31lb pike caught on floating bread!
Pike over 30lb are rare fish to catch on conventional gear, so a 31lb specimen caught on floating bread is exceptional.
Londoner Spencer King, 72, was targeting carp on a two-acre lake on the Kingscote Estate in West Sussex when he made the freak catch.
“I could see a number of swirls near to my crust when all of a sudden it disappeared and my lined zoomed fast to the right. I struck, but I thought I was attached to the bottom because it was so heavy,” he says.
After a 20-minute fight, which saw the fish cover all corners of the lake, Spencer got it into the net where he discovered it was a pike, and his line had just missed its teeth. According to top predator expert Neville Fickling, pike have been known to take unconventional baits before now.
“A few years ago, I can remember a 39-pounder being caught from Sussex on a popped-up boilie,” he says.
“These strange things seem to happen after pike have spawned.”
Spencer King was targeting carp when the big pike struck
Giant croc is "most impressive fish ever played"
ED Matthews had the River Severn to thank for the capture of this stunning 33lb 8oz pike, as it was so flooded he was forced to fish somewhere else.
The Shropshire-based predator ace targeted a local lake instead and after catching a few small pike on smelt deadbaits, it wasn’t long before he was battling something much bigger.
“From the way it was headshaking I could tell it wasn’t a small fish,” he says.
“I had to walk up the bank so my mate could slip the net under her. On the scales she went 33lb 8oz and I have to say she was one of the most impressive fish I’ve ever played.”
A boilie grinder helped me smash my personal best pike - Rob Malseed
“It was a Friday and, having finished work, I arrived at my Essex syndicate. I deposited three deadbaits at varying distances from the bank with my bait boat – one to a 10ft-deep spot at 50 yards, another in the margins and a final bait between the two at around 25 yards.
Sadly, though, it was a quiet night and by 3pm the next day I hadn’t had so much as a bleep, so I decided to reel in and swap the deadbaits for some fresh ones.
I put lamprey and smelt on two of the rods, but I had also packed this giant herring which was around 1ft long! I’d normally cut a bait this size in half, but I had nothing to lose so I just stuck it on whole.
Before I shipped the baits back out to their spots I realised I had an unopened boilie grinder at the bottom of my tackle bag and had what you might call a bit of a brainwave…
I filled it with pieces of chopped mackerel, sardine and herring and mushed them up. Then, I poured the mush into the compartment in my bait boat, added maggots and breadcrumb and ferried it out to each of my three marks, before using the boat again to drop my rigs and deadbaits back into position.
I hadn’t put the last rod down when the herring rod at 25 yards bleeped a couple of times then signalled a single-toner!
I was quick to strike, but saw my line kite fast to my right, so it was a bit of a panic trying to keep up with it.
There were a few heavy tugs but I didn’t think the fish was that special, at least until I saw the slap of its tail at the net and thought: “This could be the one.”
This was the first pike that had ever scared me – its shoulders were massive!
The feeling of seeing the scales pull round to over 30lb was overwhelming. I’d waited 20 years for this moment.
All those years of blanking made me think outside the box, and now I have a new personal best of 33lb 4oz because of it.
It just goes to show that by being brave and trying new things you will eventually get the result you want.”
"I reckon this pike will be a future British record" - John Goble
“For years I’d wanted to improve my Norfolk Broads pike best of 35lb 10oz and after hearing of a few thirties caught recently I knew I had a chance.
“My mate and I set up in a likely spot and I decided to fish with two rigs – one with a roach livebait and the other with a free-lined section of lamprey.
“After half-an-hour I hadn’t had a bite but I accidentally backed into the rear rest holding up my lamprey rod, which ultimately moved the bait out of position.
“Before reeling in I twitched it a couple of times and then WHACK! Pike on!
“I backwind all my fish but this one kept the handle spinning, and coupled with the bend it imparted in the rod I knew it was a monster.
“When It surfaced I shouted ‘oh my god’ before my mate netted it first time – it was a proper magical moment!
“It was so long! I didn’t realise how big it was.
“My mate said: ‘You’ll never believe it… it’s 38lb 2oz and 49 inches long!’
“I’m 75-years-old and not in the best of health so I’m super elated to have caught this pike.”
Trout is the golden ticket for pit pike!
A 200-acre Lincolnshire gravel pit has provided Mark Doodson with one of his best-ever predators – this 26lb 8oz pike.
