TERRIFIC THAMES
England’s longest river knocks the Trent off top spot with spectacular catch action
AFTER a run of four wins on the bounce, the River Trent has finally been knocked off the top spot by the River Thames – winner of the 2018 Angling Times River of the Year Award.
England’s longest river has deservedly claimed the title after an astonishing season of catches which have included near-record barbel, exceptionally large carp, consistently big chub and countless other specimen fish caught from the 215-mile-long waterway.
Barbel have been a key species when it comes to highlighting the quality of the fishing on the Thames, and this year fish around the 20lb mark have been landed.
At the start of November, Angling Times reported a colossal barbel of 19lb 11oz caught by Essex angler Paul Faint.
The big bertie was caught from a notoriously difficult stretch, which made experts wonder if the next record would be about to fall on the Thames.
While threatening national records, the river also saw one of its own records tumble when Nick Helleur smashed the carp record with a truly beautiful 50lb 12oz mirror, the first authenticated Thames ‘fifty’.
Nick’s record fish was caught from his cabin cruiser on the middle river and fought so hard it pulled the boat from its anchor.
Numerous other big carp catches have come from the Thames, a river that sees some of the country’s most respected carpers grace its banks in search of these nomadic river monsters.
A species often tempted by anglers in pursuit of Thames carp is the chub, and there have been an incredible number of big fish reported this year.
One such capture was reported, once again in November, by carper Adam Spiller, who caught two 7lbplus chub to a whopping 7lb 14oz on his carp rods. Venue regulars Neil Wayte and Roman Sivak know the Thames inside out and have both had success targeting these big chub with fish over 7lb, as well as some mid-double-figure barbel.
The river has long had a reputation for big perch, and this year has seen the trend continue with stripeys over 3lb. There have even been 4lb-plus fish from the Thames and its tributaries.
Some superb match weights have also been recorded.
Angling Times river ace Dave Harrell had a memorable day at Reading in September, bagging a 135lb net of bream.
Remarkably, this claimed only