Record barbel
on last day of the season!
A RECORD-BREAKING barbel was just one of the highlights in an impressive list of catches that closed out what was a memorable river season.
The Angling Times headquarters was flooded with amazing catches from running water as anglers plundered the nation’s waterways before the 2016/17 drew to a close – and one of those was Jonathan Frisby who banked a River Dearne record with a 15lb 13oz barbel.
It was only the second time that he’d fished the stretch which produced the barbel, that beats the previous record of 15lb 4oz and he induced the bite with a legered piece of garlic Spam.
“I cast out and was checking out the wildlife when the rod just slammed over and I was in straight away,” said Jonathan.
“As soon as I saw the barbel I thought to myself ‘you can’t loose this’. I knew I had a new ‘pb’.
The last day of the season was one to remember for Korum’s Gary Knowles when a huge 4lb 2oz perch took his tiny lure just two feet from the bank.
He was fishing a small midlands river with a 1.5 inch lure on a 3 gram size 4 jig head, which he worked very slowly across the bottom of the venue.
Waiting a couple more minutes before packing up and going home proved to be the smartest move Bob Edwards has made for a while after it landed a 14lb 9oz barbel.
Bob targeted a section of the River Rother for its elusive barbel and cast a homemade boilie wrapped in paste into a promising near-bank depression.
A career-long quest to catch a 7lb plus chub finally ended for Adam Perna when he slipped the net under this 7lb 1oz specimen.
The Oxfordshire angler spent 15 hours roving a stretch of the River Great Ouse before finally receiving the take he was waiting for just before midnight when the giant fish took a liking for his Blakes Baits 18mm Frank ‘N’ Indian dumbell boilie wrapped in paste.
Andy Childs landed five specimen chub topped by this 7lb 1oz monster. The 68-year-old, fished a snaggy swim on the River Lea at Fishers Green and took all five fish over a 10-hour period.
Andy trotted red maggots on a rig consisting of a 3 SSG Dave Harrell waggler along with 4lb Drrennan Supplex line and a size 18 Super Specialist hook.
River Trent regular Mitch Godfrey enjoyed a final river fishing season trip to remember when he netted four doublefigure barbel topped by this 14lb 14oz specimen. After being plagued by bream during previous trips, the Nottinghambased angler decided to go big by using 18mm Bait-Tech Triple N boilies on the hook.
Warren Hammond came close to landing his 10th chub over 7lb-plus chub with the capture of this 6lb 15oz 8dr specimen from the River Stour. The fish, along with four other chub including another 6lb-plus example, fell to trotted maggots on a stretch of the Dorset venue.
Lure fishing fanatic Lee Coupe ended his campaign on a high by netting a 10lb 5oz Trent zander. The Nottingham based rod was using a Savage Gear 3D Bleak lure mounted on a light, standup jig head.