Blu Bradley recently enjoyed a memorable few nights on the Warwickshire Avon, during which he landed eight barbel, topped by this thickset 16lb 4oz fish.
He added two other ‘doubles’, but the sixteen-pounder stole the show for the Midlands angler, who was fishing the stretch at Manor Farm Leisure. A double 8mm pellet hookbait was Blu’s successful offering, and he fed a mixture of soaked 6mm and 8mm baits little-and-often, as well as nicking a PVA bag of 4mm pellets and chopped boilies onto his hook before each cast.
Having caught a few chub and smaller barbel, he had the take from the 16lb fish shortly before 11pm, following which it buried itself in some weed.
However, Blu gave it some line, the barbel swam out, and after a battle lasting around five minutes, it lay in the net.
THESE TOP BARBEL TIPS WILL HELP YOU CATCH MORE OF THESE IMPRESSIVE FISH.
While fishing on the River Trent the other morning, Mark Knight caught this 16lb 3oz barbel, just beating his previous PB by an ounce.
“It fell to a dumbell boilie which I’d cast into a deep hole alongside a PVA bag of five freebies."
“I added another barbel of 13lb 8oz in what was a great session on a tough stretch."
“During the fight with the 16-pounder it snagged me, and that got the heart pumping, because I’d seen the size of it!”
THE BEST BARBEL RODS WILL HELP YOU LAND BIG BARBEL FROM SNAGGY SWIMS!
During a session on the River Colne, Naylor Mckinnon caught this barbel weighing 16lb exactly.
“I was fishing a 12mm Robin Red pellet when I had a sudden take and lifted into the fish."
“It held deep during the fight, and I had to take my time before it eventually tired. Finally, I was able to land what is a special fish from this small river.”
IF YOU HAVE NEVER CAUGHT A BARBEL, HAVE A LOOK AT OUR BEGINNERS GUIDE...
Kev Clark has been fishing the lower River Severn lately and, when the rain finally arrived, he settled into an area that had received a bit of bait. Kev knew this to be the case, as it’s fished by match anglers.
“I felt that the barbel would therefore have a reason to patrol the stretch, and my instincts were justified on my first night when the rod tore off, with a modest barbel on the end.
“I returned the following Friday with some prototype 4mm pellets from Fjuka and baited the swim with 3kg of them.
“Fishing two rods over the top with paste-wrapped boilies, I landed over 80lb of bream before the rod tore off to the bite of what was clearly a big barbel.
“Following a lengthy battle, I slipped my new personal best into the net.”
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ONE OF THE BEST FISHING BIVVIES IF YOU ARE NIGHT FISHING.
On a recent sunny day on the Avon, with some heavy downpours between the bright spells, Joe Manning decided to try a new swim on the river.
“To my surprise, before too long the rod bent right round after an aggressive take, and I was attached to a powerful fish.
“It gave me a great fight, during which I had to steer it away from trouble several times, before I finally managed to land it. A luncheon meat hookbait did the trick.”
DON'T GO BARBEL FISHING WITHOUT A SELECTION OF THESE AWESOME BAITS.
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