The impressive specimen is one of the biggest pike to grace Mark’s rods in recent seasons, as he continues a 25-year quest to beat his current pb of 31lb.
He told Angling Times:
“The fish was in outstanding condition and truly a sight to behold – I was completely blown away.”
A golden trout deadbait fished into a deep hole just 10 yards out secured the run from the pike.
Mark also caught two other double-figure pike during the same session.
Trashed deadbait tasty enough for stunning pike
Pike are famous for their beautiful markings, but we’d challenge you to find a better-looking example than this immaculate 24lb 8oz specimen landed by Richie Evans.
After catching several smaller fish on lure fishing tactics, as well as a 21lb 12oz pike, Richie was told to try dead baiting for a bigger fish.
“Initially I just had small jacks and I was pretty much out of dead baits,” Richie revealed,
“so I flicked a battered old smelt that had just caught me a little jack in the margin.
“I looked up to see the float creeping out against the wind and as soon as I hit it, I knew this was a decent fish.
“To my delight it was a new PB at 24lb 8oz.”
Whole mackerel too much for this pike
A crafty hookbait modification resulted in the capture of this 26lb 8z pike for warehouse operative Tony Bennet.
After having a take an hour into the session, Tony’s whole mackerel hookbait was dropped after being carried about 20ft.
Tony admitted:
“I think I might have been a bit too optimistic with the bait size, so I reeled in and cut the mackerel in half before casting it back to the same spot.
“Five minutes later the float was away, resulting in a new personal best from a northern river.”
PB pike claims the Monk Lakes title
IT WAS third time lucky for Kelly Crush who finally won an annual Monk Lakes pike competition when this 25lb beast devoured her float-fished smelt.
The predator expert has been a runner-up in the last two matches and would’ve blanked in the latest, had her float not disappeared just five minutes before the final whistle!
She said:
“When I found out the pike was bigger than my previous PB of 21lb 8oz, I jumped around screaming and hugging my friends – the atmosphere was amazing and everyone was smiling and cheering!”
Flurry of large pike hit the bank
THE TURN of the new year has been highly productive for pike enthusiasts who have weighed-in a flurry of specimen fish from both still and running water.
Here are three of the best catches to get you in the mood for a week of predator action…
Ryan Barnett 30lb 2oz pike
PREDATOR fanatic Ryan Barnett said his ‘heart was in his mouth’ for every second of the fight against this giant Northern Irish 30lb 2oz specimen.
It was the largest of 11 fish banked by the Londonderry-based lad who fished mackerel deadbaits on a running-leger rig from the boat launch at The Oaks Fishery.
Ryan said:
“She was a real fish of a lifetime – over the moon would be an understatement!
“She gave a really good account for herself and was the biggest pike I’ve seen in the flesh.”
Melvin Clarke 25lb pike
RETIREE Melvin Clarke only started pike fishing in October but he’s already netted a fish that most experienced predator anglers would be proud of!
On the scales it went 25lb and devoured the Suffolk-based angler’s sardine deadbait, which he float-fished close to the bank on the River Little Ouse.
He said:
“The pike took a while to get in as it seemed to look at me and shot off down the river!
“It really was a great buzz on my carp set-up.”
Allen Cunningham 24lb 6oz pike
EAST Yorkshire isn’t noted for its huge pike but Allen Cunningham proved otherwise when he landed three fish for more than 70lb whilst targeting a local gravel pit.
The pike fanatic spent two days fishing the large Stillwater and hooked into fish of 21lb, 24lb 6oz and 26lb 4oz on popped-up roach deadbaits fished close to the bank.
Could this be the largest pike ever caught on rod and line?
IS THIS the image of the largest pike to ever be caught on rod and line?
The immense 138cm-long predator fell to the rod of globetrotting lure fanatic Fredrik Harbort who admitted his knees where shaking when he hooked into the pike of his dreams during a trip to a small German lake.
Fredrik used a rowing boat to explore an 8m-deep section of water and after a few casts his 21cm Abu Garcia Twin Tail lure was hit hard by something monstrous.
He said:
“It was an unreal experience and a dream come true – it was bigger and more beautiful than I’d ever expected.”
Fredrik did not weigh his catch but a length-to-weight measurement puts the pike within the 55lb-60lb barrier.
