HOOKING any pike on light tackle gets the heart racing, so imagine Ben Parfitt’s reaction when this 32lb beast hammered his small soft plastic lure that was intended for perch.
Norwich rod Ben was fishing on the Norfolk Broads using a jig rod, a 7.5lb fluorocarbon leader and a 7g jig head, to which his lure was attached. He was retrieving as usual when his rod locked up and he assumed he’d hit a snag… then braid started peeling from the reel at a rate of knots!
“My rod didn’t know what had hit it!” he told us. “My heart was in my mouth during the 10-minute battle. You expect the odd pike when lure fishing, but nothing quite this size!”
The fish beats his previous best pike by 10lb, and left Ben gobsmacked.
“I was lost for words, apart from a few expletives as I stood in utter shock looking at the scales,” he added.
