The biggest barbel ever reported in the British Isles has just be en caught, weighing in at an incredible 22lb 1oz. It was banked by James Crosby, and adds a whopping 15oz to the existing record, taken by Colin Smithson five years ago from a Sussex river.
Fittingly, it was caught from the Kings Weir Fishery on the River Lea – a venue that was fished by Izaak Walton back in the 17th Century and was a favourite haunt of legendary barbel angler, Fred Crouch.
Over the past few seasons, the stretch has produced huge barbel almost every week. So although James’ fish is the first ‘twenty’ to come from the venue, he wasn’t entirely surprised to see such a
gigantic specimen.
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“We thought that a record was on the cards down here,” James told us.
“Andy Tredgett, who runs the place, keeps a log of all the fish that are caught. It’s believed that this one hasn’t seen the bank for two years. As we know, barbel move about, so this fish could’ve gone all the way
down from Kings Weir, past Fishers Green, and spent time fattening up in the Relief Channel, before heading back up and being caught by me!”
There was a touch of good fortune in the capture, as numerous factors fell into place for James.
“I’d had a horrendous day at work and had finished late,” he told us.
“While driving back, I saw that conditions were spot-on for a big barbel, with mild weather, low air
pressure, and the river in great nick. I knew I had to go fishing , and when I got home, it turned out that my wife had changed her plans too, so I was free to go out!”
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After knocking up a few sandwiches and filling a flask with tea, James was soon out of the door, but said he expected to be greeted by a full car park at the fishery.
“I couldn’t believe it when I pulled up – I was the only one on the members’ stretch!” he revealed.
“There were a few anglers in the weir, but I had the rest of it to myself.”
Heading down to the bottom of the length, James planned on working his way back up, spending no more than 45 minutes in each swim.
“I’d had no signs in the first two spots, but in the third I felt my fortunes might change,” he explained.
“It was an area that had produced a few fish already this season.”
After casting out a boilie hookbait wrapped in homemade paste, James poured himself a cup of tea and sat back, revelling in the anticipation that often comes when fishing under such perfect conditions.
“I’d flicked the radio quietly on and was listening to the Test match when I had a few taps on the rod,” he told us.
“As often happens with barbel on small rivers, things then went from zero to one hundred miles an hour in no time at all, as the rod absolutely buckled over!”
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James’ 2.25lb tc Martin Bowler Big River Barbel Rod felt the full force of a powerful fish, which he played hard to keep away from the snags.
“From the headshakes I knew that it was a good fish, but after bringing it upriver I had it under control and in the net, where it rested for 10 minutes while I tried to calm down” he said.
“It was a long fish, but the width of it blew me away. It looked like a mid-twenty carp across the back – I could hardly get my hand over it!"
“It was fat too, but I reckon it still has the potential to put on more weight before the end of the season.”
James soon called Andy Tredgett, who promptly came down to weigh and witness the fish.
“The digital scales slammed straight round to 22lb 1oz, and we knew that something special had happened,” James added.
“Andy’s wife Loretta, who runs the stretch jointly, also came down to see, as did Nash’s Oli Davies, who helped with the pictures."
“We weighed the fish on a second set of scales, which gave the same reading.”
Rig-wise, James used a semi-fixed lead and a fluorocarbon hooklink measuring around 18ins long. On his mainline above this, he added a backlead to keep everything pinned out of the way of the fish on this
highly-pressured stretch.
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