviest rod caught salmon in Ireland. It was the largest fish caught on the Nore since 1991 when Marc O’Regan caught a 34lb salmon at Thomastown. Scale samples have been sent to researchers at the Central Fisheries Board (CFB) to get information about age and growth rate.
