THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

not mentioned in this section of the book, but which are discussed in Part 1 under their appropriate
species headings.
Associated audio interview numbers: 134 and 135.
EUROPEAN RECORD FISH
Bucket List status – result
Record spotted ray taken from Loch Ryan in 1974 as previously discussed both above, and as part of
the one hundred species role call in part 1.
NOTE: This fish was weighed at five pounds five ounces
and amended down by me to five pounds two ounces after
taking into consideration the official calibration of the
scales, which showed them as reading three ounces over.
However, as a point of historical accuracy, that three ounce
adjustment was unfortunately made a second time by the
Scottish record fish committee, and subsequently passed
forward to British and European fish recorders, when in fact
the true weight was three ounces heavier than shown.
To be fair, this was a problem unknowingly caused in the
first instance by me making the adjustment before making
the claim, all of which is now academic, as the record has
since climbed steady over the years to its current 2015 level
of 8 pounds 10½ ounces.
WORLD RECORD FISH
Bucket List status – result
The greater the prize, theoretically, the
greater the input of effort required to
achieve it. Or so you would think. But in
the case of an International Game Fish
Association (IGFA) world record, all
may not be as it appears.
Ally Gowans fly fishing for Pollack, Luce Bay
I say this on the basis that if I was told I
had to break an angling record, any
record, whether that be Scottish or Welsh
all the way through the various tiers up
to world level, and that my life depended
on it, without hesitation I would opt for
an IGFA world record.
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