Fred Buller: The Domesday Book of Giant Salmon

The Domesday Book of Giant Salmon is the culmination of research conducted over four decades into giant Atlantic salmon.

Buller, 81, who lives just outside Amersham, diligently charts every salmon weighing 50lb or more, as far as he has been able to discover, that has ever been caught on a fly.

In a separate section, Buller records mammoth fish weighing 60lb or more, caught in a variety of ways, including fly, net, bait or poaching.

What adds an extra element to these astounding facts and figures are the human stories behind the capture of these giant salmon. Some of these come from first-hand narratives, others from historical anecdotes.

Buller has even raided newspaper archives, local museums and the back rooms of inns to discover exactly how, when, where and by whom these kings of the river were tracked down and caught.

Where possible, Buller has photographed the sites where the fish were caught, travelling to such places as Scotland, America, Canada, Ireland, Norway and Sweden. Often he has been able to also include a photograph of the successful captor, or the cased fish, or both. In this way he diligently documents one of our country's most favourite outdoor pastimes.

Buller is well-established as an angling historian, having written a number of popular books on the subject, including The Domesday Book of Mammoth Pike and Falkus & Buller's Freshwater Fishing.

The Domesday Book of Giant Salmon: A Record of the Largest Atlantic Salmon Ever Caught by Fred Buller. Published by Constable & Robinson, £50. Available now.