SOMETIMES we get more than we bargain for in fishing, and that’s exactly what happened to Martin Portlock, who set out on a session to try to beat his old personal best, but ended up banking a brace of beautiful 30lb pike!
The Somerset angler was fishing a large southern stillwater that he hadn’t visited for 15 years, having ventured out in a boat alongside former Drennan Cup winner, Julian Chidgey.
“I was hoping to beat my old PB, but in the back of my mind I knew there was a chance of a 30-pounder,” he told us.
“I cast a smelt deadbait out towards an old stream bed, and after a quiet first hour I had a confident take. The rod hooped right over, and a huge pike of 33lb 12oz was soon landed.
“A few quiet hours then followed before we moved to a shallow area, where the action was immediate,” he said.
“Julian had a few smaller fish before I connected with another massive pike of 31lb 12oz. To land one ‘thirty’ after a lifetime of pike fishing was amazing, but to boat a second just a few hours later was completely unreal!”
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