Monster barbel on the float!
Big fish angler Keith Speer has banked a monster barbel of 17lb 10oz - on the float!
It topped an incredible list of fish he has recorded in recent months from the Great Ouse, including specimens of 15lb 5oz, 14lb 9oz, 14lb 7oz and 13lb 9oz.
Keith has also revealed that the biggest two fish were taken within nine days of each other from Verulam Angling Club stretches, and fell to his unique way of fishing for barbel using a centrepin reel.
Read the full story of Keith’s exploits, including all his tips and tactics, in this week’s Angling Times!
Study reveals barbel 'thrive' in stillwaters
A huge research project to find out how traditional river species such as barbel and chub are coping in stillwaters has revealed that they are ‘thriving’ in their non-flowing homes.
Critics of stocking the species into lakes have always maintained that they are unable to function effectively in them but the latest stats and figures have rubbished this theory.
The study took data from a number of sites that contained barbel and chub including Staffordshire’s Cudmore Fisheries and Lancashire’s Whitmore Fisheries.
For more details on the in-depth analysis, pick up a copy of this week’s Angling Times, on the shelves from Tuesday November 22.
Barbel boost for Yorkshire rivers
The River Aire has benefitted from an Environment Agency scheme to introduce more barbel to Yorkshire waterways.
Officials from the EA released 500 of the species into the waterway at Stourton and Armley and have ensured fishermen the move doesn’t mark the end of the project.
Other waterways in the region have also been given a stocking boost, with experts at Calverton fish farm revealing 3,000 barbel had been introduced into rivers across Yorkshire in recent weeks.
Staff have tagged the fish with an easily noticeable dye to help them monitor their progress in their new homes.
Harman on the big barbel....again!
Big fish all-rounder Dave Harman's rich run of form on the Dorset Stour has continued with the capture of this 14lb 7oz barbel.
A boilie hookbait presented on a coated braid hooklink did the business for the former Drennan Cup winner, who only last week hit the headlines after banking a fine 2lb 10oz roach from the same river.
In the same overnight session as his barbel, Dave also took another smaller example of the species weighing 7lb, as well as a 5lb 10oz chub.
Huge barbel catch tops Warks Avon match
A hungry shoal of barbel kept Steve Robson busy during the latest event on the Warwickshire Avon and he eventually placed an impressive 94lb 9oz winning haul on to the scales.
The Cradley Heath Labour rod decided to use stickfloat and maggot tactics after drawing just below Jubilee Bridge on the Fladbury section and was able to fool specimens to over 12lb during the five hour competition.
Elsewhere his rivals struggled to entice a bite, with Richie Owen needing just 5lb 15oz to secure the runners up spot.
Barbel key to Walton's Westwood Lakes win
The big shoals of hungry barbel went into a feeding frenzy during the latest event at Westwood Lakes and Gary Walton took full advantage of that fact to haul out a winning 108lb 6oz bag.
After drawing peg 11 on Kestrel Lake at the Lincolnshire venue, the Spilsby AC man decided to use waggler and maggot tactics to land fish nudging double figures throughout the competition.
Several big pleasure weights of the species have also been taken from the lake in recent weeks, with pegs 9 to 11 the hotspots.
Big Witham barbel falls to matchman's approach
Stuart Jessop took a leaf out of the matchfishing textbook to catch this 13lb 14oz River Witham barbel, the second largest ever taken from the small Lincolnshire river.
The powerful fish was taken from beneath a far bank bush, where Stuart accurately presented his hookbait using a pole cup more commonly used by commercial match anglers.
Stuart said: “I knew there was the odd double in the Witham, but I never imagined I’d catch anything quite this big!
To read the full story, including tips and tactics, see tomorrow’s Angling Times.
Trust ramps up anti-poaching measures
The Angling Trust has this week launched a seven-point plan to tackle the ever-growing problem of poaching from English waters.
The sport’s governing body is set to ramp up a number of initiatives, ranging from the establishment of a new ‘Poacher Watch’ website for reporting fish theft - in a similar way to its Cormorant Watch site - through to a pilot scheme that will allow voluntary bailiffing by angling club members alongside Environment Agency officers.
The plan also includes furthering the recently-launched Building Bridges programme, under which the Trust has appointed two members of staff to work with member clubs and fisheries to address illegal fishing in parts of the South West and the East of England, as well as collaborating with the National Wildlife Crime Unit, a special police task force, to raise awareness of the offence of poaching within regional police forces.
For the full story, plus reaction, see today’s Angling Times.
