The River Nene has produced a stunning new river record barbel of 18lb 8oz (pictured), which is known to have put on over 2lb in just a couple of months.

The mighty fish fell to the rod of river specialist Andy Pattison, and just to show the potential of the East Midlands waterway, he also banked fish of 17lb 10oz and 16lb 8oz in the same session.

Andy, who has banked over 20 barbel this season including seven doubles, fished a syndicate stretch of the venue with a Nutrabaits Trigga boilie wrapped in paste.

The fish was caught in the late summer by angling journalist Richard Lee at 16lb 4oz. He told website www.fish-on-friday.com: “The fish seem to be stacking the weight on. If this continues, and anglers start to feed a significant amount of quality bait to supplement diet, then it’s a real possibility a barbel over 20lb will come through. Otters are now becoming more visible on the Nene and we have to pray that these special fish can avoid predation.”

Andy’s fish is thought to be the biggest barbel caught from any British river this season. The current British barbel best stands at 21lb 1oz, a fish caught by Grahame King on the Great Ouse in November 2006.