River Tame barbel record broken

A FRUSTRATING three-year quest came to a triumphant conclusion for Damien Jones when he smashed a six-year-old venue record with this superb 14lb 8oz barbel.

The River Tame in Staffordshire is a notoriously difficult water which holds a relatively small number of really big barbel. But the local rod didn’t let the fact that he’s only landed two double figure fish since he’s been fishing the waterway deter him.

Concentrating his efforts on his local stretch in Tamworth, he adopted a light, mobile approach to search out every area of the 2 mile length. His efforts were rewarded on his latest session when the fish, which beat his pb by 3lb, found his legered fishmeal boilie.

He used a simple rig consisting of a 12lb braided hooklink and a size 8 hook to land the specimen which supersedes the previous river record of 13lb 10oz which was landed by Phil Bennett in 2006.

“I’ve been fishing this river for several years and found it really tough going,” Damien told Angling Times.

“But I’ve always loved fishing for big carp and I’m used to working really hard for my fish, so I’ve never been put off by the fact that the river’s big fish are so elusive.”