IGFA records reveal that the waters of Western Europe offer the best chances at monster Esox lucius, the northern pike, though clearly very large specimens can be found in Canada (particularly northwestern) and Alaska. Widely sought by anglers throughout their range, these toothy ambush predators are held in high esteem as game fish. Here are the largest and otherwise most exceptional northern pike catches from the IGFA records, to date.
Northern Pike All-Tackle World Record
- Weight: 55 pounds, 1 ounce (25 kg)
- Location: Germany, 1986
On the autumn day of October 16 in 1986, angler Lothar Louis had carp and roach on his mind. From Buhl-Wieteneng, West Germany, he was fishing the shore of Lake of Grefeern in Germany. But as he often did on fishing outings, Louis spent a few minutes casting a Mosca-Safir 20-gram spoon with what he called his “pike rod” in hopes of hooking one of the predators that lurked there. And so he did, hooking the largest pike he’d ever seen, and one that he spent the next 40 minutes fighting (using approximately 16-pound line) before finally landing it. It was then and remains to this day the largest northern pike taken anywhere in the world weighed in for an IGFA record.
Longest Northern Pike on Record
- Length: 48.82 inches (124 cm)
- Weight: Italy, 2021
Angler Michelangelo Schenone of Milano, Italy, fished Italy’s Lake Maggiore on Sept. 23, 2021, using a Savage Gear Burbot lure with an Abu-Garcia baitcaster spooled with Power Pro line. With Capt. Matteo de Santis at the helm, after measuring and documenting the total length of the fish, they released it alive. While no weight was taken, by way of a reference point, the all-tackle weight-record pike that weighed 55 pounds, 1 ounce, measured 54.54 inches. In 1999, a Manitoba, Canada, newspaper ran a photo and report of a clearly huge northern pike reportedly estimated at 70 inches in length. It was eaten.
Heaviest Line-Class Record Pike
- Weight: 47 pounds, 4 ounces (21.45 kg)
- Line: 12-pound line class
- Location: Sweden, 1989
On January 28, 1989, Ake Nilsson, of Sverige, Sweden, hooked what remains decades later the largest northern pike caught on 12-pound line, while fishing far up a river (not named) in the vicinity of Lodde (Löddeköpinge) in southwest Sweden. Nilsson had submitted his line as a 16-pound-test record, but it tested in the 12-pound class. He was casting an Italia spinner with a wire leader from his 12-foot rowboat. He played the fish for 15 minutes.
The Most Sporting Northern Pike Record
- Weight: 23 pounds, 15 ounces (10.85 kg)
- Line: 2-pound line class
- Location: Alaska, 1990
While this pike, just shy of 24 pounds, isn’t the largest in the world or even close, it’s arguably the most impressive catch. Catching it on two-pound line makes it better than 10-to-one (fish weight to line strength ratio). To accomplish the same ratio with, say, a 10-pound setup, a pike would have to weigh more than 100 pounds!
However, the catch was apparently actually even more difficult than 10-to-one since the angler — Rick Townsend, an Alaskan resident — was spooled up with Berkley Trilene labeled 1-pound test. A Game & Fish account reports that Townsend fished the Innoko River on August 10, 1990, while guiding two clients in his floatplane. After the fish hit a Mepps spoon, the angler fought it for 15 to 20 minutes, eventually hopping off the plane into waist-deep water to land it with his hands.
Heaviest Tippet-Class Record Pike on Fly
- Weight: 43 pounds (19.5 kg)
- Tippet: 20-pound-class
- Location: Italy, 2020
As angler Paolo Pacchiarini, of Milan, Italy, described this catch to Fly Lords magazine, a great deal of effort went into this catch, since pike are “temperamental fish.” The angler fished Italy’s Centro Cadore Lake on August 5, 2020, with a custom black-and-orange fly on a nine-foot, 10-weight rod. The big pike fought deep; Pacchiarini landed it in about 10 minutes. It was weighed on the lake shore then released alive.
The Most Impressive Fly Record for Pike
- Weight: 24 pounds, 3 ounces (11 kg)
- Tippet: 2-pound-class
- Location: Canada, 1985
After four decades, John A. Propp’s impressive 10-to-1 flyrod catch on wispy 2-pound tippet still stands as the record in this lightest tippet class. The angler fished the Northwest Territories’ Brabant Island on July 31, 1985, to hook the record pike on what he called a Chickenfish Streamer. Propp landed the prize after a 25-minute fight. The angler owned Propp’s Rod and Fly Shop in Spokane, Washington, where he built keenly sought custom rods.
Heaviest Pike for a Junior Angler
- Weight: 31 pounds, 5 ounces (14.2 kg)
- Location: Canada, 2013
Casting a Mepps Syclops Spinner with 30-pound braided line on Dore Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada, on June 4, 2013, young Santiago Rodriguez-Bustos, age 11, of Trophy Club, Texas, landed this junior-angler record in about 15 minutes.
World Record Pike for 5-Year-Old Girl
- Weight: 24 pounds, 9 ounces (11.14 kg)
- Location: Wisconsin, 2020
Fishing Wisconsin’s Sturgeon Bay (part of Lake Michigan), five-year-old Serenity Schmitt managed to bring to the boat a northern pike longer than she. The 24-pound, 9-ounce, fish earned her the smallfry world record. She made the catch on Feb 22, 2020, on 10-pound line after it hit a live sucker minnow. The fight lasted 20 minutes
