Predators for the taking

PREDATOR anglers utilising lure and deadbait tactics have been enjoying unrivalled sport from giant pike of late.

Here are three monster pike reports to get you in the mood for a weekend of predator action!

Bailey Metcalfe 28lb 3oz pike

Bailey’s 28lb 3oz beast devoured a popped-up mackerel

After years of trying and miles of travelling for a monster pike, Bailey Metcalfe finally achieved his goal when he banked this sublime 28lb 3oz specimen just two minutes from his house!

Targeting a slack bay on a bend on the River Aire in Yorkshire, Bailey tempted the specimen on a popped-up mackerel tail legered in 13ft of water.

He said: “Catching this pike is a moment I’ll never forget. It’s the fish of a lifetime and possibly the biggest ever to be caught from the Aire.

“After years of searching I’m absolutely made up to have landed the fish so close to home.”

Richard Miller 32lb 8oz pike

Richard’s pike ended his 25-year-quest for a Fenland ‘thirty’

Fenland pike don’t get much better than this immense 32lb 8oz specimen landed by Cambridgeshire angler Richard Miller.

The fish brought an end to a 25-year quest for a Fenland 30 which came during a very cold and frosty morning.

“I received a sequence of bleeps on the alarm and hit into the fish,” Richard said.

“During a very subdued fight the pike seemed to get bigger as the battle went on, and it was so big that it broke my landing net!

“I was over the moon to have landed it – it’s the pike of a lifetime and I don’t think I’m ever going to better it.”

Mariusz Blaszczyk 30lb 4oz pike

This 30lb 4oz esox broke Mariusz’ landing net!

A few final casts on the way back to the car paid off in style for Mariusz Blaszczyk who banked this immense 30lb 4oz pike from Leeds DASA’s stretch of the River Ouse.

The big predator came during a short four-hour lure session with his son Kacper, where other pike of 12lb and 16lb were also banked.

Mariusz said: “We stopped at a few fancied swims before heading home, and on my second cast I had a bang on the lure - it was fish on!

“A few seconds later I realised I was into something big as I couldn’t lift it from the bottom.

“When the fish surfaced, we both just said ‘wow, what a monster’.

Mariusz’ ‘thirty’ measured a length of 118cm and similarly to Richard’s catch had also broke his landing net!