Hold on tight for double figure barbel!

James Champkin’s phone call to his girlfriend came to an abrupt end when his rod lurched round to the savage bite of this 14lb 8oz barbel.

James bagged the big bertie while fishing tight to an overhanging tree on a picturesque stretch of the Hampshire Avon. 

He told Angling Times: “I half stumbled, half rolled down the steep bank while trying to slip on my chest waders. That proved impossible after I’d picked up the rod, so I ditched the waders and walked out into the shallow margins in just my shorts and socks!

“The fight was absolutely mental, but with steady pressure and a tight clutch I managed to scoop up my new pb,” he said.

James’s rig consisted of a 10ins braided hooklength and a double 10mm boilie hookbait.