A match angler has banked a potential record barbel from a northern river while on a trip simply to get him out of the house.
Lancashire angler Allan Howarth has been targeting the barbel on his local River Ribble over lockdown, and on his most recent session this immense fish, weighing 18lb, was banked.
It’s comfortably bigger than the current 15lb 15oz Ribble record, and Allan was delighted to land it.
Allan Howarth and his 18lb Ribble record barbel
“It’s the fish of a lifetime, but I wouldn’t usually be doing this sort of fishing – I’ve just been going to get out the house!” he said.
“It put up a great fight though and took around 20 minutes to land. It was so heavy that it broke the landing net handle!”