BIGGEST PIKE OF THE SEASON HITS BANK AT 39lb 3oz
Blank day one, then fish ‘big enough to ride on’ takes deadbait
THE biggest pike of the season so far has been caught from Chew Reservoir – a 39lb 3oz monster.
The huge predator was banked by 46-year-old Paul Slade during a two-day session at the Bristol water. It’s the venue’s largest recorded pike of 2018 since its gates were opened to bait and lure anglers at the beginning of October.
Paul struck gold on the second day of the trip after the first provided very little – a lone jack pike providing the only sport for him and his fishing buddy.
Paul told Angling Times: “On day one we fished Walley Bank, and although my mate managed a jack, I didn’t have a single run all day.
“We decided on a new location for the next day and got to the bank for 6am.
“I dropped my gear at my chosen swim but a quick search with the torch suggested there might be too much weed directly in front of me, so reluctantly I moved further down the bank to try and avoid it.”
Once settled in his new swim and finding out it was clear of weed, he used a bait boat to deposit his deadbaits in an area with a depth of 9ft.
Come 9.30am and Paul’s bite alarm sprang into life – indicating something large had picked up his joey mackerel offering.
“My strike met with solid resistance and the fish almost immediately came to the surface and kited left – even at distance you could see it was big, but as it got closer it simply got bigger,” Paul explained.
“It gave a great account of itself and I was more than happy to let it do its own thing a bit further out, high in the water and away from the weed.
“That ploy worked a treat, and I took the opportunity to hopefully steer it past the weed into the waiting net.
“My fishing buddy Ralph netted it first time – no dramas, apart from the fact that I was staring at the back of a fish so wide you could ride on it!
“The rest of the day was a bit of a haze, but I managed a jack, a double and then a very hollow 27-pounder.
“I was over the moon with the day, especially seeing it’s been so tough on Chew this term.”