As anglers, we all have our favourite places to fish, but there are times when either the passion for certain venues fades, or a new target leads us to different waters. However, it can always pay to re-visit old haunts as Paul Harriman found out when he decided to fish on his local River Colne, after not setting foot on its banks for over two years.
The river wasted no time in welcoming him back, as on his very first session, he banked a cracking 15lb 10oz barbel within minutes of casting into the water, smashing his personal best in the process. A triumphant return, which left him wondering why he left it so long since his last visit, where incidentally his previous biggest barbel came from.
THE BEST BARBEL RODS ARE IDEAL FOR CATCHING EVEN THE BIGGEST OF FISH...
"I went to the river with the intention of just baiting up, but took a rod and my gear anyway ad it's not too far from home. I looked in a few swims, but in my head I knew where I wanted to start as it was a swim I had daytime success on a few occasions back in 2023," Paul told us.
"I did see a couple of fish but couldn't quite make them out as the clarity of the water has been really poor, I put that down to pollution and sewage discharge!"
"Once I was in the swim, just upstream of a snag and overhanging willow, I lowered in the rig, with eight pieces of Active Bait Solutions Malarkey Skunk and Garlic paste on a long piece of PVA tape hanging from the hook."
DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT THESE BAITS WHEN FISHING FOR BARBEL...
The bait wasn't in the water long before Paul started to see a few signs of life on his rod tip, and within ten minutes of making the cast, his rod doubled over and he was into a good fish. He had to play the fish hard to prevent it getting under the snaggy tree he was fishing too, making for a hairy few minutes before he started to get the better of the fish.
"Once it broke the surface I saw the size of its head and managed to keep calm, very aware that it was going to be, a completely unexpected PB," he recalled.
It took two attempts to net the fish, which was a real struggle in the flow, and getting it into the 32-inch Drennan Specialist net was a squeeze!
"I took the time to rest the fish in the net whilst setting up my self-take gear, and after a few pictures, rested the fish again for fifteen minutes before letting her go," he said.
In fact, I was paying that much attention to the fish, my net floated off and drifted down river in to a nearside snag," Paul added.
THESE ARE SOME OF THE BEST STRETCHES OF RIVER TO LAND A DOUBLE FIGURE BARBEL.
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