We're very pleased to announce that the winner of the 2022 Charles Farlow Trophy is James Robbins with the capture of a stunning 28lb 8oz 43-inch salmon on the River Wye on 5th June. Witnessed by Tom Lane, James landed the bar of silver on a size 12 Willie Gun Conehead and the fish was then safely released to carry on its journey.
The trophy was presented to James by Group Head of Marketing, Simon Tilbury from Farlows and Foxdenton Marketing Manager, Charles Radclyffe.
The Captor’s Story
Witnessed by, Tom Lane
"I was fishing the Viaduct Pool on the upper beat at Wyesham as a guest of Tom Lane. I had actually fished the pool three times already with no luck. The river was low, so we felt this pool was our best chance. It has a good flow and plenty of features, perfect for the fly in these conditions"
"Tom caught a fish on the island pool, so I went to see him. We both came back to fish the Viaduct Pool and I hooked the fish around 11.30am. The take was very gentle and at first I thought I’d hooked a chub! Then, after the initial run I realised it was a good salmon. Although the fish didn’t do any long runs, the fight lasted about 15-20 minutes and fought very doggedly. "
"After two or three attempts I managed to beach the fish safely on the gravel beach below the viaduct station. We measured the length carefully but did not want to weigh it as the weigh net was in the car and we didn’t want to detain the fish too long. We took several photos of me playing the fish and holding it. The fish was very strong and didn’t need any reviving. It swam away very strongly. Ghillie, Jo Cobley has a lot experience of big fish on the Wye and based on the length measurement and photos estimated it at 28lb 8oz. It was a cock fish and had a lot of attitude! "
"This is by far my biggest salmon and my previous best on the fly was 16lb. I often wondered what it would be like hooking a big Wye salmon and was thrilled to finally catch one after around 20 years of trying on the Wye!”"
2023-03-01 11:25:00
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