Big canal pike 'would have been a personal best'

This superbly-conditioned pike made Robert Farrell’s day after he caught the 25lb 1oz specimen during a short lure fishing session on his local cut.

Fishing the Forth and Clyde canal, Robert was inching his perch-coloured Savage Gear Soft 4Play lure along the waterway when the big predator struck.

“It took 10 minutes to land and might well have been a new pike pb for me if I’d have caught it a few months later in the winter,” said a delighted Robert.