Finding the Dorset Stour running high and coloured after heavy rain, Ben Fairweather was confident the river’s barbel would be feeding.
He settled into a swim with a large near side slack and used two rods with matching hookbaits. These were 14mm fishmeal boilies, wrapped in Ben’s homemade paste and fished alongside a mesh bag of crushed boilies and crumb. Both baits were dropped onto a crease in the flow, with one downstream of the other. After two hours, the upstream rod burst into life, and Ben hooked a fish that stayed deep and stationary in the flow. The fish made a few bursts downstream before eventually tiring. On the scales, she went 16lb exactly and what a picture to capture the moment.
Well done Ben!