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The Bird-Eating Beast Of Ullswater

It would have to be a big turtle though there are a lot in the wild in the UK,
and strangely a alligator or crocodile was reported by numerous drivers
crossing the M55 near Blackpool some years back, but I don't think a ally croc
is a likely suspect.
 
Dear oh dear that article takes 'sensationalisation' to a new level, doesn't it? It's almost as though this person (who has, apparently been visiting for 45 years, has never heard of pike or other carnivorous fish. Ok, it must be a big one, but it's hardly 'unheard of' activity, is it? And warning people to stay out of the water and not let their children or dogs swim... it's sort of saying 'there's a monster or alligator or man-eating beast in the lake' without actually saying it.
 
Dear oh dear that article takes 'sensationalisation' to a new level, doesn't it? It's almost as though this person (who has, apparently been visiting for 45 years, has never heard of pike or other carnivorous fish. Ok, it must be a big one, but it's hardly 'unheard of' activity, is it? And warning people to stay out of the water and not let their children or dogs swim... it's sort of saying 'there's a monster or alligator or man-eating beast in the lake' without actually saying it.
Yep, we always had stories of the monster pike in the local pond when I was a kid, of course no-one ever actually saw it.
 
Well, my Dad's been dead for 40 odd years so it wasn't him. (He was a chef, born in Liverpool but grew up in Glenridding, very fond of game birds. Used to hang 'em in the coal cellar so they'd rot mature).

He wanted to have his ashes scattered on Ullswater, but for various reasons it didn't happen.
 
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Yep, we always had stories of the monster pike in the local pond when I was a kid, of course no-one ever actually saw it.
I have seen a monster Pike many years ago when my mate and me used to visit the Medway on fishing trips.
We had to cross a railway crossing and half-way across I happened to look down into the slightly tidal Medway, we couldn't believe what we were seeing, a huge Pike Sun bathing, with it's head right
out of the water (air breathing, no less!) resting gently upon a patch of Lily Pads. It's head must have easily been something not far off two-and-a-half feet in length, the rest of it was below water and hidden underneath the Lily Pads. I still remember seeing those black eye's - staring straight up at us!

(Which also happens to remind me of a coastal (Hasting's) sea-fishing trip we did quite regularly usually at weekends), on this particular day, he was fighting to reel-in a very large Conger Eel that he'd been battling with for ages, only to finish up having to cut the line ~ as when he brought it up to the surface, he changed his mind when it flared it's black gills at us, and it also had big black eye's. . . frightened the bejebies out of both of us!

I'd previously heard stories of Children dangling their feet in the water, and losing a toe of two from Pike, but I thought it was just old-wives-tales. Seeing that Pike made us realise they well deserve the name of 'fresh-water-Shark!'
 
I once on hearing a commotion from the slip way wondered down to were a grope
of young blokes were running about like headless chickens, they had caught a bloody
big Eel "fishing term " and were loosing out on the land battle, I had some heavy gloves
on so grabbed the bugger by the back of it's neck we got the hook out and I struggled
to the end and chucked the thing back in, it was like wrestling with a 5 ft length of
slimy spring steal rope, definitely a case of "never mind how I caught it help me throw it back"

:omr:
 
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Yep, we always had stories of the monster pike in the local pond when I was a kid, of course no-one ever actually saw it.
Yeah it's traditional, I help manage a couple of ponds and one of the old members swore he'd caught this fish at such and such a weight and that fish at so-and-so a weight. When we drained the pond and netted it however...well stap me if neither species were anywhere near those weights.

Bigguns never seem to be in pictures with items that allow enough context to allow an objective estimate. Several claimants have, when I’ve asked, admitted they’d not actually weighed the fish, but it ‘looked over Xlb’.

All very Fortean...
 
Back in 2002, (bloody hell that was 20 years ago!) we investigated a case at Martin Mere in Lancashire were there were reports of a 'car' sized creature dragging swans and geese under the water. The lake itself is not large and very shallow. I was very doubtful a bit predator could live there but then i saw it, a whacking great wels catfish.
http://cfzbooks.com/?p=902&preview=true
 
In my 20's I was a part time life guard at the local Lido,
there were persistent rumours of a large pike that had
taken someone's big toe off but I never saw it if it existed.
Is that Ruislip Lido? There’s been a rumour for years of a huge pike in there.
 
