THE MAN WHO CAUGHT THE ‘RECORD’ PIKE

ON A cold day last December nine good men and true, who comprise the British Record (rod-caught) Fish Committee, sat round a table in London and decided that the 47lb 11oz pike caught by Tommy Morgan in Loch Lomond in 1945 was no longer a record.

After talking to Mr Morgan, and to Mr Jackie Thomson of Balloch, who was present when the pike was caught, and to Mr Henry Lynn, on whose father’s salmon scales the fish was first weighed, I have no doubt that this fish was caught and that it weighed over 47lb.

It is more difficult for the Record Fish Committee, however.

The pike was eaten, and the only picture that was ever taken of it has since disappeared.

Said Morgan: “I was never interested in records or anything like that. We did this for a bit of fun.

“If the Record Committee, whoever they are, have decided to throw it out that’s fair enough.

“I know I caught it and that’s all that matters to me.”