Pensioner's fish of a lifetime 14lb barbel

Avid Angling Times reader David Gear only needed a cube of meat and a simple leger rig to net a new personal best barbel weighing 14lb during a session on the River Kennet near Reading.

The 71-year-old has been reading the paper for over 60 years and put all of his knowledge to good use when he banked his ‘fish-of-a-lifetime’.

David beat the fish with the help of a rig made from 10lb Maxima mainline, an 18-in long hooklink of 10lb Sufix Camfusion coated braid and a size 8 Drennan Super Specialist Barbel hook. A drilled bullet lead completed his set-up.