Rother Barbel Record Smashed

Martin Eyres, Vice Chairman of the newly formed Petworth and Bognor Angling Club caught this 15lb 3oz Barbel on the last cast of a short afternoon session from a flooded River Rother. By the time Martin had banked the superb specimen and sought the assistance of former Rother Barbel Record holder Peter Foster in the weighing and photographing, it was dark. Peter, having had plenty of practice photographing his own Barbel from the Rother still managed to take some excellent shots, including the one below.

Martin took the fish from a swim not normally associated with our Barbel enthusiasts but reckons the Barbel are spreading out from their more familiar haunts since the work to restore the Shopham Loop was completed a couple of seasons ago. Barbel can now be caught from all three of our stretches of the Rother. Martins fish beats the previous best by over 2lb, although there have been unconfirmed reports of a 14lb Barbel being landed earlier in the season. The capture of this fantastic fish gives credence to those earlier reports.

To read a full report of how Martin caught his record Rother Barbel please click HERE