Barbel don’t come much better looking than this long and lean specimen from the River Derwent, landed by local angler Koi Croydon.
At 17lb 12oz, it’s the biggest ever reported from the venue, beating the current 17lb 4oz record.
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Koi, who lives locally, religiously checks the river levels and, noticing there was plenty of water on, made his way to the venue.
Usually, he likes to introduce plenty of feed, but given the conditions, he instead opted for a large, high-attraction pellet hookbait, wrapped in paste. This was cast under an overhanging tree and, by using a 3oz lead that just held bottom, he allowed his hookbait to trundle under before settling.
The fish gave a typically savage bite and put up a great fight in the feature-filled river before Koi slipped the net under it.
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