Come and sit beside the river ...

[Peter Wilde]

Thanks for all the kind comments!

That barbel is my best ever (by over a pound). I am sure it did indeed put a bit of bend right down into the rod butt. However, the video probably exaggerates this. These little Gopro action cameras use a very wide angle lens to get everything into the shot, and while that is useful, it does sometimes distort straight lines, making things look bent if near the edge of the field of view.

The strength of pull was still quite something and in fact terrifying as the 8lb line must have been near its limit for a while. Couldn't let the fish run for more than a few feet as it was getting very close to snags.

[DaceAce]

Well done on the barbel and as Matt Hayes would say, "Don't they hang on!".

I use all sorts of lenses for filming from ultra wide to telephoto, including a cheap GO Pro clone for underwater but above water you're much better off with standard views than fisheye (Go Pro) which is hard work to watch as it's too distorting.