Ruaraidh reels in a monster

Doune youngster Ruaraidh Fowler will have more reason than most to remember the summer of 2020.

It won’t just be the coronavirus epidemic which he’ll recall in later years - but the day in July he landed a monster 23lb pike from Loch Venachar.

The 11 year-old, who will start at McLaren High School after the holidays, was out on a canoe trip with his dad Andrew and young brother Bruce (10) when the trio paused to cast some lines for a while.

After some time he hooked what he thought was a small fish but as he reeled it in, he realised it was a lot bigger.

“It took about 20 minutes to land it and we needed the help of other fishermen in a nearby boat,”said Ruaraidh.

“The net we had was too small but luckily they were on hand.

“I thought it might have been about 15lb but my brother and dad were really shocked when they saw it - the biggest thing I had ever caught before was a 4lb rainbow trout.

“It was actually quite scary when I saw it.”

Ruaraidh was first bitten by the fishing bug about three years ago and now along with dad Andrew and brother Bruce, fishes mainly on the River Teith as members of Doune Angling Club.

Since the sport returned around six weeks ago after lockdown, the Fowlers have been out a couple of times a week.

Mum Laura said her son was “obsessed“with fishing but sadly, she didn’t have the chance to see Ruaraidh’s monster catch.

“I put it back into the loch,”said the young fisherman.“Pike don’t taste that good.