“I looked down into the net and realised i’d caught a giant..”

“Valentine’s Day is always a difficult day to go fishing and I wouldn’t like to push my luck with the wife, but this year when I rang my missus on the way home from work and she said I could go fishing for a few hours, I obviously jumped at the opportunity! I’ve been monitoring moon phases for a while now and on this session it was perfect, so my confidence was soaring high and couldn’t wait to get on the bank.

Like every session there is always a little bit of anticipation before I start and this session was no different, with storm Dennis due there was a real calm before the storm feeling about it, but little did I know I was about to get a gift from the barbel gods that I will never forget. Anyone that fishes for Barbel will understand the excitement and anticipation of watching your rod tip for the stereotypical three-foot-twitch, this bite was no different and as soon as I struck I knew instantly it was a bigger fish. It fought ridiculously hard in the flow and it actually snagged me three times – my heart was in my mouth praying it didn’t come off. After a tense fight I finally netted the barbel, I stood there trembling from head to toe with adrenaline, then I looked down into the net and realised i’d caught a giant. I couldn’t believe my eyes, this fish was just huge. It was simply mind-blowing and for the next four or five minutes I just stood in total shock starring into the net with the biggest grin on face.

When I finally come to terms with what I landed I weighed it still shaking with excitement, and couldn’t believe it when the dial shot round to 18lb 2oz.

Roving tactics on the River Trent with small PVA bags of Nutrabaits River Plus boilies and paste wrapped River Plus hookbaits once again proved to be the successful method.