“Bang !!!! The tip wrapped round and the line starting stripping off the reel”

“My names Ian Harvey. I’m from Stevenage. I caught a 7lb 15oz chub from the day ticket section of King Weir Fishery on the River Lea in Hertfordshire on Sunday 2nd February. This is the biggest chub caught this season on the kings weir section. I discovered and started fishing at kings weir around 4 years ago. After years of pretty relaxed carp fishing i turned to rivers. Watching Matt hayes on Tv I soon got the bug to go hunting for big chub and barbel. After researching the local rivers to me I heard a lot about the potential big chub are barbel that had been caught from kings weir fishery.

I first visited on feb 2nd 2016 (exactly 4 years to the date before i caught chub). I took one look at the stunning weir pool and was instantly hooked. What a place and all i could think about was the monster barbel and chub that lived in there. I had never fished anything like it.

The river was thumbing through, i didnt know how i was going to hold bottom let alone try and catch a fish. That day i some how caught 3 huge Bream biggest of 12 lb  from the weir pool . All though it wasnt my target fish i was delighted and completely obsessed by the mystery and quality of the fishery.

Since that day ive been a regular visitor during the winter trying to catch one of the kings weir monsters. Ive tried lots of  different approaches , fishing times , tactics and  baits .  On my last visted in December the river was running low and clear which made for hard fishing that day. I took the opportunity to take a good look at the bottom of the river and scout out a few gravel runs to fish on my next visit. I had to wait for sone rain, a mild day with a coloured river. After watching the forecast Sunday was a good opportunity.

I arrived at kings an hour before Dusk. Was my first outing with my new 12ft Korum Barbel Rod which was a Christmas present from my parents. What a way to christen it.  I set up my rod in the car park well away from the river bank to avoid disturbing the swim. Simple rig. 8lb main line , 3oz gripper led , fixed led clip , 8inch 10lb hook link. Size 10 barbless Drennan hook. I covered the led in Dynamite baits marine halibut paste and hair rigged a large Dynamite baits halibut pellet also covered in the same paste. I wanted to make as little noise and distribution to the swim as possible so i knew i had one shot, one cast to hit the gravel spot. I got the under arm flick spot on, the led seemed the hit and hold bottom nicely . I rested the rod gently with the tip as high as possible to keep as much line out of the water as i could to prevent movement on the line and hook bait. Then it was a case of sitting in silence in the dark and waiting. 4 hours past with nothing. All i could think was do i still have a hook bait on, i didnt know but thats the gamble i had to take as i felt re casting would disturb the swim amd blow my just. The fish seem so easily spooked , they are so old clever and elusive . They had got the better of me so many time this time i was gonna be patient . Give it another couple of hours and see if one would be brave enough to take the bait.  And then Bang !!!!! The tip wrapped round and the line starting stripping off the reel . This was it . I struck and the fish was on . The fish darted for a snag on the far bank but i managed the play it into the open river. After a few minutes fighting i got him close to the net . At first i thought big barbel due to the aggression of the fight then i sore a huge chub come to the surface. I couldnt believe it was a chub ,it was so big . My hands starting shaking but i got it in the net. Unbelievable!!!!  Id never seen anything like it. The first thing i did was reach for my phone , Called Andy the fishery manager and told him i had a big chub in the net. He kindly came down to the bank with his scales as sling and helped me weigh it . I said to him , it looks about 6lb , he said thats more like 7 mate. I was buzzing . He held up the scales and they read 8lb 6 oz . My mind was all over the place . Unfortunately i forgot the sling weighed 7 oz’s haha  . Still 7lb 15oz . What a fish. Seasons best for the strecthed and smashed my previous PB of 5lb 12 oz . I took me a few hours and pint to calm down . After all the hard work amd patients i finally had my monster chub. Fish of a life time . The fishery delivered . Now all i need is one of the 15lb barbel that live in the same waters”