Georgina Ballantine
Georgina Ballantine was a Scottish nurse, registrar and salmon fisher. In 1922, Ballantine landed a 64lb salmon on the River Tay, the largest recorded from a British river with rod and line.
Early life
Georgina Ballantine was born on 25 November 1889, in Caputh, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Her mother was Christina White and her father was James Ballantine, a registrar and ghillie.Career
Ballantine worked as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse from 1914 to 1919, in Perth, London and Bapaume, France. It was in France that she was decorated by the Red Cross. She later worked as registrar in Caputh.Record landing of the Great Tay Salmon
On 7 October 1922, Ballantine was fishing with her father on Glendelvine Water, a salmon fishing pool on the River Tay. Following a two-hour struggle, she landed a salmon, the largest recorded taken from a British river with rod and line, half Ballantine's own weight. The salmon, known as the Great Tay Salmon, was in length and in girth.Her record was unchallenged until 2007, when another female angler, Bev Street, broke the record for largest caught freshwater fish by landing a 66lb catfish at Bluebell Lakes in Peterborough. Ballantine retains the record for the largest rod caught salmon.
A watercolour painting by A. J. Rennie depicting the fish hung in the dining room of the Flyfishers Club in London, despite the fact that Ballantine, as a woman, would not be admitted to the gentlemen's club.
Ballantine's salmon was donated to Perth Royal Infirmary, and a cast was donated to the Pall Mall angling emporium. A model is exhibited in a display in Perth Museum with a commentary in the voice of Ballantine.