It’s fair to say that reports of big pike are dominated by reservoir fish these days, but there are still some huge fish elsewhere, as Joe Hindley proved with this 30lb 11oz specimen, caught from a Lancashire syndicate water.
He’s recently got back into lure fishing after a decade of dead bating on the same venue. Over that period, he had numerous fish over the 20lb mark but had heard rumours that a ‘thirty’ resided in the lake. He kicked off his season on his trusted deadbaits, but with mild temperatures forecast and having witnessed pike chasing roach and rudd in the reeds, he knew a change was needed.
So, he opted for a more active lure approach, with his choice a Ricky the Roach pattern from Westin. Casting along a reed line, he let the lure hit bottom and twitched it back with no success, so changed to a straightforward winding retrieve. On just his second chuck the lure was hit and a fierce battle commenced. 15 minutes later, a passing carp angler helped him land his target fish.
Well done Joe!