That's not a Barbel!

[Andrew Boyne]

Thought i'd share this with you all. We've all made accidental captures whilst Barbel fishing and occasionally those captures turn out to be quite special. I was lucky enough yesterday to make one such capture while fishing on my local river Irwell - that of a truly monstrous Brown Trout weighing 12lb 2oz! Having grown up on the rivers of North Yorkshire and now fishing those in the North West i'm used to seeing Brown Trout in our rivers, usually 12oz to 1lb with odd 'specimens' in the 2-3lb class but nothing prepared me for the shock when this rolled into my net! What an amazing creature, it looks big in the pictures but to have hold of it was unreal.

Mods - feel free to move to 'other species' if you see fit.

 

[Simon Georgiou]

should there be a pic with the post?

 

[Rhys Perry]

Jesus! that sounds a beast! You putting the pics up?

 

[Tony Byrne]

thats a mighty fine trout Andrew

 

[Andrew Boyne]

Pics up already, but try this:

 

[Rhys Perry]

Stunning. Well done, sort of, seeing as it was an accident! Nice to see wild fish like that still around.

 

[Howard Cooke]

No, we mean a picture of your face when the fish first surfaced. But not a picture of your undergarments.

 

[Martin James]

Well done Andrew, a great fish

 

[Simon Georgiou]

merry christmas

 

[David Hall]

Pics up already, but try this:

View attachment 1949

 

[Stephen Bond]

Happy accident! A very nice one too

Stephen

 

[Richard Parsons]

What a beaut, Andy!

 

[Jonathan Gresty]

Hi Andrew, first off congrats thats a stunning looking fish m8.....
Is there Barbel in the Irwell? I fish the Ribble, Dane and Severn for Barbel and would to love to add the Irwell to my list.

Regards Jonny

 

[Mark Anderson]

Hi men,

Hell fire , lump !. We have seen on loads of occasions when stalking, that with trout in the swim they can really put barbel off !. Once we see a trout butt a barbel broadside then snaffle the bait . Often the way the shoot around in the swim the seem to spook barbel , or at least put them on edge . Anyone else seen that ?.


Hatter

 

[Neil Smart]

Never 12.2....

What a fantastic troot, bet that gave you a shock

 

[Paul Matthews]

That's dinner for 8 lol !!
Seriously, that's a stunner !! I had a 6lber by accident a few years ago and thought that was big !!!
A fly fisherman would pay a LOT of money to catch that !!!

 

[Lee Iley]

Well done andy it is a beautiful fish mate.

 

[Bob Gill]

Excellent specimen - well caught that man.
Cheers
Bob

 

[Derek Funcks]

Which one,s the trout ?

Only kidding Andy, brilliant fish, accident or not.

 

[Andrew Boyne]

Is there Barbel in the Irwell? I fish the Ribble, Dane and Severn for Barbel and would to love to add the Irwell to my list.
Regards Jonny

So would I Jonny! Not had one yet but fortune favours the bold ( or brave if you fancy trying around lower broughton! )

Hell fire , lump !. We have seen on loads of occasions when stalking, that with trout in the swim they can really put barbel off !. Once we see a trout butt a barbel broadside then snaffle the bait . Often the way the shoot around in the swim the seem to spook barbel , or at least put them on edge . Anyone else seen that ?.
Hatter

On my usual barbel river, the Ribble, when it's low like it is now and the Salmon hang around in the pools waiting for the next rise in water level to carry on their journey they definitely seem to put the Barbel off.

That's dinner for 8 lol !!

A fly fisherman would pay a LOT of money to catch that !!!

You wouldn't want to eat one - years of industrial pollution - bioaccumulation and all that! Would be interesting hooking one on an 8' 4# fly rod though!