Beneath the Black Water: The Search for an Ancient Fish

One man’s obsession with catching an ancient fish in the deepest waters of the Scottish Highlands and beyond. “When I was very young and on holiday in Scotland, my cousin told me about giant trout that lived in small numbers at the bottom of the Highlands’ deepest lochs. They were called Salmo Ferox, and they were rumoured to be uncatchable. In my twenties, wholly accidentally, I caught one. This led to an obsession that would cost me every pound I had to my name, a few thousand that I did not, a couple of girlfriends and my home. It would take me to Scotland, Wales and the wildest corners of Ireland, accompanied by a disparate band of fanatics – alcoholics, mountain men, trophy hunters, scientists, tree-planting eco-warriors and one genuine soothsayer. Not all of them survived. This is the story of Salmo Ferox, the cannibalistic giant trout of the glacial lochs, and five years of madness in search of them – beneath the black water.”