Pellets and boilies rule the roost for most barbel anglers these days, but there’s still a place for the humble maggot, as Mark Saul proved with this 19lb 6oz specimen.
It was caught from King’s Weir fishery on the River Lea on a mag-aligner rig, with three red grubs on the hook below a taped-up 2oz feeder. After arriving at 10:30am, Mark had a good lead around and found a nice area of fine clean gravel just an underarm cast out.After feeding four large droppers of red maggots, he recast every 15 minutes to keep a trickle of feed going through the swim. He hadn’t had a touch until 3pm when, out of nowhere, Mark received a sharp tap on the tip followed by a steady pull. Lifting into the fish, it went on a long, powerful run, before an intense 10-minute scrap followed.
Well done Mark!