Thames is the best bet for three new record fish - Keith Arthur
Those that know far more than I on the matter have been saying the perch record is under pressure for a few years now. In fact it could go before you read this but if it doesn’t, and if I was a bookie there would be very short odds on the stripey being replaced.
The 6lb 3oz current record has been challenged a few times in 2019, including by a Thames fish that weighed a genuine 6lb 1oz. Not many know where it was caught but if it is caught again before March it will be heavier. Whether the next (or same!) angler who nets it will divulge the details is a different matter. In fact, that could already be the case.
It could be from a section close to where I thought the record barbel would be captured and, indeed, still may be. There are a couple of potential record barbel and definitely several stripeys on course to conquer.
Similarly, a record chub from the Thames wouldn’t be a shock, and I think it may well come from the Thames. I have definite reports of fish within a few ounces of the old Fishers Green fish of 9lb 5oz. Thankfully at the moment it would seem like the threat of a carp angler catching a ‘nuisance’ double-figure chub from a carp syndicate seems to have died off, unless, of course it has already happened but the captor doesn’t care or the fishery has a no publicity rule. We live in weird times, not only politically but piscatorially too.
British record barbel - the full story...
THE BRITISH barbel record has been beaten following the capture of a 21lb 2oz giant.
Self-confessed pleasure angler Colin Smithson, who banked the fish from an undisclosed river in Sussex, revealed that he ‘almost drove into a ditch’ when a friend told him that he had just beaten the national best for the species.
The fish beats the old record, set by Grahame King with a fish from the Great Ouse in 2006, by just 1oz, and was taken during a short afternoon session on a club-owned stretch of river.
Colin (60), who retired last year, revealed how the capture was just reward for the countless blank hours he had spent on the tricky, low-stock waterway over the past 15 years.
“It’s a difficult river. You could go every day for three months and not catch a fish, so this one has been a long time coming,” said Colin, who caught the fish on November 7.
“On the afternoon that I caught it, the conditions were brilliant. The river was 3ft up and coloured, and still rising steadily. I fished the swim for an hour then introduced some sticky groundbait on the crease line of a marginal slack to put down a scent trail.
“After an hour or so a big mirror carp rolled in front of me and sent up a sheet of bubbles from my spot. After a while I called my daughter and said ‘I’m going to give it another 25 minutes as I think something might happen’… and it certainly did!”
When he got the bite, Colin presumed he was playing the big carp he’d seen roll earlier, and it wasn’t until the back-end of the fight that his opinion changed.
He said: “The tip went knock, knock, bang! And my first thought was ‘I’ve got that carp on’. The fish it was doing big loops around the swim, making really strong runs. When I finally got it to the surface I could only see its back, and at first I thought ‘Wow, it’s actually a common carp!”
“Things then got scary when it snagged me under the bank. I got it moving again, and when it hit the surface a second time I could see it was a barbel. My heart started pounding as it again dived for the same snag, but it all came good in the end!”
Colin’s catch was photographed and weighed in the presence of other club members, before being released. But it wasn’t until he was on his way home that Colin learned the significance of his capture.
“I thought that I had smashed the club record. When I told my friend Bradley Hughes the weight, he replied: ‘That’s not just a club record!’ At that point I almost put my car in the ditch! The next day I contacted the British Record Fish Committee and got the process going.”
The remarkable catch also evoked poignant emotions for Colin, as he revealed.
“I want to dedicate this catch to my brother Roy, who died a couple months ago aged 63. He lived for fishing and was a National disabled fishing champion. When I got the fish in the net I looked up at the sky and said: ‘I don’t know if that was you, but thanks Roy’. He would have loved to see this fish. It’s an incredible creature and I’m a very happy man – my Mount Everest has been climbed.”
The fish fell to a hair rigged pellet on a size 10 hook on an 8lb hooklink attached to a Banjo feeder, a pattern which Colin believes holds bottom well on rivers. He beat it using a 1.75lb Shimano Vengeance rod and a 6000-sized reel loaded with 15lb mainline.
High water keeping barbel feeding despite the cold
DESPITE freezing temperatures barbel anglers have been hitting the banks in their droves in search of a new personal best.
Here are three recent barbel reports to inspire you to get the rods out…
Dariusz Prech 16lb 15oz barbel
Scunthorpe-based angler Dariusz Prech braved unsavoury conditions on the tidal River Trent to bank his biggest barbel ever at 16lb 15oz.
Targeting an area of slack water Dariusz opted for a maggot approach and fished four grubs on the hook in conjunction with a cage feeder loaded with spicy pellets and a shrimp and krill groundbait.
He said: “The fish was very strong, and the fight took about 10 minutes as it tried to get away in the strong flow.”
Mitch Godfrey 15lb 1oz barbel
Perseverance was key in the capture of this 15lb 1oz chunk for Mitch Godfrey who fished all day to finally receive a take whilst he was packing up.
The Nottingham-based rod targeted his local River Trent and lowered two 10mm Bait-Tech Krill and Tuna boilies into a crease behind a tree in hope of a take.
He said: “Considering the cold the fish put up a superb scrap and there were a few twitchy moments as it rubbed around a snag but a very welcome 15lb 1oz barbel eventually made it to the net.”
Paul Potter 14lb 2oz barbel
Barbel fanatic Paul Potter continued his superb run of form on the Dorset Stour when he slipped his net under a 14lb 2oz specimen during a recent evening trip.
He told Angling Times: “This barbel is possibly one of the most stunning 14 pounders I have ever caught.
“A simple change in winds from North to South East also brought the air and water temperatures up a touch and got them on the feed.”
Paul used a Hook Bait Company Spicy Fish Pro boilie to help temp the barbel.
Middle Severn on fire for double figure barbel
WHILST some anglers may have been put off by the high coloured water and cold conditions this past week, Robert Mitchell headed out to his local River Severn and was rewarded with a fine brace of double figure barbel.
Fishing with 15mm Catalyst boilies on a middle section of the Midlands river, Robert banked specimens of 10lb 6oz and 11lb 1oz - not bad for November!
He told Angling Times: “The river is very fishable at the moment and in a couple days will be perfect for chub, which are a popular target for Severn anglers in the colder months.
“With the water temperature at 9.3 degrees, the barbel are still worth trying for too.”
Rob fished his rigs over a bed of 2mm/4mm pellets and presented his boilie hookbait on a simple running rig made up of Bank Tackle components.
