With the 2025/26 season now closed, it has given us time to reflect on what was a sensational few months for anglers targeting barbel. With the record falling twice, and big barbel being caught up and down the country, it was only right that the last few days saw some incredible fish banked to end a spectacular season on a high...
Trent giant for Liam Willis
With the closed season approaching, Liam Willis booked a week off work and travelled to the River Trent at Gunthorpe, landing a monster 19lb 10oz barbel.
After settling in an area that he’s had big barbel from in the past, he introduced hemp, pellets and boilies, and topped the swim up every eight hours to try to stir the barbel into feeding.
By the third day of his trip, he had only managed to catch a few small fish, but despite gale force winds and rain he stuck to the plan and introduced a few more kilos of his mix.
Not long later, Liam had a take on flavoured luncheon meat, and after a powerful fight in the main flow, he slipped the net under a fish that looked so big it ‘blew him away’!
THESE ARE THE BEST RODS YOU CAN USE TO TARGET BARBEL...
Stunning Stour barbel banked on the float
With a few days of better conditions, James Hutton had a memorable session, banking this stunning barbel on the float.
"With the rivers being pretty much unfishable for much of this past winter, it was nice to time it right at the end of the season and get a couple of days off work when the conditions were perfect.
“I headed to the Dorset Stour and trotted maggots beneath an 8g Bolo float and landed a 7lb 5oz chub, one of 6lb 7oz and a few smaller ones.
“The next day I returned and this time landed a 16lb barbel plus another chub around 5lb.
“The fight from the barbel was mental on my 15ft Acolyte – it took a good 20 minutes to land with the rod hooped right over at full test curve!”
THESE FLOAT RODS ARE WORTH TAKING A LOOK AT IF YOU LOVE YOUR TROTTING!
Final Trent session ends with pb
Following countless trips through the year, Michal Czadowski headed to the Trent for one final barbel session.
“Just after midnight, my boilie hookbait was taken and a tense fight in the darkness followed. Eventually, a huge barbel surfaced, and I knew it was something really special.
“It weighed exactly 19lb and was an incredible reward that made all of my efforts this season worthwhile.”
Thames brace caps memorable trip
Neil Wayte managed what was his first session on the Thames this spring and made up for lost time in spectacular fashion with a 7lb 12oz chub and this 17lb 2oz barbel.
Neil had to wade down the flooded footpath to a swim he fancied, where he settled in for a two-night session. Fishing around a rodlength out in steady water, he used a 4oz feeder packed with groundbait alongside a 15mm boilie hookbait, which he cast to the edge of the crease below an overhanging bush.
On his first morning, Neil caught the big chub, and on the next night, fishing with a larger, 22mm hookbait, he landed the barbel to complete a memorable trip.
Effort equals reward for Stephen
Since the turn of the year, Stephen Hall has endured eight weeks of blanks in tricky conditions, but when he arrived for a final session on the Trent, he was pleased to see the river level dropping.
Reaching his swim after navigating his way through deep mud, he fed hemp with a bait dropper and fished boilie hookbaits.
At 8pm he received a screaming take and lifted into a big fish that put up a dogged fight in the flow. Eventually, it broke surface, and after such a long period without a bite, he was praying he’d land it safely – which thankfully he did!
