14lb barbel from River Loddon on 6lb mainline

Specimen hunter Mark Erdwin proved that you don’t need strong gear for big barbel after landing this 14lb 4oz fish on just 6lb mainline.

The 34-year-old Shimano backed rod caught the specimen whilst fishing on a local stretch of the Upper River Lodden in Berkshire and was the largest of two double figure fish he landed during a productive session: “The fish were very wary and bites were proving hard to come by so I scaled down my gear a little and switched to natural baits, feeding maggots and casters and using double lobworm on the hook” he said.

Mark used a low resistance link ledger rig with four SSG shot, Daiwa Sensor mainline and a size 12 Ashima hook to land the fish which is now his new personal best from the river.