Competitions
21 September 2025
‘Barbel Whisperer’ Phil wins RiverFest with ton-up haul!
Lincoln golden oldie Phil Foster is known as the ‘barbel whisperer’ by his friends and he certainly lived up to that nickname, winning the 2025 Riverfest crown with a blistering second day performance on the River Trent at Burton Joyce.
Weighing in 102-5-0 of barbel plus a couple of chub, Phil added that to his 3-15-0 from day one on the Ashfield Anglers stretch to finish with 106-4-0, winning him the £12,000 first prize and a title that the 78-year-old former RAF man has been after since the event started.
Second and £7,000 went to Geraint Powell with 85-9-0, 71-0-0 of that caught on day one, with former champion Paul Cannon earning third and £5,000 with 30-12-0.
Despite a low weight on day one from the Ferry Field, Phil drew well on Sunday, pulling peg 58 in the Nelson Field from the bag, just one away from where Geraint won the match on the first day. Casting downstream towards peg 59, Phil landed 13 barbel including an 11lb 11oz specimen plus those chub, one of which weighed close to 6lb for a brilliant day’s fishing.
Blockend feeder tactics were the order of the day, filled with hemp and caster with three casters on the hook fished on a long hooklength in the clear water. A slow start soon picked up and when the fish arrived, Phil was waiting as little as a minute for a bite at times.
“It’s been an incredible day’s fishing – you don’t catch 100lb on a river that often,” he said. “This is an event I’ve fished every year and wanted to win. It’ll take some time to sink in! My only worry in the morning is whether the fish would stay in peg 59 or move upstream a little towards me. As soon as I caught my first couple of fish and those around me weren’t getting any signs, I began to think that this might be my day.”
Each barbel was weighed once it was landed and then released as per club rules, allowing Phil to know his running total. Once he got to 70lb and heard that Geraint was struggling, the winning line loomed large!
For Geraint it was a case of close but no cigar. The Wales international had a great opening day on peg 59 of the Nelson Field, netting 11 barbel on blockend feeder and caster tactics for 71-0-0. Whether he could defend that lead on day two depended on drawing a good peg. Pulling peg 21 on the Ferry Field from the bag wasn’t it. Even so, he managed 14-9-0 to hold onto second comfortably, 12lb of that made up of a big barbel on the feeder.
You might also like
22 July 2026
What happens when a fishery reports a potential predation…
Angling Trust Fisheries Management Advice Healthy fisheries don’t happen by chance. They depen…
Read more
20 July 2026
WQMN Group of the Month: Citizen Science, Anglers and…
The Angling Trust’s Water Quality Monitoring Network has become one of the most powerful citizens sc…
Read more
17 July 2026
Andy Burnham becomes Prime Minister: here’s what he should…
The state of our rivers, lakes, and seas were higher up the political agenda than ever before in the…
Read more
14 July 2026
Anglers to play key role in landmark shark conservation…
Recreational anglers are set to play a central role in an ambitious new scientific project that will…
Read more
14 July 2026
New Report Reveals the Hidden Workforce Behind the UK’s…
The Angling Trust has published the first national report into the working lives of the UK’s c…
Read more
10 July 2026
Marine heatwave: what it means for sea anglers
A marine heatwave developing around parts of the UK could reach “extreme” levels this summer, with s…
Read more
10 July 2026
Bluefin Tuna Catch-and-Release Recreational Fishery 2026
The 2026 bluefin tuna catch-and-release season opens on Monday 13th July 2026 around the coast of En…
Read more
10 July 2026
Rays of Tope: New project to unlock the secrets…
The Angling Trust is proud to be a partner in an exciting new three-year research project that will…
Read more
10 July 2026
New ICES advice highlights mixed picture for key recreational…
The latest scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) pa…
Read more
10 July 2026
Angling Trust welcomes UK ratification of landmark High Seas…
The Angling Trust has welcomed the UK Government’s ratification of the landmark UN High Seas T…
Read more
08 July 2026
UK Government Pours Cold Water on Urgent Reforms to…
On Monday, the UK Government published its response to the Environmental Audit Committee’s (EAC) PFA…
Read more
07 July 2026
Anglers’ Data Stands Up to Scientific Scrutiny
One of the biggest questions about the Sea Angling Diary Project has always been a fair one: can dat…
Read more