DID you know that the largest fish ever caught with road and line in English rivers was caught in the River Frome?

The 9ft 3" sturgeon, weighing 94kgs, was caught near Bindon Abbey, Wool, in 1911 by Major C.E. Radclyffe.

Major Radclyffe wrote an account on catching the whopper for the 1918 Annual Report of The Society of Dorset Men and today, thanks to Roger Lane of West Stafford, we are sharing Major Radclyffe's account of catching his 'river monster', which got away at first but was eventually caught.

Roger tells us: "The monster in the picture escaped at first, but was finally caught downstream in the Frome.

"Major Radclyffe's account of his catch is remarkably vivid."

First Sightings and The Escape

"He writes of the Stour, Piddle and Frome teeming with trout and salmon.

Another picture, A Morning's Bag of Salmon on the Frome, shows the major with four salmon totalling 107lbs 63kgs. Even so, the sighting of one fish that weighed more than this whole catch did seem incredible.

Major Radclyffe picks up the story: "My friend came running wildly across the meadows as if chased by a mad bull.

"Breathlessly, he explained that he had seen the biggest salmon in the world …. at least 140 lbs 68 kgs). Seeing is believing, so we went to the spot, and soon in the centre of the pool appeared a huge back fin shaped like that of a shark."

Roger said the major immediately realised it was not a salmon, but a sturgeon.

"Repeatedly the monster rolled on top of the water and they could clearly see its great back with scales like armour plating larger than a five shilling piece. He also knew that their tackle was far too light to land the fish, so they decided to shoot it."

A gun was sent for.

Major Radclyffe wrote: "We waited until the fish again showed on top of the water, and then gave him both barrels at a distance of five yards. The only result was to make him take a series of wild rushes across the stream, where he began to roll about as before, apparently none the worse for a double dose of No. 5 shot. "

Although the Major's next move was to send for his elephant gun, it arrived too late and the fish disappeared in a deep pool, not to be seen again, though scouts searched the banks for several days afterwards.

Two months later, Roger tells us, the major was called to a big weir pool near Bindon Abbey, where another massive 'salmon' had been sighted, but Major Radclyffe knew it must be the long-lost sturgeon. He took “grappling tackle” along with his strongest rod - and a gang of four.

"After an hour the shark-like fin appeared … I tried casting over the monster but the hooks slipped off its armour plated scales. When I finally grappled it under the jaw, the fun began! Two of them took turns for 1 hour and 45 minutes because it was more than one man could stand for long …. it felt like trying to hold and turn a motor car with a rod and line.

"Finally, with the other helpers stretching out a net, the sturgeon was steered into it and entangled like a fly in a spider's web and hauled into shallow water. It was gaffed and dragged onto the bank."

Roger says the record-breakers' unsmiling faces in the 1911 photo is typical of its time.

"But there is evident pride in Major Radclyffe's statement that this leviathan was the largest fish ever captured with road and line in an English river. It was 9 feet 3 inches from nose to tail (2.82 metres) and tipped the scales at 203lbs (94Kgs).

By tradition, it was presented to His Majesty King George V, who graciously returned it, requesting that it should be preserved in my private museum in Dorchester, all of which was done in due course."