Behemoth State File Northern Pike Caught in Idaho

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Northern pike have a tendency in the direction of beefiness, however the specimen Thomas Francis pulled from Hayden Lake in North Idaho is a chonky beast even by its species’ requirements.

The 40.76-pound, 49-inch-long pike edged out the earlier Idaho record-holder, a 40.13-pounder caught in 2010. The fish was so massive that it was a wrestle to discover a licensed scale with the chops to supply an correct weight.

“I instantly headed for the dock to try to discover a boat with a scale and tape measure. We discovered a ship with a scale, and the fish pegged the dimensions out at 30 kilos, so we knew we wanted to discover a greater scale,” the angler informed IDFG.

a bearded man holds a huge northern pike
Thomas Francis along with his Idaho record-breaking northern pike; (photograph/Idaho Fish and Recreation)

Francis, an skilled pike angler, knew as quickly because the fish hit his lure that he “had one thing particular.”

“She pinned herself to the underside and simply stored going, peeling drag the entire time. I knew that wasn’t regular, and I might inform it was one thing particular,” he stated. “Immediately, I acquired slack line, as she was coming straight up from the underside. She got here flying out of the water, and it was apparent she was an enormous fish.”

The Worldwide Recreation Fish Affiliation (IGFA) reveals the present All-Deal with file for northern pike at 55 kilos, 1 ounce. So the Idaho specimen was nonetheless a methods away from international recognition when Francis pulled her from the water. However for the Idaho fisherman, it’s extra about appreciating the species than it’s about breaking world data.

“I like having pike round; they’re the most important fish we will go after right here in north Idaho,” he stated. “I fish for them virtually each day.”

Each time he will get a keeper, it’s a boon to native ecology, primarily based on IDFG’s evaluation that Northerns don’t belong in north Idaho. As a substitute, they had been illegally launched to the area within the Seventies, IDFG discovered. For that cause, the division periodically gill nets the predatory fish to assist help native species like cutthroat trout.



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