PB Barbel

I never realised quite how much rain we’d had until I surveyed my Riverfest peg on the Trent at Collingham on Wednesday. It was absolutely tanking through! A very heavy feeder for barbel was the only realistic option to qualify. Believe it or not, I’d never actually caught a big river barbel on the feeder before. It’s just not something I do. My best barbel up to today was a 9lber on the pole at Evesham.

Lee Wright was below me and reckoned we were potentially just fishing for two bites. Well I had bite number one after two hours, a stunning 11lb 10oz PB barbel! A quick call to the bailiff and it was swiftly weighed and returned. Bite number two was sadly only on for 10 seconds and despite extra strong gear I still came back with half a hooklength. A little bit gutted as the peg above me was 6th in the match with three barbel for 20lb and 16lb won the section, but still happy to have caught a double-figure whisker.

Well done John Urruty who won our zone with 37lb and Steve Winter who won the match with 43lb and I was really pleased to see Paul Cannon get the third qualifying spot with 24lb.

I knew I’d be out of my comfort zone, so I was made up to catch a decent fish and came away with a much greater understanding and appreciation of this demanding style of fishing. I’d still rather watch a float, but it’s a huge adrenaline rush when the quivertip whacks around.