While fishing on a Wimborne and District AC stretch of the Dorset Stour, Chris Pond landed the pike of a lifetime in the shape of this 32lb cracker.
He was fishing with his friend Iain Scott and had already landed a pike of 22lb 8oz earlier that day – a fish that alone would make the season of many a river angler.
That one was caught from a spot just 6m from the bank where an area of slack water had been created in the flooded river. Recasting to the same area with the successful set-up from earlier – a float-legered sardine deadbait – it wasn’t long before Chris’s float slid away once more.
After lifting into the fish, it made a series of short and powerful runs, before finally beginning to tire. As it lay in the net, the two friends noticed that the top lobe of its tail was missing, and soon realised that it was the club’s record pike, caught back in December 2023, at a weight of 28lb 8oz.
Once hoisted in the weigh sling, Chris and Iain looked on in disbelief as the scales settled on 32lb exactly.
It was then weighed on a second set of scales and has now been verified as an official new record for the club. After releasing the fish, the pair, soaked through by driving rain, headed home to toast a true river monster!
PIKE NEED TO BE HANDLED WITH CARE ON THE BANK, READ HOW TO DO THAT SAFELY...
