“Targeting the barbel in the Old River Lea early in the season can be tricky, as these big old fish have seen it all before. Location is everything, so after several days of searching I targeted a swim where I’d seen a few barbel flank on my prebait offerings.
“After using a bait dropper to deposit a large bed of loosefeed, I waited an hour for the swim to settle and the barbel’s confidence to grow. I was using 15lb fluorocarbon mainline and a heavy lead and backlead – which are essential to pin everything down on such a tiny river – plus a strong size 8 Talon Tip hook.
“A few minutes after I lowered in my hookbait with a large PVA bag of mixed pellets attached, the rod-tip trembled and then was wrenched round as a barbel headed towards the snags. After a few hair-raising moments, she was safely in the net, where I left her to rest for a little while – a beautiful, long, summer monster!”
