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At around three o’clock the upstream rod, silhouetted against the overcast sky having sat motionless all day dipped once and then tried to drown itself as the tip wrenched over. “Only one thing that could be,” I thought as I struck into an alarmingly solid resistance. BARBEL!! Unlike the other two smaller Barbel I had caught on my last visit to the royalty, this fish did not roar off downstream, but just sat there. To begin with I thought it must be snagged, then it kicked and I thought it may be a chub (one of which I’d caught earlier on the downstream rod of 4.05 lbs) caught around some weed. Then it decided to move off downstream taking line from an already tight clutch and it dawned on me that I might be attached to a half decent Barbel.
Luckily it moved down into a large pool that was relatively weed free but still the fish hung well down in the deep water (around twelve foot). At this point I was joined by another angler as well as a friend, Terry, who I was fishing with. Terry has taught me to fish from the age of about four so was a great calming influence. The other guy, however, was a different matter. As we saw a flash of colour it confirmed the fish was a Barbel, and not a bad one at that. “cor that’s a bloody good fish,” exclaims this bloke “a double at least!” cheers mate, I thought, just what I need to hear. Then as it surfaced for the first time we got a good look at it and it was obvious that it was a really good fish “take it steady” says tel. the upstream angler then shouted “oh my god its huge I had one of 12lbs 10oz last year and that ones much bigger!” by that time I was thinking a change of trousers may have been in order but he wasn’t finished yet “gotta be 15 pounds at least that `as” to which tel replied “we normally wait until we’ve got `em in the net before we say that mate.”
At this point the fish surfaced and I led it towards the net but to my horror at the last minute it got its head down and shot under the outstretched net. Luckily tel got the net out of the way in time and the fish powered out into mid river. This was not for long though and the Barbel soon surfaced and took a gulp of air, this seemed to finish it off and I led it over the net cord. As soon as its nose touched the spreader block tel lifted the net and gave it a quick shake to get the tail in as well. As we lifted it out of the water the size really hit me (the biggest I’d seen up to this point had been an 8lb 14oz fish, my old P.B). We unhooked the fish in the net and left it in the water for ten minutes or so to get its breath back while we called the bailiffs. They were a great help and I couldn’t believe it when the scales pulled round to13lb 14oz. The bailiffs then confirmed that it was the same Barbel that holds the Hampshire Avon record at 16lb 1oz when it was caught last winter. It behaved well for a few photographs and then I got into some fast, well oxygenated water with the fish and held it until it kicked strongly and glided away to sulk under a weed bed.
Thanks for your interest
Phil Rudd.
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