A trip to the Warwickshire Avon paid off in style for Gloucestershire angler James Benfield, who landed this 17lb 6oz fish alongside two other doubles. Usually, James fishes the lower Severn – which is incidentally the venue he caught his 21lb 5oz British Record zander from – but on this… Read more

A session on a flooded River Lea resulted in this superb 18lb 4oz barbel for in-form angler Dave Robinson. The Suffolk rod hit the river after heavy rain and employed his tried and trusted approach of roving with big cubes of luncheon meat, fished on 15lb fluorocarbon hooklinks and size… Read more

Not long ago, barbel fanatic George Cornwell banked a new barbel PB at 15lb 7oz from the Hampshire Avon. Well, he’s gone and smashed that fish out the park with this 17lb 2oz beauty. It was caught from the same venue and fell to a paste-wrapped boilie fished alongside a… Read more

Britain has been battered by various storms during the last few months of 2023, and as a result, some perfect big-barbel conditions had been kicked up. Two-time Drennan Cup champion Simon Daley was well aware of that and headed to the Thames as a low-pressure front rolled in with storm… Read more

Although the Kennet isn’t the premier barbel river it was once was, it still holds some superb fish, as George Batsford proved with this 17lb 6oz specimen. The Reading angler arrived at first light, keen to get out after some recent rain. He’d fished a few swims but struggled with… Read more

Chris Wilkes came within 6oz of beating his barbel best, although he didn’t mind one bit, after landing this 17lb 10oz fish. It was caught from the lower Severn, which Chris found to be carrying lots of extra water. Given the conditons, he opted for a large piece of meat… Read more