THE RECORD BARBEL THAT NEVER WAS, AND ITS LIKING FOR BLACK PUDDING...

ON NOVEMBER 11, 2008, Angling Times broke the news of a new British record barbel following the capture of a 21lb 2oz giant from the River Wensum.

Norfolk angler Chris Mack landed the huge fish, known as ‘The Beast’, on only his second cast of a brief afternoon session on a stretch of river not far from his home at Elsing, near East Dereham. It beat the exisiting record by just an ounce.

What made the capture particularly noteworthy, though, was the unique hookbait that lured the fish – a large chunk of black pudding fresh from Chris’s breakfast plate that morning.

Unfortunately, the following week it was confirmed that the record could not be claimed due to a lack of independent witnesses. So it became the record that never was, and the home of the British barbel record remained the Adam’s Mill section of the Great Ouse.