Crushed boilies and pellets tempt big Avon barbel
The benefit of prebaiting river swims when targeting chub and barbel was demonstrated last week by James Hart, who took this 13lb 14oz specimen from a club-owned stretch of the Hampshire Avon near Ringwood.
The 36-year-old, who was making only his second visit to the stretch, took the fish along with a 5lb chub after lacing several swims with a mixture of Dynamite Baits Frenzied Hemp, 4mm and 8mm Marine Halibut pellets, groundbait and crushed Spicy Shrimp and Prawn boilies, before fishing them in rotation.
For full details, see tomorrow's Angling Times.
Dream chub and barbel brace taken from Stour
Dean Derbyshire got a soaking twice during a recent session on the Dorset Stour, but he wasn't complaining after banking a dream brace of chub and barbel weighing 6lb 10oz and 14lb 8oz respectively.
The 20-year-old engineering apprentice began his memorable day session in a swim opposite an overhanging willow tree that he had been visiting in recent weeks and which he knew held a good head of chub.
After catapulting in a few free offerings and watching the fish dart out to intercept them ‘on the drop’, Dean cast out a pair of elips pellets…..and didn’t have long to wait for the action to begin.
“They took the bait straight away on the drop. I took eight chub in total, and the 6lb 10oz fish was the fourth to fall. It gave me a few problems because of a big snag upstream on the near bank which it went underneath. I had to jump in to the margins to net it – but it was worth a soaking!” said Dean.
He then switched his focus to barbel and eventually locating a couple of barbel sitting right in the edge.
“As soon as the pellets fell through the water, they were on the bait. Less than two minutes passed before it wrenched round and I was in. The fish made straight for the snags and rushes and I had to jump in again to stop it cutting me off!” he said.
See all the pics and read the full account in tomorrow's Angling Times.
What a brilliant week for barbel!
An incredible week for big barbel has seen a raft of heavyweight specimens landed from a host of popular river stretches over the past seven days.
The Lea, Wye and Kennet all hit top form for the species, with big double figure fish landed from all, as did the River Dove, where Trevor Brown slipped his net under a fine barbel weighing 15lb on the nose.
The 63-year-old from Wednesfield, West Mids, was fishing the Burton stretch of the river when he hooked the fish at 12.15am after it picked up his pellet hookbait.
For more details and pictures of this catch, plus all the other memorable hauls from the nation’s rivers, see tomorrow’s Angling Times.
River Dove produces huge barbel
The River Dove has produced some huge barbel in years gone by and it threw up another beast this week when Trevor Brown slipped the net under this stunning 15lb specimen.
The West Midlands based ace decided to target a stretch of the popular waterway around Burton and managed to hook into the fish when it fell for his pellet hookbait a couple of hours after arriving.
His successful rig comprised of a running lead set-up with a 15lb Camfusion hooklink and a size 8 ESP Raptor hook.
Several other huge barbel have been taken from rivers across the country this week and more details on these memorable catches can be found in next week’s Angling Times, on the shelves from Tuesday September 27.
Biggest barbel on the pole ever landed!
The biggest barbel ever landed on the pole has been taken during a match on the River Thames.
Daiwa Gordon League ace Andy Pollard had been targeting big perch during the Upper Thames Championship when the huge fish, which broke double figures with ease, snaffled up his maggot hookbait.
To add to his delight, Andy also saw off 113 rivals to take first place in the match individually and also helped his squad top the team event.
For more details on the capture and pictures of the huge specimen, pick up a copy of next week’s Angling Times, on the shelves from Tuesday September 27.
Casters are key for classic barbel capture
Forget boilies and big pellets…. Andrew Hawksley used nothing larger than casters and hemp to lure a stunning barbel brace from the River Taff, topped by a 13lb 4oz cracker.
The student from Cardiff also banked a fish weighing 10lb 3oz after targeting a club-owned stretch of the Welsh river with a balanced float set-up for just a few hours after work.
The biggest of the brace was a new personal best for the 19-year-old, who used double caster hookbaits over a steady loosefeed.
He told AT: “Once I hooked the barbel they both went on a powerful runs, and I had little choice but to keep the rod bent and pressure on the fish, but without bullying them too much. “
Read the full story and see more pics in next week’s Angling Times, on sale Tuesday 13 September.
Small pellets lure giant barbel from Warks Avon
The Warwickshire Avon has continued its rich vein of current form for big barbel by producing another fish-of-a-lifetime in the shape of this 15lb 8oz specimen.
