Rivers in the best autumn form so far

UK rivers have hit their best form of the autumn so far - as proved by Simon Buckman when he banked a huge 16lb 1oz barbel along with a string of roach to a best of 2lb 12oz from a tough southern waterway.

Just a few days after setting a new personal best with a redfin of 2lb 8oz, Simon thought he’d make the most of the rich run of form shown and go in search of even bigger fish.

After spending hours walking the banks looking for the tell-tale signs of fish ‘rolling’ on the surface he cast out a Dynamite Baits The Crave boilie mounted on a size 10 hook.

His tactics worked like magic once again with a specimen roach bettering his personal best 4oz. But his biggest surprise was yet to come as his rig, intended for roach, fooled his fifth 15lb-plus barbel from the venue.

“The big fish really like to show themselves on this river but they are far from easy to catch. You can be sitting there with 2lb-plus roach topping in front of you, but you can’t buy a bite, which is so frustrating,” Simon told Angling Times.

“But in the last three visits to the river everything has just come together perfectly.
“When I’m fishing for roach I always put a rod out for the barbel, so it was typical that I hooked this huge fish on the rig that wasn’t actually intended for them.

“The size 10 hook made me a little nervous, but the rest of the rig was constructed with pretty heavy gear so I was confident that it was up to the job.”