The 2011 pike season is now with us. The first movement was on the 31st October when several large pike were seen moving along the Legg Meadow stretch, arguably the Holy Grail of Wye piking. Several smaller pike and fish to15lb have been caught. The 15lb fish caught by friend of Neil Lissaman on Friday 11th November.
Last winter Gareth Hart guided his friend George, and down the lower end of the meadow helped him land a 36lb monster. Gareth has the distinction of “years ago” catching a witnessed 42lb pike from Legg Meadow, possibly the largest pike ever landed on the river by rod and line. Gareth, whom I’ve known for over 30 years, and his friends from Little Dean have quietly fished the “meadow” and many other stretches of the Wye for a lot longer than the piking afficiados and his catches have always been kept quiet from the angling world.
The most famous pike from Legg Meadow was the fish known as Lydia by PAC anglers Rob Shallcroft and Steve Bown. Renowned as the Queen of the Wye, this fish was caught by Ashley Meek in 2005 when she weighed 36lbs. This fish can be seen on the “Courtfield Fishing page” of this site. Subsequently and after many stake outs Steve took Rob to the magic spot, where one late winter’s day Rob caught the magnificent fish when she weighed 33lbs 12ozs.
It is generally thought this fish is no longer alive. Although Steve did not get exact measurements he estimated her length from scaled photographs at 48 – 49 inches. So it is significant that Rudi Lighert’s pike caught in the winter of 2009 at the lower end of Courtfield measured 48 inches. This massive fish was “well below its potential weight and long and lean”.
The question has to be, was Rudi’s fish Lydia and is it the same fish that Gareth Hart caught at 42lbs? Fred Buller’s table for pike length to weight gives the following for a 48 inch pike. The average variation is shown at 39lbs which is the weight of the massive pike which first showed up on the radar at Leggs Meadow. With an extreme expectation of weight at 53.25 lbs and mean of 44.5 lbs it seems to me that these catches, including Gareth’s 42lb pike, do in fact all relate to the same fish, which against the belief of the members of the Pike Angling Club of Great Britain was still alive in 2009. The second question has to be, is George’s fish of last winter an up and coming contender for the Queen of the Wye crown?
| length | probable common variation (pounds) | average of probable common variation (pounds) | probable mean weight (pounds) | extreme expectation of weight (pounds) | |
| 48 | 29.5 to 48.75 | 39.125 | 44.5 | 53.25 | |
Over the last decade there has been one and possibly two dead pike recorded as being over 30lbs, suggesting that there are other monsters here and pike in the mid to high twenties are caught annually. Jonathan Wright, guided by Gareth Hart had a fine bag several years ago including a 27lb fish and two other doubles to 16lbs and several good jack pike caught in the swims towards the top end of Leggs Meadow. The late Martin Lane of Lydbrook caught many big pike along the Courtfield beat and fell in to the river in recent times whilst landing a fish in the low to mid twenties. A salmon angler had an 18lb pike this summer fishing the Legg Meadow crib.
If you are a specimen pike angler seeking a big Wye pike then I humbly suggest you give the Courtfield a go this winter. Book as usual for a coarse ticket through the WUF and drop me an email donmacerwright@gmail.com while you’re about it, to plan your trip. If you want to make the added investment for a guide we can probably significantly increase your chances of a lifetime fish.
