Big barbel worth the wait
Water bailiff Paul Oughton used his knowledge of the Warwickshire Avon to take this fine barbel of 15lb 6oz during a session with our own Martin Bowler.
The Birmingham AA official was fishing a weir pool near Evesham. After introducing bait-droppers of boilies, pellets and hemp, he cast two boilie halves.It took a few hours before the big barbel struck.
Giant bait for giant barbel!
A boilie almost the size of a golf ball tempted the latest in an incredible run of big barbel for one of the UK’s most in-form specimen hunters – who landed a new personal best weighing 16lb 12oz.
Incredibly, this is Luke Ayling’s third different fish over 16lb that he’s taken in under four weeks. It came during a session on the River Thames.
To induce the bite from his biggest- ever barbel the Lone Angler-backed specialist used the same homemade bait wrapped in a matching paste that recently proved the downfall of a 16lb 1oz fish from the same venue.
“With this bait I know when I get a bite it’s going to be a ‘proper’ fish,” said Luke, who comes from Oxfordshire.
“Many anglers might be put off by using a bait this big, but it’s no trouble for barbel of this size.
“It’s just a case of getting a few bites and gaining confidence in a bait like this.”
His latest specimen fell to a rig made with 15lb mainline, a coated braid hooklink and a size 6 hook.
It proved to be the only bite of the overnight session.
Along with the added attraction created in the swim by the thin layer of paste wrapped around his boilie hookbait, Luke also introduced a few 14mm barrel baits into his swim.
“To have caught the two Thames fish and a 16lb 7oz barbel from its tributary, the Thame, was far beyond my expectations.
“It’s been a hell of a season for barbel and there are plenty more to come,” Luke concluded.
16lb 7oz river barbel slips up to two anglers
This 16lb 7oz barbel is proof that some of the UK’s biggest specimens live in small rivers.
Luke Ayling followed up his recent capture of a 16lb 1oz fish from the River Thames when he switched his attentions to its much smaller tributary, the Thame in Oxfordshire.
He scaled down bait size, too. Instead of the large homemade hookbaits that he uses on the Thames, the local specialist chose to incorporate Lone Angler Ocean Pride 14mm barrel baits wrapped in matching paste into his combi rig.
His Thame barbel beats the current river record of 16lb 2oz caught last year. And to show just how good he is on a variety of waters, Luke went on to land his first-ever barbel from the River Itchen – a fish of 13lb 4oz.
“I’ve really been on a roll recently and you’ve got to ride your good fortune while you can. Every big-fish angler knows that it doesn’t last for long,” said Luke.
“I can honestly say that my Thame fish was the hardest-fighting barbel I’ve ever hooked. The battle was a little hairy, to say the least.
“Then, just to cap it all off, a friend and I decided to have an hour’s barbel fishing on the River Itchen after a very successful day after grayling, and I achieved a very
long-standing goal of catching a real chalk stream barbel.”
Incredibly, the very same barbel that gave Luke his River Thame record also provided a day to remember for Philip Almond when he took part in a match with Cuddesdon Mill Village Anglers Association.
After losing a big barbel within 30 minutes of the beginning of the contest, he stepped up his tackle.
That proved to be the right move as his legered piece of meat was taken by the 16lb 7oz fish along with two chub of 4lb 14oz and 4lb 4oz, which combined to make a winning haul for Philip.
Another amazing week for monster barbel!
Rivers across the UK continue to produce some of the best barbel of 2015, with a host of specimens hitting the bank.
The first, setting a new personal best for the species, fell to Nottingham’s Richard Easom who targeted the middle reaches of the River Trent and got what he was looking for – a 16lb 14oz specimen.
After a biteless four hours, a cast under a tree sent his rig, baited with an 18mm 3 Foot Twitch Dubby boilie, into a deeper hole than any of his previous casts had found.
This proved crucial, as the huge fish took his bait three hours later.
“I set up the camera ready for the pictures and I wasn’t overly excited as I thought it was around 10lb.
“But as I struggled up the bank I was gobsmacked by the sheer width of the fish. I could have put a saddle on her,” Richard said.
“There are rare moments that define you as a specialist angler, and this capture is certainly one of those for me.”
Shaun Harrison also targeted the river and topped a prolific spell with a 14lb 11oz barbel.
He returned to a stretch that hadn’t produced a single bite in two years, but proved why his Quest Baits Questrami boilies are the business when he topped a list of recently-caught doubles to 13lb with the fine specimen.
Moving up to the Severn, Dale Thomas had a session to remember when he set a new river pb.