No it was up in Manchester the whole thing is different now with no
recent reports of anything interesting.
 
Stories like that just keep getting bigger and bigger...until:

PSYCHO-PIKE.jpg

PSYCHO PIKE (1992)
 
No it was up in Manchester the whole thing is different now with no
recent reports of anything interesting.
Even lidos have got their monster legends.
 
Back in 2002, (bloody hell that was 20 years ago!) we investigated a case at Martin Mere in Lancashire were there were reports of a 'car' sized creature dragging swans and geese under the water. The lake itself is not large and very shallow. I was very doubtful a bit predator could live there but then i saw it, a whacking great wels catfish.
http://cfzbooks.com/?p=902&preview=true
The culprit could well be an 'Alligator Snapping Turtle!'
For reference. . . https://www.business-live.co.uk/economic-development/giant-alligator-snapping-turtle-caught-3929378
Apparently, they can live up to about 170 years, and keep on growing all that time!
 
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I have seen a monster Pike many years ago when my mate and me used to visit the Medway on fishing trips.
We had to cross a railway crossing and half-way across I happened to look down into the slightly tidal Medway, we couldn't believe what we were seeing, a huge Pike Sun bathing, with it's head right
out of the water (air breathing, no less!) resting gently upon a patch of Lily Pads. It's head must have easily been something not far off two-and-a-half feet in length, the rest of it was below water and hidden underneath the Lily Pads. I still remember seeing those black eye's - staring straight up at us!

(Which also happens to remind me of a coastal (Hasting's) sea-fishing trip we did quite regularly usually at weekends), on this particular day, he was fighting to reel-in a very large Conger Eel that he'd been battling with for ages, only to finish up having to cut the line ~ as when he brought it up to the surface, he changed his mind when it flared it's black gills at us, and it also had big black eye's. . . frightened the bejebies out of both of us!

I'd previously heard stories of Children dangling their feet in the water, and losing a toe of two from Pike, but I thought it was just old-wives-tales. Seeing that Pike made us realise they well deserve the name of 'fresh-water-Shark!'

How big to pike usually get?
 
How big to pike usually get?
From the AnglersMail.co.uk here:

Britain’s biggest pike – full story of 53 lb-plus sensation​

By Angler's Mail published May 15, 2020
A pike scaling 53 lb 2 oz was discovered during UK lockdown at a top fishery.

That 53lb one is larger than the biggest rod-caught one which was a 'mere' 46lb 13oz according to the article:
"The biggest pike caught fairly in Britain on fishing tackle is officially a 46 lb 13 oz beast. That was caught back in 1992 by Roy Lewis at Llandegfedd Reservoir, in South Wales."
 
I remember stories of large pikes in one of the local lakes near "Valaskjalf" where I lived as 3.y.o kid and until I am in my early thirties.
There were stories told by local divers which had seen pikes close to 150cm long in the deep parts of the lake. There were stories about kids being bitten by pikes in the water along the beaches.
 
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I remember stories of large pikes in one of the local lakes near "Valaskjalf" where I lived as a kid and until the early thirties.
There were stories told by local divers which had seen pikes close to 150cm long in the deep parts of the lake. There were stories about kids being bitten by pikes in the water along the beaches.
Where you lived as a kid until the early 30s!!! How old are you? I'm sensing vampire, and have a sudden urge to buy one of those forged vampire-hunting kits...

Edit: OK, too tired, your early thirties, not the early thirties. Thank goodness I didn't go straight to e-bay.
 
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Where you lived as a kid until the early 30s!!! How old are you? I'm sensing vampire, and have a sudden urge to buy one of those forged vampire-hunting kits...

Edit: OK, too tired, your early thirties, not the early thirties. Thank goodness I didn't go straight to e-bay.
I'll ned to rewrite that from 3 years until I am 30 y.o. My excuse is English is my second language.
 
There's a pond in Cleverly near Blackpool that has or had a few years back a good few turtles in it
don't know if they are still there, and I have also seen them in the Rochdale cannel round Hebden Bridge,
don't know what breed though.
 
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