ALTHOUGH our larger rivers mostly steal the headlines for barbel, some tiny waterways are home to remarkably big fish, as this 16lb 6oz cracker proves.
It was caught by Roger O’Malley from Staffordshire’s diminutive River Anker, a tributary of the River Tame which flows into the Trent. The fish is believed to be a new venue record, beating a 16lb 2oz fish caught in 2020.
Roger had the fish on a piece of luncheon meat, fished on 10lb line straight through to a size 5 hook.
“The Anker is a small river with only a few barbel, so I waited until there was a little extra flow and colour in the river before starting this year’s campaign,” he said.
“I had this fish on just my second session. Initially I suspected that it might be a chub, but when it stormed 30yds upriver, I was in no doubt what I’d hooked!”
