Is this Britain's best barbel venue?
The River Trent is well-known for its double-figure barbel – but Gunthorpe Lock Fishery manager Ian Potts reckons his pegs offer ‘the best barbel sport in the land.’
The passionate Trent angler backed up this big claim recently with a remarkable catch from the area known as ‘The Island’ – where he landed no fewer than 33 barbel, 20 of which were in double figures.
Of these, four were between 10lb and 11lb, eight were between 11lb and 12lb and another eight were over 12lb – with a 14lb 7oz giant topping the lot.
Ian told Angling Times: “There are several reasons why there are so many big barbel at our fishery.
“We have a big weir here, which produces lots of natural food for the fish. And with the good flow the weir provides we have barbel that use a lot of energy day to day – this means they need to feed more.
“The habitat elsewhere on the stretch is perfect too, with fast gravel runs, deep water,s nags and weed beds. That means the fish don’t have to travel far to find safety, a source of food or somewhere to spawn.
“Perhaps the biggest factor that makes this fishery so good, though, is the amount of anglers’ bait that has gone in over the last few years.
“This, no doubt, is helping the fish pack on the pounds.”
Ian’s catch came on Vortex Baits CKO Hydro Shrimp bolilies presented on Hybrid Tackle hooks with a PVA bag of freebies attached every cast. He recommends fishing the Trent at night, which is prime bite time.
This isn’t the only stretch of the Trent producing big catches of barbel, though – as proved by Paul Mersh.
On a recent trip to an undisclosed weir on the river he took 25 fish in just 12 hours. The catch included five of 12lb-plus, two 13lb-plus barbel and two over 14lb fish. He described the session as “simply awesome”.
Paul’s fish, like Ian’s, fell to boilies, but this time from Flaming Further. Paul presented them on a hair two at a time and wrapped in a big ball of paste.
These were cast 80-100 yards into the weir with approximately three kilos of freebies.