SCOTTISH angler Malcolm Todd is attempting to claim a new The fish was caught aboard Mike Woods’ Portpatrick-based boat ‘Silver Line’ on a mackerel bait. It took him over half an hour to bring the fish to the boat and when it finally made it to the deck it was believed that it would easily break the current official record of 82lb 8oz, set by Bob Chatfield in the Thames Estuary in 1991. Unfortunately, there were no scales on the boat and the skipper was forced to calculate the length and girth measurements. He then telephoned a tackle shop in Stranraer to get the measurements calculated and verified. The weight came out at 107lb 6oz 1dr. They took lots of photographs and then returned the fish to the sea. The following day Malcolm telephoned the Scottish fish recorder to inform him about the catch and was told that he would have to have very good photographic evidence to make the claim. Plenty of pictures were taken but sadly none were classed as being good enough for the claim. We aren’t too sure whether Malcolm’s claim will stand but at least he has some pictures and the memory of landing a tope that was well over 100lb.
