First time trying ror a barbel

[BoldBear]

Originally Posted by Jameschelt

Do u think i could use a carp rod too quiver tip for barbel as i only have a carp rod and a small match rod wich i dont think is powerful enough too handle a barbel ? Id be fishing the severn at tewkbury so ant other tips would be welcome

Originally Posted by Jameschelt

No none of the rods have quiver tips although the tip on the match rod is slim enough so that i can use it for float or quivertipping the carp rod has a 2.5 test curve and ive used it as a quivertip for carp up too mid double figures before ?

If your match rod is a ‘commercial’ match rod capable of fishing with lines up to 6 or 7lb on commercial fisheries for the smaller stamp of carp that you normally get on ‘commercials’ then it would be ok for ‘Trotting’ a stick down the near bank of the river for Barbel; however if your Match rod is a conventional match rod with recommended lines up to 4lb-ish then as you have surmised it would be totally useless for Barbel fishing.

Your 2.5lb tc Carp rod would be fine for legering for Barbel, although not as good as a rod that was designed for Barbel fishing.

The Barbel usually fights until it is ‘totally’ exhausted, not like the average Carp that knows when it is beaten and finally comes to the net exhausted but not totally exhausted.
A Barbel needs to be nursed back to health with its head facing upstream with the water going in through the mouth and out through the gills before releasing and it can take up to 15 minutes before it can be released otherwise if it is released too soon it may swim off and resurface ‘bottom up’ a liitle further downsteam out of sight and die.

I sometimes use a Barbel rod of 2lb test curve for fishing flood water on small to medium sized streams and rivers or on large rivers where I sometimes need to cast any distance with leads between 1.5oz and 5oz,
I also occasionally use an old favourite of mine; an older Diawa Powermesh 2lb tc Carp rod which has a forgiving through action when I need to use two rods in these situations.
These two rods have enough through action to be able to play a Barbel under the rod tip; Some Carp rods are a little too stiff for playing a fighting Barbel close in especially if you are using hooks of around size 10 or smaller but a Barbel rod uses a more forgiving action which can tire a Barbel a lot easier than a stiff poker of a rod, and without pulling the hook out of its mouth.

Yes people like Fox do make 2.75lb tc Barbel rods but they not only have a more through action blank than the average Carp rod, they are made for use either with huge feeders or in extremely strong currents in flood conditions in large rivers where even a 5oz lead would have trouble holding water, not in the small to average sized river where maximum sized leads up to 2.5oz are used even in floodwater and leads of an ounce or even less are the norm.

90% of the time most Barbel anglers (including me) use more conventional Barbel rods of 1.5lb and 1.7lb test curves and use either a string of SSGs or small leads up to a maximum of 1 to 1.5oz in weight.

So if you do use your 2.5lb tc Carp rod, use a little thought once you get it close in and be prepared to give line all the way to the net; and don’t just drag it in and end up ripping the hooks through the Barbels mouth. I have witnessed this happen on more than one occasion by anglers who have forgotten their landing nets or their landing nets were too small.
And use an unhooking mat.

Best of luck with your Barbelling

Keith (BoldBear)

[cheef87]

http://www.dragoncarpdirect.com/prod...n-Top-rod.html

[BoldBear]

Originally Posted by cheef87

http://www.dragoncarpdirect.com/prod...n-Top-rod.html

An 11ft Barbel rod (Avon/quiver type) selling for £10 ???

It sounds like an ideal rod for someone like jameschelt who needs a Barbel rod without having to spend a lot of cash.

[chris.oldgit]

Originally Posted by cheef87

http://www.dragoncarpdirect.com/prod...n-Top-rod.html

a good selection of rods for all types, very well priced, ideal for people to try for just starting up, if they dont like the sport, then not a great loss financially.

quality kit can then be bought as required, should they decide its for them

[cheef87]

i can honestly say its a better rod than my old 90£ heavy feeder rod i had its superb,if it can hold a 13lb barbel it must be strong enough !