The dairy herdsman from Hereford arrived at the river at midnight and, after introducing two handfuls of boilies around a snag, didn’t even get the chance to set up his tripod before a 5lb 2oz fish made its way to the net.
He landed a steady stream of fish, including chub, until he struck gold with a 13lb 7oz barbel on a 3 Foot Twitch 18mm boilie.
“I reached down to get the net and wasn’t prepared for this beauty that beat my previous best from the river that stood at 11lb 13oz,” said Dale.
Surrey’s Mike Lyddon had an old stick of Peperami to thank for the capture of his biggest-ever barbel from the Severn at 13lb 6oz.
He travelled to the river in search of zander, but after landing small fish he turned his attentions to barbel and used the popular supermarket offering to great effect with the help of 15lb braid, a braided 15lb hooklink and a size 8 hook.
“I chucked out a couple of single hookbaits and my first fish went 11lb 4oz. This was followed by the big one, and I finished off with a little scamp of 10lb 8oz,” said Mike.
The Hampshire Avon, long a favourite among barbel enthusiasts, saw Lee Chatfield get among the big fish and land a new personal best for the species.
He used a bait dropper to deposit a bed of Sonubaits pellets and broken boilies into a gravel hole between two weedbeds and netted the 13lb 6oz fish after it took a Code Red dumbell boilie.
Leicestershire’s Rob Thompson needed only four hours on a Midlands river to fool barbel weighing 13lb 4oz and 10lb 15oz.
The Korum-backed angler hair-rigged a crushed boilie and used pva bags full of pellets and crushed boilies. This is his fifth different fish over 13lb in a couple of months.
First-class paste delivers 16lb 1oz Thames barbel
Hard work and dedication were key to fanatical angler Luke Ayling banking this superb 16lb 1oz barbel from the River Thames.
The Oxford-based specialist has to fit his angling into a busy schedule due to work and family commitments, but he certainly gets the most out of his fishing, as was proved when the fish took a home-made 26mm boile wrapped in paste.
It was his only bite of the session and the specimen was beaten on 15lb mainline, a coated braid hooklink and a size 4 hook.
“I get to the river by around 9.30pm after work and fish through the night until I have to be home to have a shower and take my daughters to school. Then it’s back to work,” said Luke.
“It can be hard work, but it’s magnificent fish like this that make it all worthwhile.”
Nene giant falls for homemade boilie
Former Drennan Cup champion Jamie Cartwright kicked off his autumn barbel campaign in fine style with this 14lb 7oz barbel.
Fishing a stretch of the River Nene, the Northamptonshire Specimen Group member put his faith in a home-made boilie wrapped in matching paste and it did the trick in a swim which contained an underwater snag.
The Northampton specimen hunter used a running leger rig made with 15lb mainline, a 20lb coated braid hooklink and a size 6 Drennan ESP hook.
“I was really glad that I was using such robust tackle because it put up the best fight I’ve ever encountered from a barbel in a swim that really tested my tackle to the maximum due to the hidden snag that was grating on my mainline,” said Jamie.
To Chris Yates, I dedicate this barbel best…
Adam Fisher dedicated the capture of his new barbel personal best to the legendary Chris Yates when he banked this 12lb 7oz specimen.
Thousands of anglers have been inspired by Chris’s exploits, so you can imagine the honour it was for Adam to have Chris and two of his friends visit a stretch of the river called Seven Sisters, which is controlled by Adam’s company, Angling Dreams.
Inspired by meeting Chris for the first time, he returned to the venue the next day armed with a simple leger rig and a hair-rigged pellet.
“Twenty-five years ago I used to fish Seven Sisters as a schoolboy after reading Casting At The Sun and watching A Passion for Angling and my love for fishing was cemented by Chris.” Adam said. “I felt a real calling to get out fishing the next day after meeting the great man for the first time and within 30 minutes I’d landed a new personal best. It was incredible and I can’t help but think that the fishing gods had something to do with it.”
To find out more about fishing all the stretches controlled by Angling Dreams visit: www.anglingdreams.co.uk
32 barbel in week on River Wye
The Wye upheld its reputation as the UK’s best autum barbel venue with a 200lb-plus catch by Andy Waters.
Wetting a line well away from his Lowestoft, Suffolk, home, he made the draining 260-mile journey to the prolific river for a week’s holiday.
Using a tried-and-tested pellet and groundbait feeder approach, he put a bend in the rod numerous times, finishing his stay with 32 barbel to just shy of 9lb.
