Most men have a hobby - fishing. This activity relaxes the stronger sex and allows them to feel like breadwinners. How nice it is to return home to your family with a good catch and feed your loved ones delicious fish! When going fishing, none of the men can even imagine what kind of catch awaits him! The men who caught the record-breaking pike were pleasantly surprised - of course, not everyone comes across a 100-kilogram fish!
But everyone who caught a big fish took it for themselves. Many humane fishermen release large catches back into the water, naturally before taking a beautiful memorable photo with the fish. The fish were released into the water, and nothing is known about their further fate... In this article we will learn about the largest pikes in the world and how they were caught.
From Sweden (1998), 15 kg
September 1998 turned out to be lucky for Christer Mattsson. The man went fishing in the Baltic Sea (in the part belonging to Sweden) - he was ready for anything, but not for a pike weighing 15 kg! The man had a pike wobbler with him - it didn’t take long to pull out the representative of the underwater world. The pike perceived the bait as live prey. Christer hastened to take a photo as a souvenir to share his find with others. One can only imagine the man’s ecstatic emotions at that moment.
From the Osthammer River, 17 kg
Fishing is a fascinating activity, and sometimes it even brings surprises. In Lake Osthammer in Switzerland, a man named Benny Petterson caught a large fish, although his silver spoon was intended for smaller catches. The fishing turned out to be successful - Benny pulled out a 17 kg pike from the river. “But how will I get her home?” – the man thought at that moment, because he had a small boat with him, or more precisely, a single-seater boat. But the fish was raised after 10 minutes and, as a result, was listed in the Guinness Book.
From the Grefirn River, 25 kg
On October 16, 1986, a significant event occurred - a huge fish was caught in the Gräfirn river, which is located in Germany. Previously, a little-known lake became famous throughout the world, and Lothar Louis’s catch is still remembered, because he owns a trophy of serious size - a pike weighing 25 kg. The day of October 16 was cold, the mood was most likely neutral, and nothing foreshadowed such a significant catch. At that time, this catch was the largest, so representatives of the Guinness Book hastened to record it.
From the Netherlands (2013), 27 kg
German fisherman Stefan Gockel was very lucky, and in the literal sense. On October 1, 2013, he caught a huge fish weighing 27 kg in a pond. and 1.20 m in length. Within 10 minutes the pike was pulled out. But the fisherman turned out to be a humane man, and after taking a photo with the fish, he released the pike into the water. Such actions are typical of European fishermen. 8 years have passed since then - you can imagine how big the fish has grown to!
Where to look
The likelihood of encountering a large pike greatly depends on the composition of the water, the depth of the reservoir and the size of the shoreline. The reservoir should have areas with cool water throughout the year, that is, in the summer the reservoir should not warm up to the bottom. That is, various cold water sources must flow into the reservoir, and groundwater inflows are necessary.
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As it turned out, pikes love places where cool underground water flows into a reservoir; they like to camp in such places in the summer.
Pike of the same age living in rivers are slightly shorter than pike living in standing water.
The oxygen content in the reservoir should not fall below 3 mg/l. Because of this condition, it is pointless to look for trophy pike in reservoirs that are less than 3 meters deep; it is unlikely to survive there and can only enter by accident or during spawning. For this reason, in the warm season, when the oxygen level in the water drops sharply, the predator will find and look for places with cool water in which there is more oxygen.
Trophy fish require large prey sufficient to satisfy its appetite and spend a minimum of energy on its extraction. For this reason, the predator should be looked for in reservoirs rich in food supply for white fish. Trophy pike will live in such places. To catch it, you need to use large baits.
Often during feeding, pike are close to places with a high density of perch.
The main food item is perch measuring 8-10 cm. An additional food item is bream, so large schools of bream always attract a predator.
Large pike are rarely found in the same place, they are constantly expanding their hunting territory and often have two to four feeding sites.
In lakes where there is no food supply of relatively large sizes, most pike grow slowly and rarely reach sizes of more than a meter. Nevertheless, they meet and hunt their smaller brothers. For this reason, on some lakes there may not be small pike, perhaps there are only large ones, but they will ignore your small bait, try changing the size and maybe you will get lucky.
Water clarity has been found to influence the weight of predators. As a rule, in reservoirs where the visual depth of visibility is one meter greater, compared to other reservoirs, the weight of the fish is 6% more. Therefore, the cleaner the water in the reservoir, the thicker the pike in it.
