AT first sight, the fish Craig Butler hooked out of the Washford River’s tidal pool alongside Market Street, Watchet, was nothing out of the ordinary.

“I was going to let it go. Then I realised it was actually a fresh-water rainbow trout swimming happily in seawater. That made it something pretty special and something I had not even heard of before,” said Craig, Watchet and Minehead assistant harbourmaster, an experienced angler who also teaches fishing.

Craig said he was fishing for mullet in the tidal pool with strips of mackerel: “I got a bite and couldn’t believe it was a 2lb 9oz rainbow trout, which is about the last thing you expect to find in seawater.

“I’ve talked to other fishermen and they’d never heard of it, either.”

Craig said he believed the trout was a farmed fish that had escaped from a trout farm at Washford and travelled down the Washford River to become acclimatised to living in seawater. It had a small crab in its stomach, which proved it had been feeding at sea.

He added: “Had it been a sea trout I would have returned it to the water but it’s now filleted and in my freezer. Angling is always full of surprises.”