Meat tempts huge Kennet barbel
Paul Rogers proved the pulling power of luncheon meat when he banked this 16lb 14oz barbel.
The Reading specialist only needed a couple of hours on the River Kennet to beat his barbel personal best with a size 16 hook.
It comes hot on the heels of the capture of a 16lb 8oz barbel after returning to the Lea in Hertfordshire – a river that he hadn’t fished for 44 years.
“The bite only registered as a couple of clicks on my centrepin and I thought it was a chub until I got it under the rod and then it pulled the rod right around…its power was immense,” Paul told Angling Times. “I had a 30-inch pan net and it was difficult to get the head and tail in.”
Paul used a simple leger rig made from 12lb mainline and a 2ft hooklink and his new personal best took a 10mm piece of meat.
His impressive specimen came from a Reading & District Angling Association stretch of the river. “To have caught two 16lb-plus barbel from two different rivers is a great achievement for me,” Paul said.
“Meat is such a great winter bait and you don’t have to feed lots of bait either,” Paul added.
“At this time of the year I really want the fish to pick up my hookbait quickly. The odds of this happening are much higher by fishing like I did.”