Record Brown Trout 22lb 8oz – Marc Ruddle (2008)
Six long hours spent patiently stalking a monster brown trout finally paid off for Marc Ruddle when he landed a new Avington Trout Fishery record brown trout weighing 22lb 8oz. The brownie, affectionately nicknamed ‘Jack’ by fishery staff, was tempted from Lake Three at the Itchen Abbas, Hampshire venue and it beat the previous record caught last year by more than 7lb. Marc, 28, a stockbroker from London, arrived at Avington for the 8am start and was soon into a 9lb rainbow. But by then he had spotted ‘Jack’ cruising up and down the lake and decided to go for him.
“The problem was he just wasn’t interested in my fly at all. He would just swim the other way’”
But then the big brownie started to look at the fly if it was left static or just jiggled about on the bottom – a tactic Marc persevered with for six hours until 3.30pm.
“I was using a goldhead Bloodworm pattern on 6lb leader and a Sage floating line and as I just lifted the fly off the bottom about two feet from the edge of the bank and he suddenly went for it and after about five or ten minutes he was on the bank!”
Previous Avington Trout Fishery Director, Robbie Winram was delighted to see Jack caught at last.
“The big brown trout were stocked at the end of May and we were hoping he would come out quite quickly as big fish like this tend to lose weight, he was the most visible fish in the lake. The water is exceptionally clear and ‘Jack’ would just spend his time cruising up and down for everyone to see. Very frustrating for anglers as he just didn’t seem interested in any fly offered in his path”
The brownie is displayed in Lakeside Lodge at Avington Trout Fishery.