Tricky Barbel

[kfsand]

Hi all,

I am fishing a little river at the moment that has some huge Barbel in it but they are far from easy to catch! I have had a couple to double figures but bites are hard to come by.

The fish i have caught have been caught on the pellet/boilie aproach. Any tips or edges you could mention would be very welcome.

Cheers

[BoldBear]

Originally Posted by kfsand

Hi all,

I am fishing a little river at the moment that has some huge Barbel in it but they are far from easy to catch! I have had a couple to double figures but bites are hard to come by.

The fish i have caught have been caught on the pellet/boilie aproach. Any tips or edges you could mention would be very welcome.

Cheers

Hi kfsand,
The small river/stream that I fish for barbel is quite small (see picture below).



The average size of Barbel caught is between 5 to 7lb with the occasional 8 & 9lb'er plus a handfull of Barbel up to just over 11lbs.
I guess that it is similar to the river that you are currently fishing.

I will probably be picking your brain as you seem to be catching some good Barbel but it doesn't do any harm talking about the methods other anglers are also using successfully so here goes, this is how I tackle Barbel on my favourite stream:

Line;
The line that I use most for Barbel is 'Gold Label Pro Gold' Line which has an excellent abrasion resistance for when the Barbel goes under roots and through reed beds etc.; together with very little memory so doesn't coil, plus it is quite hard to see under water.

I usually tie my hooks directly to the reel line which means that the only knot I have is the knot securing the hook, I do this because I want the least number of weaknesses I can get away with; especially with Barbel which as you must know already can exert a formidable amount of pressure on your line, and knots are known to be weak points so the fewer I have the better.

Rigs:
I usually use a small link leger (see diagram below) and am usually using a ½ oz flat lead if I want to hold the bait fairly still or if I want to trundle a bait through my swim I use a small string of SSG’s.



I find that using scaled down Carp rigs and heavy leads is totally un’necessary on small rivers & streams and can put you at a disadvantage especially when the barbel become a little wise.

Hooklength:
I usually use a fairly short hooklength of approx 8” especially earlier in the season but as the season progresses I might lengthen my hooklink to up to around 30 “ and pin it to the bed using heavy putty moulded over one or two rubber float stops. Especially if the barbel seem to be getting a little wiser, which is normally the case as the season progresses..

Baits:
Because the stream has a large number of smaller Chub, Gudgeon & minnows which can be a pain as they literally swarm over your bait at times; I usually use pre drilled Pellets (Crab, Halibut or lamprey) coated with a soft fishmeal paste which sends a flavour trail downstream as it dissolves or gets picked at by the small fry, and hopefully leads any Barbel up to the baited hook.
I also use a spice flavoured firm Luncheon meat which I tear from the block or use a round punch and either mount the meat on a hair or directly onto the hook with the point potruding.

I feed small pellets (both soft and hard) by hand or catapult, and as the water starts rushing through at this time of year I use small PVA stockings filled with pellets and tied to my hook or weight.

Rods:
I never fish more than one rod at a time as I would rather spend 100% of my time concentrating on just one rod cast in the best place rather than share my concentration on each of two rods that have been cast into two different places.

I use the following rods:

• 12ft Greys Prodigy Barbel rod (1.7lb)
  I use this rod when I am using the quivertip but still need to be able to apply pressure to control a large Barbel; although I do occasionally use it with the avon top.
• 12ft Greys Prodigy Specialist rod (1.5lb)
  I use this rod when I am trundling a bait and/or touch legering using my finger to register bites and feel other information through the line.
• 13ft Drennan MKIV Tench Float rod
  I use this rod if I am long trotting with my trusty centrepin
• 12ft Diawa Powermesh 2lb tc Carp rod.
  I use this light Carp rod when I need to fish in floodwater with larger leads.

Fishing Times:
Although some Barbel do feed during the day I find that the bigger ones seem to be caught when the light starts to fade so I usually fish short opportunist sessions of between 3 or 4 hours and usually in the evenings when a lot of anglers have gone home for their tea.

So do you use the same methods on your small river kfsand? If not; how do you attack the barbel in your river?

[TURBOTAKER]

Originally Posted by kfsand

Hi all,

I am fishing a little river at the moment that has some huge Barbel in it but they are far from easy to catch! I have had a couple to double figures but bites are hard to come by.

The fish i have caught have been caught on the pellet/boilie aproach. Any tips or edges you could mention would be very welcome.

Cheers

Have you tried natural/old fashioned baits such as worms,luncheon meat or sweetcorn??????

[kfsand]

Thanks for the detailed info.

The river i fish does indeed look similar in size. The number of Barbel in my river is very low but go to 18lb+. Also it is very pressured which also makes it hard to get bites as they see every rig and bait going! I think i can put some of your advice into action and hopefully get some more bites.

[BoldBear]

Originally Posted by kfsand

Thanks for the detailed info.

The river i fish does indeed look similar in size. The number of Barbel in my river is very low but go to 18lb+. Also it is very pressured which also makes it hard to get bites as they see every rig and bait going! I think i can put some of your advice into action and hopefully get some more bites.

As well as the river that I showed you above, our club also has a few stretches of the Great Ouse which hold some huge doubles with the largest Barbel caught last year being a fine 19lb+ specimen.
NB. The current record of 21lb 1oz was caught a few miles further upstream of Bedford.

One of our stretches at the islands at Felmersham - (that far bank is one of the Islands)

However since the Otter explosion a couple of years ago the big doubles have become much scarcer and although you can still occasionally catch a big double they are becoming quite a bit scarcer; As soon as an otter swims through your swim fishing becomes dead and you might as well pack up and go home.

The same methods do work there though and the same watercraft that we use for our smaller streams still holds true except that we sometimes use slightly heavier leads if we are fishing at longer range (¾oz to 1½oz in normal conditions).