It’s been very hard to catch specimen barbel on the Warwickshire Avon so far this year with the river being so low and clear.

However, some rain put a tinge of colour into the waterway on the last weekend of the season persuading Ashley Burton to give them a go. And he was rewarded with a superb 15lb 2oz fish, which is huge for the Midlands river.
Using a float stop above his rig to stop debris ruining his presentation, Ashley hair rigged two 12mm Teme-Severn Lamprey And Spiced Liver boilies with some loose pellets fed through a PVA bag, and tempted the fish at 7.30am. The river, like all others, is now closed to coarse angling until June 16th.