All the fish were caught on a rig that incorporated a 15lb Drennan Gravel Braid hooklength to a size 10 Korum Xpert Power hook.
Stunning 17lb 4oz barbel rocks Nene record
The River Nene barbel record has been rocked after Nigel Bryans slipped the net under this stunning 17lb 4oz specimen.
Fishing on an undisclosed stretch of the waterway, the 52-year-old came agonisingly close to breaking the 17lb 8oz venue best that he already holds when the fish fell for a Three Foot Twitch Dubby boilie.
Upon reaching the river, he paced the bank and fed a number of inviting swims before even wetting a line.
“Looking for areas where barbel are likely to feed is something I prefer to do. I was on the hunt for clear and shallow areas where a few fish could hide,” he said.
A few handfuls of bait were fed in each likely spot, before Nigel spotted signs of life in one of his target zones.
“Once I had cast towards the fish, it didn’t take long before the first of the indications started to show. The rod-tip bounced around for a while, which was quickly followed by that classic barbel bite.
“Its first run nearly took me round a bend in the river and I thought I’d have to go downstream to follow it, but I managed to turn its head and gain some line back.
“After a 10-minute scrap, the fish came to the surface. It was a moment of relief to slip it under the net.”
Nigel’s tackle consisted of a 1.75 test curve rod, a reel loaded with braided mainline and a 4ft-long hooklink to a size 10 specimen hook.
The Nene has proved its big-fish credentials on many occasions in recent years, and Nigel thinks that trend will continue.
“I’ve had two other barbel in the 14lb bracket recently and I’ve also seen bigger fish, so I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before the next record is caught,” he said.
Poloni works magic for 15lb 19oz Trent barbel
It was a case of ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ for River Trent regular Mitch Godfrey after he slipped the landing net under this 15lb 10oz barbel.
The 48-year-old from Nottingham tempted the specimen on a legered Bait-Tech Poloni boilie glugged in Poloni Oil, the same tactic he used to land a 16lb 6oz barbel just two weeks ago.
His latest fish came as the sun was setting at the start of a session which also resulted in the capture of a 14lb 8oz barbel, his seventh of the species over 14lb in less than a month’s angling.
Mitch runs an angling guiding service on the River Trent.
Anyone interested in further details can contact him on: mitchgodders@hotmail.co.uk or call 07886 599078.
17lb 4oz barbel in amazing week for species
Rivers have hit peak big barbel form with a string of double-figure fish to 17lb 4oz.
Action stepped up a gear on countless popular venues as water levels rose, and it was Colin Hebb who slipped the net under the biggest barbel from the River Trent.
The Hull angler found his chosen stretch in perfect condition and used two rods with contrasting approaches. One swas baited with a boilie hookbait, while he took a gamble with a lobworm on the other – a wise decision as it turned out.
Just before midnight the alarm screamed into life, and Colin said: “The fish had taken the lobworm and instantly made four powerful runs. In the net it didn’t look that big, but when I lifted it out I realised it was huge.
“I couldn’t believe it when the scales went round to 17lb 4oz – a personal best and a fish that will prove difficult to beat.”
Well-known specialist Phil Smith continued his rich vein of form when he banked one of his biggest ever barbel weighing 16lb 12oz.
A simple running leger rig did the trick for the Coventry rod when the specimen took his hookbait an hour after darkness fell on a river in the Midlands.
“I got to the swim at around 2pm and introduced 10 dumbell boilies into the swim and then a further 10 just before it got dark,” said Phil.
“This is the first time I’ve ever used anything from MAD baits and it really did the trick, as this barbel is right up there with my very best.”
Further south, the River Thames delivered the goods to Adrian Eves when he banked his biggest-ever barbel from the venue.
It went 14lb and came during the Fox and Dynamite Baits-backed angler’s first session of the season. It fell to Crave boilies with a small PVA bag of four baits nicked on to a size 8 hook.
The Surrey specialist also landed a 4lb 14oz chub, which was beaten on a semi-stiff 15lb hooklink.
Bob Edwards took a pair he will never forget from the Hampshire Avon, fish of 12lb 7oz and 14lb 2oz. Having located numerous big barbel, he introduced a few home-made boilies and allowed the shoal to settle before lowering an identical hookbait over the top.
Bright sunshine enabled him to watch a double-figure fish slurp up his bait, and after a tense battle the smaller of the two was beaten.
Just days later he returned, adopted similar tactics and managed to go one better. He said: “I had to wait until dusk before the centrepin came to life and the fish ploughed straight into the weed.
