Two pike for 55lb from River Wye

The River Wye proved yet again why it’s regarded as one of the UK’s best rivers when it produced two stunning pike - this 30lb specimen the highlight.

Ben Humber hooked in to the impressive predator, which he at first thought was a ‘good double’, after casting out a legered herring hookbait.

The fish, which is one of the biggest reported Wye specimens in 2013, left the Somerset rod with his heart in his mouth when it tail-walked across the width of the river and following a spirited scrap he beat his third 30lb-plus pike of the year with the help of a rig made with 45lb braid, a size 1 single hook and a size 4 treble.

“I really thought it was a good double, but then there was a mighty explosion beneath my feet and it tail walked across the river,” Ben told Angling Times. “It was a sight and the feeling that I will take to the grave with me.”

Incredibly, he came close to making it four thirties just an hour later but unfortunately he his hooks pulled out of the jaws of a predator that he estimated to be even bigger than his first fish.

 “I’d moved to another spot and cast my bait right under an overhanging tree and it wasn’t long before an even bigger pike was thrashing and shaking it’s head on the surface, but unfortunately the hooks came out. It obviously wasn’t meant to be.”

Also getting in on the action was predator fishing expert Dilip Sarkar who banked a mint-conditioned 25lb pike from the Herefordshire waterway.

Lowering half a legered sardine in to five feet of water just off his rod tip he beat his prize with a rig comprising 66lb braid, 30lb wire trace and size 4 Owner trebles.

It marks a productive spell for Worcester-based angler as the specimen came just a week after he banked another 20lb-plus pike from the River Severn.