He was on a birthday session with his friend, Tom Kelly, and whilst walking the stetch before that morning, saw two reasonable barbel on a tight bend in the river. Having grabbed some suitable tackle, John returned and saw that they’d been joined by a much bigger fish, so cast out a single pellet below a 2oz lead and fed a few freebies, keeping low all the while.

The barbel start to feed with confidence, and he watched them edge upstream towards his hookbait before seeing his rod tip hammer round. Standing up, John quickly realised that he’d hooked the largest one, and in the shallow and snaggy stretch had an exciting battle before netting it. The fish is John’s biggest-ever barbel, and a particularly welcome result on his birthday.

Well done John!