Article from Daily Telegraph By Brendan McFadden 21.12.19
WHEN John Farrant caught a 28lb 5oz sea trout he was justifiably proud of what he understood to be the biggest one ever caught.
Indeed the angler had his prize specimen stuffed and framed, initially displaying it in pride of place at his home in Lyndhurst, Hants, in 1992, before selling it a year later.
John Farrant’s stuffed fish, which set a record when it was caught in 1992
Credit: Bonhams/BNPS
But officials believe there is something … well, rather fishy about his British record. It is now being investigated amid claims that the fish, caught off Calshot Spit, near Southampton, was actually a trout-salmon hybrid.
The British Record Fish Committee (BRFC) is trying to track down its owner after receiving an anonymous complaint from someone who studied a picture of the monster fish and suspected something about the record was distinctly off.
If the BRFC can track down the fish it plans to subject it to DNA testing in order to prove once and for all what gene pool it comes from.
Mike Heylin, chairman of the committee, which is part of the Angling Trust, said: “We received a letter from an interested party who said they had been looking into the sea trout record and thought it could be invalid.
“He had letters from a number of respected specialists expressing similar concerns and we decided that this was one worth looking into. The questions raised are very valid and we now need to try and track the fish down so some DNA testing can be used.” Mr Heylin added: “Unfortunately the fish has since been sold on, so at the moment we’ve been unable to find it.
“If anyone out there knows anything about its whereabouts we’d love them to get in touch.”
The whistleblower claimed the way the body of the fish connects to the tail suggests it may be part salmon, which is closely related to a sea trout. They also believe the jaw of a sea trout resembles that of a salmon.
The fish was verified as a sea trout by Alwynne Wheeler, a curator at the Natural History Museum in London, who has since died.
The BRFC said that in normal circumstances it would consult the person who verified the fish so they could re-examine it, instead of trying to track it down.
Angling author Dr Mark Everard, a lecturer at the University of the West of England in Bristol, agrees that the fish could be a hybrid.
He said: “I’ve only seen a picture of the fish but from what I can tell it looks to be either a salmon or a salmon hybrid.
“The mouth position doesn’t appear to be consistent with a sea trout and the spotting would point me to believe it is some kind of salmon.
“There is also a distinctive wrist on the tail so I would guess there are definitely some salmon genes in the fish.
“Salmon-trout hybrids are relatively common and it can be hard to identify them but the burden of proof for records has certainly been raised in recent years.”
The last recorded sighting of the mounted fish was at Bonhams saleroom in Edinburgh where it sold for £525 in May 2017.
The Daily Telegraph has been unable to track down Mr Farrant for comment. If you know who owns the mounted fish, email the British Record Fish Committee at brfc@anglingtrust.net
