Over 20 sessions and 100 hours on the bank were what it took for Duncan Hayward to land his second Thames barbel of the season – but his persistence paid off when it sent the needle of his scales spinning round to 19lb 4oz!
The Surrey angler was targeting a stretch where he’s had success in the past, but where the fishing is never easy.
He’d endured some brutal trips in the build-up, facing everything from hordes of mosquitoes to rats running over him – but he was rewarded when the huge barbel slipped up to his boilie hookbait fished snowman- style, wrapped in a homemade paste containing crushed water snails and swan mussels.
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