BIGGEST BARBEL OF THE SEASON
18lb 14oz Trent monster – and river regular says bigger fish are likely
HERE’S the biggest barbel of the season, all 18lb 14oz of it.
It’s a new pb for its captor, Vortex Bait-backed Craig Lander, and came from a middle section of the River Trent in Nottinghamshire.
The 27-year-old from Kirkby-inAshfield began a four-hour session at 7.30pm, casting two rods baited with single and double 20mm Vortex Enzyme Active Squid and Liver boilies wrapped in matching paste into the main flow.
After two hours with nothing to show he recast one of his rods into a deep, downstream margin, and it proved to be a master stroke.
“I knew there was around 11ft of water down there and it’s normally good for a bite, so after introducing 10 chopped boilies into my swim I dropped in my rig,” he said. “Half-an-hour later my margin rod received a sharp tap, I struck, and all hell broke loose.
“Reeling the fish upstream was out of the question, so I walked down the bank, trying to keep in touch with it.
“At one point I lost my footing and fell on my backside into the Trent but the fish soon came to the surface and I could see the hook was only just nicked in the lip… I’m still in shoc.”
Craig returned to the stretch two days later and caught another monster barbel of 16lb 8oz on double 16mm Vortex Baits CKO barrel boilies.
“I’ve had 51 barbel this year – 27 doubles, three 13s, three 14s, a 16 and the big 18. The Trent really is the place for big barbel at the moment,” Craig continued.
Former Nottingham Federation of Anglers bailiff Patrick Clampett has fished the Trent for the last 30 years and caught a number of big barbel from the waterway.
He reckons the river will produce the next British record.
“It’s mostly down to the increase in numbers of people fishing it,” he said.
“More anglers are using boilies and pellets instead of natural baits, which means the barbel are getting the right nutrients and are able to grow to a huge size. “As the weather gets colder the barbel will be looking to feed up for the winter, and that’s when you’ll expect to see your 19lb and 20lb-plus fish being caught.”