Barton catches the big one

It was a two-hour, 25-minute battle between man and beast but eventually Queenstown fisherman Brian Barton won. After an intense struggle a delighted Mr Barton landed a whopping 8.3kg (18 and a quarter pound) rainbow trout on Lake Wakatipu in his friend Louis Adamson's fishing charter boat early yesterday afternoon. The big jack fish struck at 1.10pm in deep water in Frankton Arm near the lake's Kawarau River outlet but Mr Barton had great difficulty coaxing him to the surface. "It took a while to bring it in, I just couldn't get it off the bottom, it just wouldn't tire," Mr Barton said.

The secret; "technique" and a pink and yellow tinged Tasmanian Devil lure. "That's the lure of the month." His catch was over twice the weight of any other fish Mr Barton had ever caught – the trophy of every fisherman's dream. "I've been fishing all my life – I can retire now as a fisherman," he beamed proudly, pleased he had spent his day-off fishing. "It'll be the biggest fish he ever catches – I'll make sure of that," an envious Mr Adamson grinned.

It was not the first time those fishing on Mr Adamson's boat had struck it big in that area of the lake. Last July a startled Sydney hairdresser honeymooning in Queenstown landed an 9.21kg rainbow trout, one of the largest caught in Lake Wakatipu for many years. It was caught in the same vicinity of the lake. As with all good trophy catches Mr Barton's trout was too good to eat and would be destined for Nelson-based taxidermist Ross Brownson where it would be mounted ready for display in Mr Barton's West Coast holiday home.