Floods produce a 16lb 5oz Tidal Trent barbel

One of the biggest ever barbel to be caught from the Tidal Trent has been landed by Wayne Glossop – this 16lb 5oz specimen.

The all-important bite came right at last knockings as the Sheffield-based 24-year-old was about to reel in after what, up until that point, had been an uneventful overnight session.

“It wasn’t the typical powerful barbel take, but was fairly slow and steady,” said the Climax Tackle barbel consultant. “The fight wasn’t quite as straightforward as I hoped it would be, though, as the river had a lot of extra water on which made playing the fish that little bit harder. And then when I got down to the edge my landing net caught on a tree stump and I broke the spreader block. I had to wade in to the margins and somehow managed to net the fish. At first I thought it was a small double but once I got it up on the bank and pulled the mesh apart I realised it something a little bit special.”

Wayne has targeted the Tidal Trent’s barbel stocks for the last three years and has enjoyed a productive season by adopting a roving approach and fishing numerous different areas of the midlands waterway.

“I had a new pb of 14lb back in June and have caught several smaller doubles. This fish, however, is in a different league.”

Wayne found success with a 16mm home-made boilie which he hair-rigged on a size 6 Fox SXC hook and a 4ft Camotex Soft 25lb hooklink.

Another angler to take advantage of the ideal conditions was Staffordshire’s Gary Morgan who landed a 17lb barbel from an up and coloured River Dove.
Due to the pace at which the water was pushing through, the 43-year-old simply dropped a large lobworm hookbait in the edge.

“At 8pm my rod was almost dragged in,” Gary told Angling Times. “The fish just hugged the bottom and I struggled to move it. After 20 minutes I eventually got the better of it and netted my prize.

“Most anglers on the river use boilies or pellets but I thought that with the flood water a natural bait would give me a better chance of catching,” he added.