Is this the biggest ever barbel to be caught on the pole?

MATCH angler Brent Wilkes landed possibly the largest barbel ever taken on a pole when he netted this 14lb 14oz brute during a five-hour contest.

Brent’s 14lb 4oz barbel – best ever on a pole?

The 32-year-old told us his hollow elastic was ‘stretched to breaking point’ throughout the tense 15-minute battle on a flooded Bidford AC stretch of the Warwickshire Avon – which ultimately forced him to get off his box and travel downriver to keep himself in the fight!

He said:

“It was so powerful I had no choice but to head downstream with my pole and net in hand. I’d been snapped off by a barbel early on in the match so I was determined not to lose this one!”

With just a couple of minutes to go until the final whistle, Brent finally shuffled his prize into his 20ins net where he realised just how big it was.

“During the fight it only looked to be about 8lb, but when I saw its head and tail sticking out either side of the net I knew I had a true barbel of a lifetime,” he added.
“I’ve had carp and pike over 20lb on the pole before although this barbel gave me the best scrap – my arms were aching for hours afterwards!
“I’d have thought 5lb-6lb would’ve won the match judging by the conditions, but a boulder in my peg created an area of slack water where I reckoned I could have banked a big bream or barbel.
“Luckily the tactic paid off and the barbel added to a few roach I’d caught for me to take the win with 15lb 14oz.”

Brent’s new barbel best fell to a whole lobworm fished via a pole feeder rig over a bed of casters, chopped worm and groundbait.