Matthew told us “I decided to do a quick session after work for the evening starting at last light into darkness. I decided to fish a rather narrow swim that I’d never fished before on a thames tributary near to home. I arrived at the river and thought the best approach would be to cast a single hookbait with no loose feed and sit it out as quite as possible for a few hours in the hope that a fish would pass by.

I have had results fishing like this in the past and after sitting behind my rods for a few hours I noticed the most subtle movement on my left hand rod tip, unlike usual barbel bites that bend the rod tip round and I decided to strike. I felt an instant pull back by the fish and could feel I was into a good fish. After a good fight I slipped the barbel into the net and knew straight away the fish had beaten my previous pb of 14lbs 5oz. After weighing the fish and taking a few photos I slipped her safely back and was able to spend the rest of session in the enjoyment of what had just happened.”