Russian Leader Putin Claims 46-pound Pike Catch, Critics Say Otherwise
OutdoorHub Reporters 07.29.13
A recent video of Russian President Vladimir Putin shows the politician netting a large pike during a trip to Siberia. For years Putin has carefully maintained the image of being a consummate outdoorsman, including riding a horse bare-chested, tranquilizing a tiger, and even shooting at whales with a crossbow in order to obtain tissue samples. And now, according to the state-owned Russian news agency RIA Novosti, Putin’s spokespeople claim that he has added catching a 46.3-pound pike to his exploits.
The fishing trip occurred last weekend in southeast Siberia and Putin was accompanied by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and several aides. Video of the catch can be seen below:
In the video Putin is warned by an aide that the fish could bite, to which he responded “I will bite her myself, she is a beauty.” The Los Angeles Times reports that Shoigu initially estimated the fish to be around 26 to 33 pounds, but Putin eventually weighed the fish and found it to weigh much more. Critics of Putin claim that the weight is falsified and that the video was taken several years ago. Some anglers in Russia and elsewhere believe that a pike weighing 46.3 pounds would be much larger than the one that Putin caught. This led Russian bloggers to post their own pictures of pike, pointing out discrepancies between the size of Putin’s catch and its weight. Others believe that the video may have been taken as early as 2007, because Putin’s attire on the fishing trip was very similar to clothes he wore during earlier outings. Other detractors further allege that the entire catch itself was staged.
Putin’s spokespeople have denied these allegations and stated that the size of the fish has not been exaggerated. The Russian president reportedly spent the weekend fishing and swimming with Medvedev and Shoigu near the meeting of the Urbun and Yenisei rivers. The pike was kept and later cooked in fishcakes, which the men shared.
