what a shame!

["Earth!" 503]

as some of you know,i have permition to fish one of the finest trout rivers for pike in the country but dont as all pike must be removed no matter what the weight and 20lb plus fish are caught every year.

i was speaking to the river keeper yesterday who took his boss down who had never caught pike before.

walking the bank,he saw something beneath a over hang,the water is gin clear and at first it looked like a submerged root but looking a good pike holding feature he put a bait(eel section) in the area,left it a few seconds then gave it a twitch,"WHACK",the root hit it and hard so he handed the rod to his boss who hit into the fish.

Eventually the fish was netted.the scales only went to 25lb and bottomed out at that,the keeper guessed the fish over 30lb and the said fish is now at the taxidermists

 

what a great waste and end of a superb specimen but at least it didnt end up rotting in the bankside hedges like so many of the previous greats...

 

i couldnt find the heart to kill a fish of this weight so refuse to fish the trout waters

[armchair _hunter 5]

that is a real shame, 30lb's a fish of a lifetime but as you say at least it wasnt tossed up the bank to rot

["Earth!" 503]

that is a real shame, 30lb's a fish of a lifetime but as you say at least it wasnt tossed up the bank to rot

 

exactly. a fox on a shoot is vermin and must be dealt with,as with a pike in a trout fishery to a river keeper. its a real shame.

[The Liquidator 4]

What a waste

[terrier s 123]

i agree terrible waste i dont get why people would kill such a nice fish no matter what the size

["Earth!" 503]

i agree terrible waste i dont get why people would kill such a nice fish no matter what the size

 

As ive said,a fox in a pheasant pen to a gamekeeper is no difference to a pike in a stretch of a trout fishery..

totally no difference but gutting all the same.

[The Liquidator 4]

Do they not need to keep a few biggies though to keep a heathly balance

[ratattack 111]

What a waste of a fish, hell of a first pike, but still at least it will be immortalised in a glass case and not left to rot.

 

1 big pike is better to have in the stretch of river than the 2 or 3 smaller fish that will now move in occupy that area over time.

[Guest arch1]

I wonder how old it was? To get to that size it must have been around for a while. Shame.

[Mustard. 83]

Do they not need to keep a few biggies though to keep a heathly balance

Yes very true missus.

They leave the big pike on a stretch,its not them that cause the trouble,its the jack pike

that do the damage!

[NEWKID 27,230]

I can see 100% why a river keeper of a trout fishery would want pike removed but surely a fish like that would be welcomed into another fishery rather than being killed.

If pike like this are being killed up and down the country maybe a service could be offered to remove them and put them in specimen pike lakes similar to specimen carp lakes.

I might put the idea forward on dragons den for some backing I'm sure this could be a winner..............