We have all heard of beginners luck in angling but most of our first angling escapades end in a blank, followed by another then another before we start to get things right. This certainly wasn't the case for Reiss Vaughan who, while pike fishing with a friend for the first time, landed a monster 27lb 8oz fish from the Birmingham Canal.
"We decided to explore a new stretch of water spotted on Google Maps. It’s about 1.5 miles long, running basin to basin, and I chose to start at the deeper basin," Reiss explained to us.
THE BEST PIKE RODS WILL HELP YOU TAME BIG FISH LIKE THE ONE REISS CAUGHT.
"For this session, I went with a standard inline float rig and used a smelt as the hookbait. I cast towards the far side, just off the edge, and let it sit for around 15–20 minutes."
After receiving no indications, Reiss decided it was time to reel in to refresh the deadbait, and recast to a new area of the swim. However, just as he grabbed the butt of the rod, the float moved. Initially thinking he might have accidentally caused the movement himself, he paused for a moment before realising it was a pike showing interest in his smelt.
"I waited, watching intently, and then saw the float start to drift off, so I struck, and it felt like a deadweight. At first, I thought I’d snagged the bottom—but then my reel started screaming as drag was stripped off," he recalled.
"The fight was something else, lasting around 20 minutes before I even caught a glimpse of the fish. But when I finally did, I knew it was something special."
"After landing it and letting it rest, I weighed the fish, and I was absolutely amazed. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d catch something like that."
"My mate was as shocked as me as he has been fishing for years and his PB is 21lb, and this pike obliterated that weighing 27lb 8oz."
"Passersby stopped to take a look, and one said, “I’ve been fishing for over 50 years and never caught anything over 20!” Another joked, “That’s it—sell the fishing gear and take up golf. You’ve completed pike fishing!”
