Salmon Fishing Scotland Monster Atlantic Salmon from the Alta in Norway.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Monster Atlantic Salmon from the Alta in Norway.
Are these the size of Salmon destined to come back to the Tay soon?

On 28th June 2008, co-owner of Frontiers, aged 45, Mollie Fitzgerald landed a 54 lbs salmon on the Alta river, Norway. The fish took a well-known pattern, the Mikkeli Blue in a pool called Ovre Sierra. The fly was surprisingly small (1-1/2" length) considering the fact that the river was essentially in flood at over 6.5 ft on the gauge. There was only a small window on the inside corner of the pool where fish might lie and the big one was in the 5 star hotel! Mollie also caught fish of 35lbs and 24lbs that night. 113lbs of salmon!

As Mollie described to Fish&Fly, 'The fish took on the dangle, as they do in high water, and left the pool for Nedre (Lower) Sierra, a run of some hundreds of yards down some big rapids in high water. We were left paddling hard and starting the engine to keep up – there is no way the fish would have been landed without the skills of my boatmen Tronde and Frode Simensen – he fought it for 45 minutes – less than the pound a minute rule!'

Ovre or Upper Sierra was described by a famous Alta fisherman, Hamilton Dalrymple, in his diaries of the 1920’s as a great low water pool but then he notes in the margin 'we now know that it is a good high water pool also' - He too caught a 54lbs fish there.

Surely this must be the largest Atlantic salmon caught on fly in recent times by a lady rod?

The fish was released safely. Well done Mollie on this magnificent catch & release.