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In places where there is a long winter in shallow water bodies that freeze almost to the bottom, the probability of survival of a trophy pike is almost zero.
A layer of ice blocks the supply of oxygen to the reservoir, which is why plants and other fish begin to actively consume oxygen, and new ones are not produced by plants due to the lack of sunlight. For this reason, a well-known fish pestilence occurs. In such cases, trophy fish practically do not survive, but small specimens may well survive. There is no point in looking for trophies in such places.
From the USA (1957), 32 kg
An unusual pike was caught in New York in 1957. The muskellunge fish differs from its relatives in its high degree of endurance and life expectancy. The fish was caught on the St. Lawrence River. These types of fish live only in fresh water bodies, and fishermen know that they can only be caught with a spinning rod. The caught fish surprised the fishermen, because it was even larger than its fellow muskies. Her weight was 32 kg and her length was 132 cm. It took the fishermen 15 minutes to pull her out of the water. After memorable photographs and measurements, the fishermen decided to let the fish swim freely.
Other records
Second place in the record table belongs to Swedish fisherman Ake Nilsson. His giant booty weighed 21 kg. A historical event occurred on January 29, 1989, when a fisherman was rafting down the Lodda River in Sweden. The pike took the lure, after which Nilsson calmly “drove” the fish for 15-20 minutes. For many years after the event, there has been controversy over the true weight of the fish, since in the photograph it appears that its weight could not reach 21 kg. But, given that the length of the trophy was 1 m 30 cm, such a weight seems quite likely.
From Russia (1930), 35 kg
Fishermen from Russia managed to catch a pike of impressive size in 1930. She weighed 35 kg. The fishermen willingly captured the result of their record in a black and white photograph, looking at which everyone can be convinced of the authenticity of the story. In the photo, three men can barely hold a 35 kg pike in their hands. In Russia and the CIS countries there were many cases when fishermen returned home with huge caught fish weighing 15-40 kg. Fishing in Russia has always been successful, because the state is famous for its seas, lakes, and, of course, underwater inhabitants.
Fishing - legends about the largest pike in the world
Fishing is quite exciting. Especially, of course, men love her. And then there are more stories in the world about who caught the largest pike in the world.
And for most, fishing becomes not just a pleasant way of spending time, but a real hobby, to which whole days are allocated. Avid fishermen specifically buy professional equipment, study literature, go to distant rivers and lakes and sit on the shore for hours.
And every fishing fan has their own trophies, so-called records, which they talk about for a long time and colorfully to everyone around them. It is no less interesting to hear about the catches that shocked the entire fishing world.
The heaviest pike ever caught is already legendary. According to one version, the largest pike was caught in a fishing rod in 1497. She was pulled ashore using a seine. And the fish had a rather impressive age, namely, 270 years.
Pike are monsters, Giant siberian pike
And the ring that was put on it by order of the Emperor of the Roman Empire, Frederick II, helped determine the age of the pike. This happened in 1230. Most likely, the fish was ringed in the 13th century and released into its native element, after which it managed to live for more than two and a half centuries. The length of the long-lived pike was 5.7 meters, weight was 140 kilograms.
The legend says that the fish was completely white because there was no pigment left in the scales from old age. There is also information that the skeleton of the captured giant was transferred to the museum of the German city of Mannheim. However, according to other sources, this skeleton has already been analyzed by specialists. They allegedly concluded that the exhibit was fake and assembled from the spines of several pikes.
It is worth adding that the officially confirmed age of the oldest pike is thirty-three years. From this we can conclude that about three hundred years is an unrealistic age for a fish.
According to another interesting legend, at the end of the nineteenth century, a pike with a gold ring was caught. There was an inscription on the decoration that said that the fish was ringed by the Russian Tsar Boris Fedorovich. The individual gained 60 kilograms during its life and grew to two meters. The pike was caught during the cleaning of the Tsar's ponds in 1794.
And the golden ring was located right in the gills of the fish. And judging by the inscription, since Godunov was in power from 1598 to 1605, the fish was about 190 years old. But these data still remain a legend, since they do not have official confirmation.
And, of course, it’s worth turning to facts, not fiction. So, the largest pike today lives in North America. Its name is masking. The species is very similar to that of the common pike. It differs from its relatives, the musky, in that it is much more hardy, has the largest size and a longer life expectancy.
