A Scottish fishing guide today said he was misquoted over claims the pike could be the latest food fad north of the border.
An article in Saturday's Daily Mail said the pike had "had its chips", because more and more of them were being eaten.
But Stuart Collingswood, of Alba Game Fishing, who was quoted in the piece said he was misrepresented.
"We staged five pike trips last season and no pike were killed by our clients," he added. "We practice catch and release and have a massive respect for the pike.
"Not a single pike's been killed by one of my clients, we promote the environment and fish stocks. It's hard to swallow when you've been branded some sort of fishmonger.
"I don't condone killing fish unnecessarily and we're very strong on maintaining a balance. I've kicked poachers' arses off our lochs."
Mr Collingswood said he did kill two jacks last season but said this would have had no impact on the lake concerned.
"They were both jacks, killing a 25lbs fish would have taken away one of the predators that maintains the natural balance but a couple of jacks won't have any impact."