“I applied plenty of pressure and thankfully things went my way and the second of a fantastic brace for the week was soon being held in front of the cameras.”
Korum-backed star Rob Thompson was another man who took advantage of the sudden improvement in conditions.
During three outings in the space of a few days he took six Derwent doubles to a best of 13lb 6oz.
Lesley Winks showed she had lost none of her skills after a 20-year break from the sport when a personal-best 13lb barbel fell to her Dynamite Baits Source boilie on the Warwickshire Avon.
The Birmingham angler’s first night session back bore fruit almost immediately, and she said of the capture: “I knew it was a big fish as it tore off and really tested my rig to the limit.
“I was over the moon once it was in the net and it’s certainly fed my appetite to get on the bank regularly from now on.”
A trial session with a new bait ended in fine style for Julian Barnes when the St Neots angler took a 13lb 7oz barbel from the Great Ouse.
A yet-to-be-released creation from MAD Baits was the offering that proved to be to its liking.
Derwent leads the way for barbel giants
The Derbyshire Derwent continues to demonstrate that northern rivers are fast becoming the go-to fisheries for specimen anglers following the captures of two huge barbel.
Chris Martin notched up a new personal best after landing a huge 16lb 8oz specimen from one of the popular Earl of Harrington’s stretches at Derby.
Feeding broken Mad Baits Pandemic boilies, the 27-year-old targeted a deep swim and got the run he was waiting for after casting out a running lead rig with a hair-rigged boilie.
“I must have cast that bait right on its nose as the line had barely settled when the alarm sounded. The rod nearly went in, it was incredible,” he said.
Scott Birkinshaw slipped his net under a 13lb 6oz specimen, his fourth 13-pounder from the waterway this year. The fish fell to a 14mm halibut pellet on a groundbait feeder rig, also on the Earl of Harrington’s stretch.
16lb ‘demon’ barbel
Colin Hebb took advantage of the Trent’s form when he set a new barbel personal best with this 16lb 2oz fish.
After finding the prolific venue carrying some colour and flow, the 31-year-old market trader used 8oz of lead to hold bottom and hair-rigged two fish-flavoured boilies on a size 6 Fox hook.
His tactics also proved the downfall for four other barbels to 8lb.
“The fish was stuck in a snag for ages, but to my joy finally came free after the lead came off the clip I was using,” said Colin. “It fought like a demon and my arm was almost falling off by the time it came to the net.”
Tiny bait tempts massive fish
70-year quest for barbel comes to an end
Des Taylor made the dreams of an 80-year-old fishing fanatic come true when Bill Hall ended a lifelong quest to catch a barbel.
The Suffolk angler was blown away when his son, Martin, bought him a day out with the Angling Times columnist to celebrate his 80th birthday…and it turned out to be a session he will never forget.
He finally did battle with the species, which had eluded him for over 70 years, when he hooked his first barbel after just half-an-hour of being with Des, who provided him with an action-packed session that produced 12 barbel to 8lb 5oz.
“It’s been my dream to catch a barbel as I’ve had every other coarse fish, game fish and sea fish, but I’ve been all over the country and never had a barbel. They have been my Nemesis,” Bill said.
“When Martin told me he’d got me a day with Des I was blown away and thought if there’s anyone who can get me a barbel, he can. He showed me all of his barbel secrets, and in what felt like just a few minutes my first fish was in the net. It was a special moment and the best day’s fishing I’ve ever had.”
Fishing on the Rowley DAC’s stretch of the River Severn at Coalport, near Ironbridge, Bill fished a straight lead with a hair-rigged boilie over a bed of pellets.
Des has spent hundreds of hours with anglers from all over the UK, but he said that his day with Bill was the most rewarding guiding day he’s ever had.
“It was a true honour to spend a day with Bill, and to see the look on his face when he landed his first barbel is something I’ll always remember,” said Des.
“Bill’s son had bought him a pewter badge of a barbel some years ago and he wouldn’t wear it until he’d caught one.”
Trent prebait pays off with fantastic barbel haul
A two-day prebaiting campaign paid dividends for big-fish angler Mitchell Godfrey, who landed eight big barbel topped by this 14lb 4oz specimen.
The Nottingham-based angling guide fed around four kilos of hemp, a kilo of boilies and a kilo of big pellets into a spot on the River Trent before casting a Bait-Tech Poloni boilie tipped with a PVA bag of half boilies into his swim. Using 10lb mainline and a 12lb Gardner Trickster hooklink tied to a size 6 Kamasan B175 hook, Mitch was into fish from the first cast, landing two other doubles during his overnight session.
