Stevie Hardwick from Teesside made the long journey to the River Trent and was rewarded with a personal best barbel.

“I had my first session on the River Trent after my local rivers hadn’t been producing, making the 260-mile round trip to a club stretch,” he explained. “I opted for a first-light-til-late-afternoon session and managed eight barbel and lost one to a hook pull. This included a new PB of 12lb 2oz, beating my River Tees PB by over a 1lb. I played it for about five minutes with it holding bottom and plenty of under-the-tip action!”

Stevie used a 12ft barbel rod with a 6000-size Baitrunner loaded with 15lb line and 15lb Drennan braid. A 3oz feeder was needed to hold bottom, packed with 3mm dampened halibut pellets. The successful hook bait was a hair-rigged 10mm pellet to a size 10 Super Specialist Barbel hook.