PB Avon barbel strikes whilst packing up - Craig Colston

“FOR six hours I fished on a low and clear Warwickshire Avon in the pouring rain without so much as a knock.

“There was hardly any flow to the river either, and I didn’t fancy my chances of a barbel. Before I started packing up I recast my downstream rod, which had a luncheon meat hookbait, to a new spot a little further down the peg.

“A few minutes later the rod bent double and after hooking into the fish it took me two pegs downstream and under a tree before I could really do anything about it!

“Understandably I was delighted with the fish, which was a new PB for me and such a rare fish these days for the Warwickshire Avon.

Craig Colston and his 14lb 1oz barbel from the Warwickshire Avon