Andrew Hogg

Just a quick shot for you all! The fish was 17lbs and came from the Alte Donau in Vienna, Austria. It was a real surprise as it was caught on a size 6 hair rigged halibut pellet, not exactly your normal pike rig. Seeing as I am a scientific advisor on the water, responsible for a pike population study and had caught a 47lb carp only a week earlier the other guys were a little bit sceptical about this fish, but I swear on my life that this pike thought it was a mud pig. I thought I had hooked a nice carp when after about two minutes of the fight it charged straight towards me and jumped clear out of the water- the sight that we all love!!! It was hooked exactly in the middle of the lower jaw, lucky or what!!!

Lovely looking fish that had just spawned as you can see by the long belly ( the fish not me ) and the big head (again, not me ).

I'm still carping on this water at present but will put away the boilies and pellets in the autumn for some proper piking. Now how do you hair rig a pellet onto a snap tackle?

Andrew Hogg
Vienna