Chew giant pike falls to ‘novice’
Giant fish of 34lb 14oz falls to relative predator ‘novice’ Alyssa
FEW anglers have ever held a 30lb pike – so imagine Alyssa Williams’ shock when her second cast of a trip out with her husband resulted in this enormous 34lb 14oz specimen!
The huge ‘esox’, which annihilates her previous pike personal best of just 8oz, was taken from Chew Valley Lake in Somerset during a day session with her husband Sam Jones.
Sam revealed that the remarkable catch would never have happened had he not let Alyssa, who is American, have a cast with one of his rods. He said: “She had been pestering me for ages to have a go, but when I finally caved in I certainly didn’t expect her to catch a monster!
“She did it all by herself – mounted a small herring on two single hooks, drove the baitboat 80 yards out and dropped the bait in a likely-looking area.”
Immediately prior to hooking the pike, Alyssa had missed a take from a large trout but wasted no time in getting her bait straight back out on the same spot.
“When she had the take from the trout I gave Alyssa a bit of advice on how to hit the bites,” Sam added.
“And when the pike took the bait Alyssa picked up the rod, wound down and struck into the fish perfectly.
“The pike then began to kite behind a small tree, so I waded out a bit to guide it to safety before slipping it into the net.
“I knew it was over 30lb, and when the scales spun round to 34lb 14oz we couldn’t believe it – Alyssa was over the moon!”
Alyssa’s pike is one of the largest caught from the south west venue this season, and just one of a handful of fish that she has caught in the UK.
“Alyssa had been pestering me for ages to have a go” – husband Sam