A huge trout caught at the Hook salmon fishing restaurant attraction in Albert Town is being mounted for display at the facility.

Caught in August the fish weighed 19 kilograms and is the biggest fish ever caught at Hook and just shy of the biggest trout ever caught which was in the Twizel canals and weighed 19.9kg. 

Chris Smith, who was visiting from Hamilton, caught the fish with help from his grandson Sebastian.

“I was fishing with my grandsons and I cast it out, and I said to Sebastian (8) I think we’ve got something,” he said.

“As soon as I hit it I thought, oh my god this is going to cost me a bloody fortune.”

Hook’s fishing manager John Bowman said “it was just an absolute monster”.

“It was an unbelievable event, it was so cool.”

John said the trout was an invasive species at Hook and had managed to get into the facility during floods two years ago.

“What happened was, a couple of years ago during the big floods there was a squad of trout which came in,” he said.

“They breached our gates, and they’ve been sitting in the corner of the lake.

“I didn’t think anybody was ever going to catch him.

“It was a total fluke, it was a big event. The family had an absolute riot, the kids were going nuts, big crowd, it was just awesome.”

John said the fish went on a couple of big runs on the initial hook but gave up after about a minute. 

“The big ones, they don’t have a lot of stamina,” he said. 

Hook is an interactive adventure dining experience combining the experience of catching a Chinook salmon and eating it. 

Hook is based on Montieth Road in Albert Town.

PHOTO: Supplied