17lb Derwent barbel misses river best by just 4oz
A simple groundbait feeder rig has accounted for the capture of one of the biggest barbel of the season in the shape of this 17lb specimen.
Weighing just 4oz shy of a venue record, the huge fish was caught by Eathan Waddington during a short evening session on the River Derwent in Derbyshire.
The 24-year-old from Chaddesden arrived at the Earl of Harrington’s controlled stretch of the waterway in Derby, where he set up an open-ended feeder rig incorporating 15lb mainline and a braided hooklink tied to a size 10 hook.
Filling his feeder with Bait-Tech’s new Poloni groundbait, Eathan had to endure two hours without a bite before the rod-tip wrenched around as the specimen made off with his hair-rigged 14mm halibut pellet hookbait.
“I knew the fish was a big one as it nearly took the rod out of the rests and then stripped loads of line off the reel throughout the fight,” he said.
The capture comes just two weeks after Eathan banked his previous personal best, a specimen weighing 15lb 5oz from the same waterway and again featured in Angling Times.
The current venue record is held by Wayne Hopkinson with his 17lb 4oz specimen caught from the same area of the waterway back in 2013, but despite not taking the honour of catching the Derwent’s biggest barbel, Eathan is still delighted with his prize.
“After catching the 15-pounder I thought it would take me a good few years of hard fishing to beat it, but how wrong I was,” he continued.
“I am over the moon with this fish. It just proves that hard work and dedication to my fishing at least three nights a week has paid off handsomely.”
Third personal best this season
Alfie Naylor beat his barbel personal best for the third time this season with this
15lb 4oz River Trent fish.
The 33-year-old, from Newark, made the most of a two-hour session after work when he legered a boilie in an area he’d been baiting up for some time.
“All my fishing has been done in short sessions, and it really has paid dividends. I just have one fish from a swim and then go home,” said Alfie.
“I don’t think it pays to put too much angling pressure on one spot.”
The 15-pounder was fooled with a Red Ball Plum boilie from 110 Baits.
Barbel famine ends with 14lb specimen
This superb 14lb barbel was certainly worth the wait for Mark Smith on a stretch of the River Nene.
The Peterborough & District Angling Association bailiff had already packed away most of his gear and was only seconds from reeling in his rod when it was almost ripped off the rest by his biggest specimen for two seasons.
His winning hookbait was a Pandemic boilie from Mad Baits, attached to a rig made from 10lb mainline, an 8lb hooklink and a size 10 hook.
“Barbel fishing has been hard work at times this season on the lower Nene, so I had been after chub until I decided to have another go, and I’m glad I did,” he said.
Prebaiting is key to giant river barbel and chub
Some anglers bait their swim and then wait a couple of hours before fishing it, but Oliver Fisher took it to the extreme when he prebaited the Dorset Stour for over a month before taking a 6lb 12oz chub and a 13lb 10oz barbel in quick succession.
The Dorset angler visited the waterway daily to introduce a carpet of pellets into a number of swims, and within less than a week he noticed signs of specimen fish feeding heavily over the spot.
Rather than wet a line for them straight away, he continued prebaiting for more than a fortnight to gain the confidence of the shoal.
“Every time I went to the swim I could see big barbel and chub moving around, but I was determined to hold off,” said Oliver.
“I knew that the longer I waited, the better my chances were of hooking one of these giants.”
A date was pencilled in for his first ambush of the swim, but the day started badly as he was involved a car crash.
Emerging unscathed from the ordeal, he headed to the venue as planned and within five minutes of casting out he was in action.
“I’d anticipated a wait, but the rod bent round almost straight away. I piled on the pressure and a 6lb 12oz chub was soon in the net,” he said.
“Several others to 5lb 12oz came shortly afterwards and I decided to stay a little longer to see what else I could land.”
Having planned to pack up at midnight, it looked as if the rest of the evening would pass without incident but then, shortly before his revised finish time, his rod was almost ripped off the rest.
“I had to dive at the rod to stop it from going in and I instantly knew that it wasn’t a chub.
“It stripped line from the reel and once on the bank my friend said it was the biggest barbel he had ever seen!” he said.
“This is a stretch of the river that produces a lot of blanks so to catch chub and a barbel this big was very special,” he added.
All the fish fell for a leger rig that Oliver made up from 12lb fluorocarbon mainline, a 15lb Korda Dark Matter braided hooklength and a size 8 hook baited with two Elips pellets.
