Hunt is on for mystery day-ticket 40lb-plus pike

The hunt is on to find an angler who is rumoured to have caught a 42lb pike from Swan Lake on the Bluebell complex in Northamptonshire.

It is believed the lucky captor was actually targeting the water’s resident catfish when he hooked into the huge predator, which if authenticated will be one of the top 20 biggest pike ever landed in the UK.

After being informed about the fish by a carper who was on the bank at the time and witnessed the catch, fishery owner Tony Bridgefoot contacted the Angling Times in a bid to try and track down the angler. “I just wish the person who actually caught the pike had come and told me about it,” he said. “Hopefully he will read this or someone who knows him will because obviously we would love to get in touch with him as this would be one of the largest pike in the country.”

Although more famous for its big carp, the fishery does have a history of producing specimen pike. In 1995 it hit the headlines when local angler Colin Bailey landed a fish of 41lb 12oz from Kingfisher Lake, which at the time was one of the biggest ever pike to be caught from a non-trout water.  A year later, famous predator angler Nige Williams landed the same fish at 40lb 12oz and he wouldn’t be surprised if the fishery had produced another pike of that size: “The pike in Bluebell are from a good stamp of fish which are perfectly capable of growing to that size. When you couple that with the excellent water quality I’m not at all shocked to hear that another forty could have been caught. The lakes there produce fish of all different species to specimen sizes and where you’ve got these rich waters you are always going to get big pike. I hope the captor does come forward as I would love to see the pics,” he added.

Are you the captor or do you know who is? Contact Angling Times on 01733 395104 or email james.furness@bauermedia.co.uk