In 1660, one of the fish record holders was caught by French explorer Pierre Espiritu Radisson. The catch was two meters long and weighed 75 kilograms. However, photographs and the skeleton have not survived to this day. But the data can be trusted, since even now American predators weigh up to 45 kilograms.
There are legends about the size of the largest pike
Of the entire pike family, muskies are the largest. In this species, there are a total of more than 50 consonant names, for example, masking, tiger musky, maskalong and others. All of them have an elongated body, like a common pike, the width of the length is less than six times. Muskinongs are found in rivers, lakes and small streams, preferring shallow and calm bodies of water, with coastal or bottom vegetation.
Well, as for documented pikes, in 1979 a special cadastral book appeared in England, where they began to record all the data on giant pikes caught. The document provides information about fish that weigh more than 14 kilograms. Well, in Russia, a large pike was officially measured in 1930. She weighed 34 kilograms. And the result of that legendary catch can be seen in black and white photography.
Therefore, it is possible to declare the reliability of the size of the fish. A monster pike was caught on Lake Ilmen. Well, in general, in Russia and the CIS countries there are a number of cases where fishermen took home huge specimens weighing from 15 to 45 kilograms.
The largest pike in Russia was caught in Lake Ilmen in 1930
For example, such giants periodically peck on Lake Ladoga and in Ukraine. Near the city of Sortavala, a pike weighing about 49 kilograms was bitten. In this fishing, a smaller pike weighing five kilograms was used as live bait. Another case was recorded when a unique specimen was caught in the north of Lake Uvildy - the scales showed 56 kilograms when weighed.
Since America occupies the same latitudes as Russia, there are records for pike catches here too. For example, in 1957, a muskie weighing 32 kilograms was caught. The fish was pulled out in New York State on the St. Lawrence River. Moreover, the individual was caught from a boat. A large common pike was caught in 1940 in the same state, however, on a different body of water, in the Sacandaga Reservoir. The weight of the fish was 21 kilograms.
Pike 25 kg Perm
In these cases we are talking about common pike. The fish is also called jackfish or jack. But the names are common only in Siberia, Canada or Central Alaska. By the way, this fish is not particularly popular among chefs. This is because she has very bony meat.
Well, as for the method of catching pike. They are not original and are similar to the methods of catching any other fish. Only the equipment should be an order of magnitude stronger than, for example, for catching perch. Pike have powerful teeth, so fishermen place a wire leash between the bait and the fishing line to prevent the fish from tearing the fishing line and biting it.
The bait must be large, weighing at least 30 grams. Often pikes manage to escape the hook because they have a bony, hard mouth. To prevent this from happening, it is better to make a powerful hook in time so that the hook is driven deeper. Well, large pike are most often removed from the water using a landing net with a long handle or a hook. The gear must be of high quality, otherwise nothing will work.
And it is worth noting that pike hunting involves traveling to uninhabited places, where the likelihood of catching a big fish is much greater. The most suitable season for this is the end of spring, as well as autumn, before the first frost. In August, the pike bite stops, as individuals hide in deep layers of water and wait for the temperature to drop.
From Sortavala, 49 kg
Large catches went to fishermen from Russia. Fishermen hunted on the lakes near Sortavala (an ancient town in Karelia, with a population of less than 200,000 people). Unexpectedly for them, a large pike weighing 49 kg pecked on the hook, and quite by accident. The fishermen tried to pull another fish out of the water, but they were very lucky. The situation turned out to be quite funny: a large pike wanted to eat and took fish from the fishermen. It turned out that the caught fish became bait for a large pike.
The largest pike caught in Russia
For Russia, the parameters of a giant pike include an individual whose age exceeds 20 years and whose minimum weight is 16 kg. They say that you can catch a large fish on Lake Ladoga, which is on the border of the Republic of Karelia and the Leningrad region. However, fishermen often keep silent about the fact that the largest pike fish they catch falls under the parameters of a giant, motivating their position by the fact that the catch will be taken away, and they will be left with nothing. Official information states that the largest individual caught on the territory of the Russian Federation lived on Lake Ladoga, near the city of Sortavala. The weight of this creature was 49 kg and 200 grams, and it was caught quite unexpectedly with live bait - a five-kilogram pike, which in turn was caught with a wobbler and was just dragged out of the reservoir.
