QUICK-HIT sessions don’t come much better than James Denison’s trip to South Yorkshire’s River Don where, in just three hours, he smashed the venue’s barbel record with this 15lb 4oz fish.
Using a centrepin reel, James rolled a chunk of freelined meat in the sluggish flow. After receiving a gentle indication, he looked at the rod-tip to see if the bite would develop… then it hooped round!
After a dour five-minute battle, he finally got a glimpse of the fish, but didn’t realise its true scale until it hit the back of the net. The catch was witnessed by bailiffs, and smashed the old River Don record of 14lb 9oz.
<strong>James Denison – 15lb 4oz barbel</strong>