Your Biggest 'Accidental' Pike?

[peakoverload]

Only caught one Pike accidentally at that was many moons ago when I was about 15. Me and a friend went to fish our usual swim on the River Thames at Hampton Court and were both happily catching Roach, Dace & Perch all day on red maggot. Dusk started to fall and we started to fish a shelf just a couple of meters off the bank laying on using a stick float. Time and time again we would see the float bob....bob again and the slowly move along faster than the current before slowly sinking below the water. Each and every time this resulted in another Perch so it was of no surprise when when I cast out with the usual red maggot on a size 18 hook to 3lb line that the float started bobbing in the same way.

I struck and the rod went 'whack!' instantly (no tug, tug of a smaller fish and then 'wham' but an instant 'you've hooked something powerful' bite). This was clearly no Perch. Even though we we were just a couple of meters out it was now too dark to see what it was in the water and we only caught a glimpse of a tail as the fish dived down again and I think that perhaps it's a small carp. My friend is now on his hands and knees with the landing net out trying to get a glimpse of what this fish is. Suddenly the fish's head breaks the surface, I can't see what it is but from what my friend says I know precisely what species it is. His words were "Oh my God, it's an evil bas**rd!"

He slips the landing net under the fish and I finally get my first site of the fish and my first ever Pike. It may have only weighed 5lb 4oz but it gave us a few minutes excitment, not to mention terrified us when we saw the teeth, and I'm still amazed that it was caught on maggot! I thought that perhaps the Pike had gone for another fish and that it had been accidentally hooked, which is probably what did happen, but the fish was lip hooked with no sign at all that another fish had been involved. Prior to this all the Perch that I caught had shredded the maggot but this maggot was totally untouched, so it really did look like that the Pike went for the maggot. Sure that couldnt have been the case but it sure did look like that at the time.

[borntofishforcedtowork]

caught a 13lb ish pike on chew once whilst fishing nymphs on a floater near herriots area. took a size 12 pearly pheasant tail! didnt really fite much though. ova and out, j

[johnO31]

hello lads well the best accidental pike i got was a 30lb from avery small lake which we had fished for 8 months behind botanny bay at chorley

we got there set the rods up put the firds one in place and threw the second one out ut why i was setting the tension on the line to turn on the alarm i felt a slight tug but i was baffled because it had only been in for 30 seconds so i let go of the line and is screemed off this was and still is my largets pike up to date i have had alot of 25lb fish from lake windermere but nothing near that but we fished it for another 6 month from friday night to sunday night and nobody has seen it again

ian