Blu Bradley recently enjoyed a session to remember on the Warwickshire Avon, in which he landed eight barbel over two nights, topped by this 16lb 4oz fish. He added two other ‘doubles’, but the sixteen-pounder stole the show for the midlands -based angler, who was fishing the stretch at Manor… Read more

A few years ago, one barbel on the tidal Trent caught Justin Stoddart’s eye, and after years of dreaming about catching the fish, he recently slipped the net under the specimen at a weight of 17lb 9oz and what a photo to match such an impressive specimen. It fell to… Read more

Due to his local rivers running low and clear, Mark Erdwin had been holding back from targeting barbel so far this season. But with recent heavy rain and dropping temperatures, he ventured to the River Loddon and landed this superb 17lb 7oz specimen. It fell to a homemade dumbbell boilie,… Read more

Having enjoyed the session of a lifetime on the River Lea, Julian Barnes didn’t wait long before going one better, this time landing a 19lb 8oz barbel alongside others of 17lb 10oz and 13lb 1oz. The nineteen-pounder is the biggest reported so far this season and follows hot on the… Read more

With most big roach on the River Trent caught by barbel anglers these days, Martin Abonyi has been targeting the species with scaled-down feeder tactics this season, using small pellets on the hook, and had great success. Over the past three weeks he’s landed a hat-trick of two-pounders, the biggest… Read more

Many anglers fish for a lifetime without laying hands on a 16lb barbel, but on Lee Edmond-Hiett’s very first session for the species, he caught this fish of 16lb 8oz! It’s his first-ever barbel and was caught from the River Itchen, Southampton, on a cheesy garlic dumbbell. With the river… Read more