BARBEL fanatic Adrian Garside told Angling Times the capture of a new 16lb 10oz personal best was the greatest belated Christmas present he could’ve asked for.

The 50-year-old endured a bite-less night of fishing on his club’s stretch of the Middle Trent but at 8am his alarm finally sprang into life just as he was packing away.

He said: “It took took line several times but eventually I gained control, managed to get the fish’s head up and after hitting the surface it thankfully went straight into my net at the first time of asking.”

Adrian’s successful rig included a single dumbbell hookbait fished alongside an 8oz feeder packed with dampened pellets.