Epping angler Carl Twaites has spent many years targeting the species, travelling all over the country in search of them. His longstanding PB had been a fish of 14lb 8oz, but with dreams of a giant, he headed to a club water on the River Lea in the dying days of the season.

He told us “I can’t believe what happened. With a few days holiday leftover, I headed to the river, and the on my first session, I hadn’t had a touch until 5pm, when my centrepin screamed off. The fish took 10 yards of line, but I was using heavy tackle, so could apply some pressure and eventually had the barbel in front of me.

When I saw it rise to the surface, I was shocked. My mate and I have often talked about what a 20lb barbel would look like in the flesh, and seeing the scale of this fish was phenomenal. It weighed 21lb 4oz, and after releasing it, we packed up!”

Carl wasn’t done yet though, as a few days later he returned, this time on his own, and went one better. “I was fishing the next swim down and, just 15 minutes after casting out, my centrepin screamed off again, although this time the fish was even bigger, weighing 21lb 12oz,” he revealed. “This one was longer than the first – its dorsal fin was the size of my centrepin!

“There was nobody on the bank to take a picture of me with it, but to be honest, I didn’t mind. I grabbed a quick shot of it on the mat and slipped it back. Afterwards, I went home and told the missus about what had happened, trying to convey the significance of what had happened, but she wasn’t interested!” Carl joked. A luncheon meat hookbait, fished on a combi-rig alongside a PVA stringer with a few freebies attached, produced both bites.