THE Warwickshire Avon barbel record was blown out of sight with the capture of this 17lb 14oz specimen – one of three doubles landed by Birmingham angler Blu Bradley.
He’d arrived to find the river slowly fining down after a flood, and fished a feeder filled with cheesy garlic groundbait alongside a cylinder of meat hair-rigged to a size 8 hook, to quickly find the fish.
After landing a 12lb 2oz barbel in his first swim, he moved to a new spot and landed a decent chub before his rod-tip hammered over once more.
This barbel, which beats the old river record by 1lb 10oz, was weighed on two sets of scales, and Blu then added another of 10lb 4oz to round off what he described as ‘a session that couldn’t have gone any better.’
Blu Bradley – 17lb 14oz barbel