Monster 40lb pike landed while fishing Loch Lomond
This 40lb 5oz Scottish pike fell to Andrew Carson, who braved gale-force winds on Loch Lomond – and fished a lure!
Andrew, a member of the Pike Angling Club (PAC) Glasgow, has been visiting the historic 24.5-mile-long venue for more than 30 years, and used all his local knowledge to smash his personal best for the species and bank one of the biggest pike the water has ever produced.
The 56-year-old, from Busby, near Glasgow, has a boat on the loch, and he and a friend were drifting out in the Islands of Lomond when a Swimbait Bream lure from UK-basedRobinson Lures was taken by the impressive predator.
“It got to about 11am and we seriously thought about calling it a day because it was so tough, but the conditions were perfect for drifting lures so we stuck with it – and I’m so glad we did,” Andy told Angling Times.
“I was fishing the lure about a foot-and-a-half deep when all hell broke loose.
“Not only did I have to try and keep the fish under control, but also stop the boat spinning around in the wind and waves as she took on water.
“I saw the size of the fish and didn’t want to spook my mate who had the net, so I just said ‘hold the net still and I’ll bring the fish to you’.
“It was a case of timing on the waves so I used one to send the pike straight into the waiting landing net. It’s not a technique you practise very often!”
Andy mounted the 8ins lure on an 80lb wire trace attached to 65lb braid.
The fish beats his lure-caught best by 15lb 5oz. His previous biggest pike caught on bait weighed 29lb 8oz, another Loch Lomond fish.
l In other pike fishing news, Bristol Water Fisheries will be opening Blagdon Lake for fly-only piking later this year. The venue is rumoured to contain a British record.
