140lb of barbel...on the float!

Robert Mitchell, from Bridgnorth, has fished the River Severn all his life but recently enjoyed his greatest-ever session, landing over 140lb of barbel…on the float!

Rob Mitchell’s catch included 36 barbel on the float

He told Angling Times:

“Armed with nine pints of hemp, 10 tins of meat and my float gear, I ended up catching 36 barbel between 3lb and 6lb. The action was simply amazing as the fish were stacked up in my swim.”

The fish were stacked up and weighed between 3-6lb

Chub also showed

Anyone witnessing Robert’s incredible haul could be forgiven for thinking that the Severn has fished it’s head off this season, but the truth is that many anglers on the river have struggled for action.

Robert believes that this is largely down to people not adapting their approach to suit the conditions that have prevailed for the majority of the past three months. 

He said:

“It’s been very hit-and-miss this season, and I’ve found that using a moving bait has been the key to catching.

“I’ve talked to lots of anglers up and down the river this year and most seem to have been struggling, but they’ve been sat behind static feeder rods. If they switched to using a float rod or rolling meat through the swim I reckon they’d have found a lot more fish.”

Hemp, meat and float tackle is all you need to catch on the Severn