Specimen Barbel Fishing with Paul Cooper
16lb 10oz barbel caught on a 16mil HG47 boilie
It was the last week in June and I managed a short session on the River Dove with my fishing companion Jeff Dace. This was my first trip out on the rivers since February.
10lb barbel on HG47The section of river that we chose to fish is sparsely populated with some huge barbel, well into the double figures. With the amount of rain that we have had in June the river was carrying extra water which normally brings the barbel on the feed. The normal feeding times of the Dove barbel happen just as the light fades into darkness and lasts for at least a few hours. To my surprise my first thrap on the rods came from a 10lb barbel at around 5pm. This fish came on a 16mil HG47 fresh bait. We kept on fishing until 11pm without another fish to our names.
Our next trip out was on the 2nd July, again on the River Dove. The water had been in flood the previous couple of days and the level was slowley dropping. Again on the magic hour of 5 o’clock, a fish took off on one of my rods baited with HG47 and after a long fight I drew a 17lb Ghost carp into my net. This was my first carp off this stretch of the river and is one of only a handful in the whole section.
17lb Ghost carp caught off the river DoveOut went the rods again both baited with HG47. About an hour later a was into one almighty scrap with a huge barbel. After a long fight the fish was in the net… what a fish which weighed in at an impressive 16lb 10oz.
No more fish for the evening but I had beaten my PB barbel by over 3lb, I was delighted.
During this session I put a short video together which I will publish at a later date showing live coverage of the 16lb barbel.
Paul Cooper, July 2012
Carp Fishing in France with Angling Lines
