A Blairgowrie angler is celebrating after he landed a record-breaking monster pike.
Neil Pyper, 62, a member of the Blairgowrie, Rattray and District Angling Association, was on Fingask Loch, near Blairgowrie, on Tuesday evening when he hooked the 26lb fish.
It is understood to be the largest fish taken from the loch.
“I was fishing for trout when I caught it,” said Mr Pyper. It was quite a size of a fish, I don’t know how long it took to land it, time just seemed to disappear.”
Too big for his net, Mr Pyper who was out in a boat on his own had to call on two fellow club members to assist him in landing the monster.
“It is the biggest fish I have ever caught and it is the biggest fish ever caught in the loch, as far as we know,” said Mr Pyper who used to fish as a youngster and took up the sport again five years ago.
The pike was caught on a yellow dancer fly and was a lot larger than his previous best an 8lb trout caught at Piper Dam. Members of the club were pleased by Mr Pyper’s success in landing the predator, which feeds on trout in the loch.
Pike are one of the few species of fish that can be found the length and breadth of Scotland and the current pike record was achieved north of the border.
The largest recorded pike in the British Isles came from Loch Lomond, weighing in at 47lb 11oz, and was caught in 1947. The world record is believed to be a 55lb pike caught in Germany in 1986.