From Lake Uvildy, 56 kg
Uvildy is one of the cleanest lakes in Russia. It is considered the most beautiful lake in the Southern Urals. The depth of the lake is 40 meters. The water here is not only clear, healing and clean, but also the fish are of impressive size. Catching predatory fish is always accompanied by fabulous stories and legends; every fisherman dreams of catching a large fish, but not everyone succeeds. A large fish was caught from Uvilda - weighing 56 kg. A group of people pulled the pike ashore, and they were delighted with what they saw! When they were going fishing, they certainly didn’t imagine that they would become record holders. Fishermen said that to attract fish they used special bite activators in the form of phermone additives. Fishing enthusiasts willingly go to Uvildy. Advice: experienced fishermen recommend a fishing spot from the Chaika base. Opposite the base there is an underwater ridge coming from the Rainbow base. From the surface you can see 2 islands, and the third is underwater, located opposite the Seagull and called the “bank”. Around the bank you can find quite large specimens of fish, including pike.
Some features of catching a predator
Many fishermen know that pike have powerful teeth, so equipment and all gear must be very durable and reliable. Taking this fact into account, fishermen often use a wire leash when fishing; it is usually placed between the bait and the fishing line so that predatory fish cannot bite or tear it.
And a few more tips and tricks from fishermen:
- It is best to place bait weighing at least 30 grams . The weighty mouth of the pike has more than once helped it get off the hook, so experienced fishermen advise making a good hook and confidently getting the fish if everything was done on time.
- In order to catch a large specimen, you should go fishing in remote places; this fish loves peace and quiet .
- The best time for fishing is late spring and autumn , before the onset of the first frost. In the hottest months, pike usually hide and wait for the heat to subside, and also like areas that are not very deep, from 5 to 10 meters, with snags and stones.
- According to experienced fishermen, pike bite more actively on sunny and clear days , the fish in such weather swims close to the surface of the water, if the reservoir is warm, then it goes deeper, hiding in cool water.
- The predator loves to attack active bait , so it is advisable to catch it with a playing wobbler or an oscillating spoon.
- The color of the bait is of great importance ; in clear water it is better to use silver, brass, copper and natural colors. In muddy water, it is advisable to use a fluorescent type of bait.
The most trophy places for catching this predator are Lake Ladoga or Ilmen in Russia, as well as in the Neman and Dvina, in the waters of the Irtysh and Volga. You can often find this type of fish in Ontario and Michigan, on the St. Lawrence River. In the European part, pike fishing has always been popular, as it is found from Scandinavia to Italy.
Pike of Frederick II Barbarossa (1230 g), 140 kg
Long-lived pikes of fantastic size often become heroes of legends. A huge pike that lived at the “court” of Frederick the Second Barbarossa lived to be 267 years old and weighed more than 130 kg. In 1230 (according to data), Frederick II himself caught this large fish, but he did not cook dinner from it, but put a gilded ring on it and released the catch into Lake Bjockingen. It is unknown why he did this - it looks like a symbolic marriage with a fish. Or she brought him such great joy that Frederick the Second Barbaross decided to present her with gratitude. Whatever it was, the pike lived longer than Barbarossa - it was caught in 1497, and it had an impressive size: it weighed almost 140 kg and was 6 meters long.
Pike Museum
In Wisconsin, on the shores of Lake Hayward, there is a huge open-air museum. It presents giant models of all kinds of fish, stuffed animals of all kinds of rare catches, all kinds of gear and even an imitation of the life of fishermen. There are also joke exhibits. Like, for example, the bull pike. The pike's head with horns is made so skillfully that many visitors take this information seriously.
The main decoration of the complex is a concrete model of a pike with an observation deck in its mouth. It was built in 1976, its length is 44 meters, and the height of a five-story building. There is a pond with live fish under the pike. And if you wish, you can even go fishing, but with one obligatory condition: all the fish caught will be released back.
topkin.ru
Boris Godunov's pike (1794), 60 kg
A similar story happened in Russian history. Tsar Boris Fedorovich's pike was caught in 1794, when the Tsaritsyn ponds were being cleaned. On the gill cover, researchers found an engraved inscription: “Planted by Tsar Boris Fedorovich.” Russian Tsar Boris Godunov reigned from 1598 to 1605, so the pike caught was more than 200 years old. Her exact weight is not known for certain, but there is information that she weighed 60 kg. Unfortunately, the fate of this pike is unknown, and the ring, apparently, which the king gave to his prey, was taken away.
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