Barbel are well known for their aggressive takes and ripping rods of its rest but that isn’t always the case, as Stewart Rogers found with this 16lb 9oz Hampshire Avon specimen.
The fish was landed by Ringwood angler Stewart, who’s recently turned his attentions to rivers after years of targeting carp. His target for the season was a double figure barbel, and having landed a few earlier this year, he was keen to better that. It’s safe to say he smashed his target, with this 16lb 8oz fish that gave him an incredibly slow bite, but as soon as Steward picked the rod up, he knew he was into a heavy fish. It smashes his PB, and was caught on a 20mm glugged krill boilie, fished alongside a small bag of crumb over a scattering of pellets and boilies.
Well done Stewart!