16lb 8oz barbel landed by angler Chris Gardner over the festive period. Targeting the Hertfordshire’s famous Kings Weir fishery, Chris used a legered 14mm Proper Baits boilie that had been dipped in liquid attractant to fool the recognisable fish with a kinked back.

The River Lea in Essex has produced some monster specimens of all species already this season but now has potentially had its barbel record smashed with a 17lb 11oz fish caught by Robert Dowsett. The potential fish, which is yet to be ratified would beat the rivers previous record by… Read more

Britain’s barbel anglers have ended the year in fine style with yet another week of incredibly large river fish landed – topped off by the biggest reported Trent fish this season at 18lb 8oz. The seasons biggest was caught by angler Matt Hughes during an overnight session on a pressured… Read more

Big boilies were also the successful hookbait for Stuart Taylor’s capture of another 16lb 12oz barbel, this time from the middle reaches of the River Trent.

The remarkable recent run of huge barbel catches shows no signs of stopping as specimen anglers continue to capitalise on one of the best autumns ever for the species. Robin Cave upped his personal best by almost 4lb when he landed a 16lb 12oz cracker on his only bite of… Read more

A trip to the APG Fisheries stretch of the River Trent at Gunthorpe paid off in spades for George Gorst when he slipped the net under the 17lb 2oz monster. The Manchester-based angler usually spends three-four sessions a year fishing Gunthorpe for barbel but struck gold on his first visit… Read more