Thomas Francis proved in Hayden Lake that patience pays off when fishing. According to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), Francis fishes for pike every day, from early spring to the ice rushes in winter. He now hooked a real monster of 40.7 American pounds – that corresponds to 17.2 kilos!
“I knew I had something special on my hook”
As soon as the bait hit the water, the bite took place. The pike stayed hard on the bottom and pulled more and more line from the reel. “So I knew I had something special on my hook,” said Thomas. “Then the pike suddenly shot to the surface and I could guess what I had on the hook.”
When the pike was in the boat, Thomas saw that the fish might have been a new state record. He then looked for a scale in the harbor, but all the scales were overloaded with the weight of the fish. Only one, which had only been calibrated by an IDFG official last week, was able to weigh the pike precisely. And indeed, Thomas’ impression was confirmed. His fish weighed a good pound over the existing record. Finally, the fish had to be certified by an official. Now Thomas Francis holds the record for the largest pike ever caught in Idaho.
Also interesting
Pike are also found in North America
The European pike (Esox of light, in English Northern Pike) occurs in the northern parts of the USA, in Canada and in Alaska. In Idaho, some fish were illegally released in the 1970s and have since built up a population. The competent authority IDFG regularly removes them from some waters with gillnets to protect native species such as the cutthroat trout.
The largest pike ever caught in the USA comes from the state of New York and weighed approx. 20.9 kg, the record dates back to 1940. Incidentally, the largest pike in the world was caught in Germany: Lothar Louis caught the record fish in the year 1986 in a quarry pond near Rheinmünster. He was 1.36 m long and weighed 25 kg.