He told us “This season I’ve had some great barbel fishing on the River Trent, but with the change of weather and temps dropping, things have got much harder. There have been a few frosts and water temperatures have started to plummet. As a result, the fish aren’t feeding anywhere near as hard, but by adjusting my tactics and are patient, I landed a new PB of 18lb 10oz.

I was out guiding and noticed that the water temperature had dropped by 1.5C from the week before. I’d enjoyed a prolific session then, landing 10 barbel, eight of which were ‘doubles’, capped by a specimen of 17lb 3oz. But this time, things couldn’t have been more different. I’d sat for 48 hours without a fish, but my client had managed a few, so I stuck it out. I then caught a barbel of 12lb 14oz, which was followed by the new PB early in the morning. Between us, we had five fish, and the key to catching was cutting the feed right down and being prepared to wait for bites.

Boilies are my bait of choice on the Trent, with Vortex’s Cocoons a favourite. But rather than feed a load of them, as you could do in warmer water, I fished small PVA bags containing a dozen, next to a matching hookbait. The fish aren’t really feeding, and if they do decide to eat, you want there to be a good chance that they pick up your hookbait amongst the freebies.

The eighteen-pounder gave an epic battle, going upstream before heading down, then out into the flow. Eventually, when I had it at my feet, it plodded in the deep water before I finally had the incredibly long fish in the net. I knew it was a good one when I went to lift it, and when I came to hold it, my arms were aching from the fight, as well as from its weight! The bait that fish fell to had been out for six hours when I had the bite, and I believe those my client and I caught were the ones in front of us. By feeding minimal amounts – just a PVA bag each cast – we managed to buy a few bites in rock-hard conditions.”

Well done Ian!