Sea trout falls for mackerel hook, line and sinker

THE largest sea trout caught in the ocean off Ireland has been landed with a unique bait.

John Cunningham, of Killybegs, hauled an 11lb 1oz whopper, more than five times the average sea trout in Ireland, from the shore off the Erne estuary in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal.

A record Irish sea trout, 16lb 6oz, was landed in the Shimna river in Co Down in 1983, but 48-year-old John reckons his is the biggest one caught at sea, instead of inland in the rivers and lakes.