Some anglers seem to have unlimited patience when it comes to catching big fish - take Bicester big-fish expert Neil Jones, for instance.

He has been fishing a stretch of the Great Ouse and had blanked around 60 times in his quest for a monster barbel. But it all came together recently when he slipped his net under a fantastic fish weighing 17.4.0.

When Neil arrived at his chosen swim, he fed two pints of hemp, two droppers of halibut pellets and six cups of broken John Baker boilies into a clear patch between some weed.

After a wait of more than two hours, he had the only bite of the session and after a very hard fight, the big fish was landed.

Neil was using Drennan Barbel rods, Bass Pro 12lb mainline, 25lb Sufrix camo skin hooklength attached to a size six Drennan barbel hook.