After finding the stretch very busy with other anglers on his recent visit, captor Adam Davies opted for a swim that he ‘would have never chosen’ as it boasted no obvious fish-holding features.
However, the chub clearly hadn’t read the rulebook because he was soon cradling a fish that shattered his personal best for the species by 3lb.
The angler, from just outside Gloucester, legered two hair-rigged 8mm pellets and nicked a small pva bag filled with smaller offerings onto his size 10 hook to tempt the huge barbel, which is one of the biggest ever caught from the famous waterway and follows the capture of a 15lb 7oz fish that was featured in last week’s Angling Times.
“I would have never chosen to fish this swim in a million years, but that just goes to show how unpredictable fishing can be,” said Adam.
“I’ve been trying to catch a fish like this for over two years and I really don’t think I’ll ever better it.”
Fishery boss says 'It's all venue owners' duty to check rod licences"
‘Every fishery boss in the country should check rod licences before they are allowed to set foot on their lakes.’
These are the words of a commercial boss who insists that visitors fish within the law and will even buy a permit on behalf of any angler that turns up at his water without the necessary paperwork.
David Howarth owns Green Haven Fishery and Caravan Park in Boston, Lincolnshire, and is one of only a few UK fishery owners that make it their responsibility to check licences after becoming disillusioned with the Environment Agency, whose bailiffs have visited the site just once in the last 15 months.
Many venue bosses believe that it is ‘not their job’ to perform licence checks, fearing the confrontation with those anglers that choose to avoid spending the £27 for a yearly permit.
But David insists that since he began he has experienced none of the problems forseen by fellow fishery owners and believes that if others follow his example it will only produce positive results.
“If I have to buy a licence to fish at my own lake then there’s no way that I’m going to let anyone else that comes here fish without one,” he said.
Barbel and chub bests fall to legered pellets
Any angler would be more than happy to break one personal best in a session, but Ian Lowe did it twice when he caught a 13lb 10oz barbel and a 6lb 1oz chub.
Tackling an undisclosed Midlands river, the 39-year-old baited two swims with a Teme Severn Mini Mix and hemp.
The first swim was unproductive, but a move then saw the big chub banked an hour later, so Ian rested the swim and introduced another 10 bait droppers full of bait.
This saw a big barbel hooked and it took him on a couple of long runs before he was able to slip the net under personal best number two, 5oz above his previous biggest.
Both specimens fell to a new prototype Ellipsis boilie.
Free fishing show this weekend - not to be missed!
Anglers are urged not to miss the free entry Big Fish charity fishing show taking place this coming Saturday, 3 September, featuring a host of stars, a carp match and a kids ‘fishing camp’.
Great Linford Lakes in Milton Keynes is the venue and the day includes casting, rig making and bait demonstrations from top carpers such as Colin Davidson, Derek ‘The Don’ Ritchie and Jerry Hammond, plus keen angler and Eastenders star Scott Maslen.
The kids fishing camp is being hosted by Nash Tackle, and the show also features a 24 hour carp match, cookery and falconry displays, laser clay shooting and archery, plus bouncy castles, a hog roast and an all-day restaurant and bar.
For more information see www.thebigfish.tv or call 07414 255519.
Patience the key to success
After finding a group of barbel on the Dorset Stour, Adam Smith waited two hours before casting out and his patience was rewarded with this 14lb 8oz barbel.
Arriving at the waterway for a dawn start, the 19-year-old waited until the fish were feeding confidently on his hemp, pellets and crumbed boilies loosefeed before placing his 8mm Dynamite Baits Source pellet hookbait among them.
“Half an hour later my rod tip pulled round,” said the Wimbourne-based account manager. “It came in fairly easily at first, but when it saw the net it bolted off. “
He beat his prize with a size 14 Drennan Specialist Barbel hook and a short 4ins 12lb ESP Two Tone hooklink with the all of the coating removed.
Three personal bests for father and sons team!
Just a few weeks after all catching personal best chub from the River Trent, father and sons trio David, Luke and Ryan masters all returned to the Midlands waterway to repeat the feat….this time with barbel!
Targeting the sale stretch as their previous success, Dad David weighed in with a 11lb 6oz fish, before his son Luke landed a superb 13lb 2oz barbel. Not to be outdone, number two son Ryan, who also caught the largest chub on their latest outing, then slipped his net under a fine new personal best of 13lb 8oz. All three barbel were caught using hair-rigged pellets.
To see the pictures and read the full article, including details of how the trio were forced to retrieve a rod after having it yanked in by an angry barbel, buy the next edition of Angling Times, out on Tuesday 23rd August.
