First 40lb pike of the season banked

The biggest pike of the predator season has been banked topping the scales at 40 lb 4oz.

It’s a specimen that was landed by Mike Heyes from Whiston, Merseyside, while fishing from the bank at ‘Nunnery Point’ during a two-day session at the famous Chew Valley reservoir in Somerset.

Mike was fishing alongside his nephew Paul Millar, who set a new fishery record back in February this year with a predator of 44lb 6oz, but this time the tables were turned and it was Paul who slipped the net under the 59-year-old’s new personal best and ‘Chew’s’ biggest fish so far of the 2014 predator season.

“We’d only been fishing for a few hours when Mike had a proper screaming run at 8.30am and he didn’t say much as he was playing the fish as it didn’t seem to be anything spectacular,” Paul told Angling Times.

“I waded out and when I scooped it up I told him it was a ‘thirty’, but when I started taking up the bank to the mat I couldn’t believe how heavy it was and I suspected it might be another forty and sure enough It was” he said.

“It’s incredible to think that we’ve been both netsmen and the captors of 40lb pike.”
Mike’s successful tackle was 18lb line, a 40lb wire trace, two size 2 trebles and a 4oz lead, which was cast around 50 yards out into 10ft of water.

Paul also confirmed that it’s a fish that was definitely a different pike to the 44lb 6oz giant he banked earlier this year.

“When you get a fish like this all the difficulty getting tickets and all the travelling and early starts are suddenly worthwhile,” Paul continued.

“Chew is a very special place as it’s the only venue to go to for a realistic chance of a pike like this and it just keeps throwing up more and surprises.

“Mike and I have been fishing together for 18 years so it’s fantastic that we have both been there to witness the other catch a fish of a lifetime!” he said.

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