Barbel continue to flood in...

WHAT a start to the year it has been for barbel anglers across the country. High, coloured water has put the species hard on the feed and they are at peak weight. Here are some of the best recent catches…

Adrian Garside 16lb 10oz barbel

BARBEL fanatic Adrian Garside told Angling Times the capture of a 16lb 10oz fish was the greatest belated Christmas present he could’ve asked for.

The 50-year-old endured a bite-less night of fishing on his club’s stretch of the Middle Trent but at 8am his alarm finally sprang into life just as he was packing away.

He said:

“It took line several times but eventually I gained control, managed to get the fish’s head up and after hitting the surface it thankfully went straight into my net at the first time of asking.”

Adrian’s successful rig included a single dumbbell hookbait fished alongside an 8oz feeder packed with dampened pellets.

Stephen Dalby 15lb 15oz barbel

“EVERYTIME you cast into the Trent you just never know what you’re going to catch next”

– said Stephen Dalby who’s just banked a 15lb 15oz barbel from his favourite river.

Pinning his hopes on a fast-running length of the tidal waterway, the experienced barbel angler fished a heavy 10oz gripper lead and a single VORTEX CKO-flavour cocoon hookbait into the main flow to draw a response.

“Pity it was just 3oz short of my PB, but that’s fishing!” He said.

Duane McClymont 15lb 10oz barbel

A two-and-a-half-hour Boxing Day drive to the River Trent paid off in style for Duane McCymont, who banked this lean 15lb 10oz barbel.

Arriving at the river at 11am, it wasn’t until the sun set that the big barbel was hooked on a boilie.

“I used a semi-fixed rig with a three-foot Kryston Supermantis hooklength down to a size 7 hook,” Duane said.

“A small PVA bag filled with pellet, hemp and matching boilies completed the setup.”