Cased pike prices tailwalk

An upper double caught near Devizes, Wilts, 50 years ago has sold at auction for £2,160. The 17lbs 4oz fish won a pike match on the Kennet and Avon Canal in 1955. Its captor Brian Hill paid £17 to have it set up by legendary taxidermist Coopers, at a time when the average weekly wage was just £11, local paper the Gazette & Herald reports today. Click here for more.

Mega pike set to net £6,000 at auction

A cased Norfolk 30 from 50 years ago is expected to make £6,000 when it comes under the hammer this week, the BBC reports. Donald Tate, from Hertfordshire, had the fish set up after he caught it on Hickling Broad, in 1956.

It's believed to be the last pike ever set up by legendary taxidermist Cooper & Sons of Hounslow.

It comes complete with newspaper cuttings from the time, in which Tate says the fish frightened him when he realised its size.

"It came straight out of the water and crashed back with the noie of a ton of coal being emptied," he said.

More here.