- Joined
- Aug 2, 2012
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1. Introduction.
River Barbel fishing, more than any other discipline of fishing I do, gives me by far the most enjoyment, exhilaration and feelings of achievement whenever I am fortunate enough to catch my whiskered quarry.
I have decided to write this guide because I enjoy writing about angling and helping other anglers or would be anglers. Regarding my reference to it being a guide, rather than a tutorial;there are but a few facts when it comes to Barbel and these are usually physiological and biological, beyond that, they can be as unpredictable as any other fish, can take you by surprise or give you a wake up call in equal measure and there are contradictions out there in abundance.
Secondly, despite building my skills and knowledge over a good few years now, I don't have any doubt that there are other anglers out there, possibly local to and 'living' on the rivers I visit, countless angling authors and purely and simply better anglers than me around, hence a 'tutorial' would give me a feeling of having over estimated the albeit precious skills and knowledge I have gained, in some cases gained, courtesy of authors and other anglers.
So, if I do help anyone who is starting out, thinking of giving it a try or in the early part of their journey, then I will have gained almost as much satisfaction as when it comes together and I get one in the landing net. I mulled over how perhaps the satisfaction should be equal, but you will hopefully get to know why it can't possibly be the case; when authors, magazines or other anglers talk about 'that' feeling and that you will never look back, this is one piece of information that is fact, yet needs to be experienced to be appreciated thus.
Having defined who I feel may be the target audience for this guide, that I will post in sections, readers do need to know what type of Barbel angler I am, if this also fits your plans or what type you are, then I am sure you could pick up some useful tips. I fish day ticket stretches on the Severn and Trent and am what may be referred to as a visiting angler, commonly fishing from dawn until dusk with feeder/lead tactics and when 'it's right', the float. Target for me is simply Barbel of any size and although some may purposely set up to avoid Chub, I am rarely disappointed to catch them too; as they can frequent similar habitats and parts of the river as Barbel, their presence can sometimes be an asset to you in knowing your aren't far off the right place. On such rivers you do need to take advantage of any clues or information you can get. I won't be numbering the tips, but if I were and prioritising, then number one is location, location, location, ranging from the stretch of river right down to where, sometimes talking metres, of where you need to be casting on the stretch or in the peg. In essence, the wider the river, the more room for error. Yes, you are aiming to pull the fish in or more accurately up the river, so being on that right line as in distance across is vital, be aware that the word distance has been used as a measure and not an indication that you must always be as far as you can cast.
A penultimate note does need to be for me to point out that whilst I may mention tackle or kit, I have no affiliation or links to brands, I use practical kit across various manufacturers that I find reliable, fitting my budget/expected usage and fit for purpose as proven to me during my time on the bank. In terms of reading, there are books I have found very useful and I will possibly include in section at the end.
In this, the final thoughts on the introduction, I must be open and give what I feel is an honest appraisal of where things are in terms of Barbel fishing on the rivers I frequent and when. Having fished for them in the last fifteen years or so, I can confirm that the much publicised Barbel boom of the 1980s ended over two decades ago and you shouldn't be expecting nor planning for 100lb of Barbel in a session. Whether this is due to less Barbel or just a lot more wiser pressured Barbel is a debate for another day. In the latest book I am reading, it also talks about a pinch of salt being needed when hearing of sizes of Barbel quoted by some anglers some twenty five years ago, I can only take the authors word for that, but what I can say is nowadays twenty five years on, Barbel do seem to be getting larger and catching a double can be anticipated and prepared for. The pinch of salt does still have its place though in today's Barbel fishing and you may need it should you hear other anglers or the less helpful type of bailiff you might encounter questioning your tactics or abilities, whereby they advise that they regularly have fifteen Barbel off 'that' peg, take some comfort in knowing that, that just doesn't happen anymore or at least is rare if I had to come down on the fence. Nor should you let a magazine sometimes have you believing that in order to catch your first Barbel you just need to turn up at one of the likely stretches of river, chuck in the right place and hey presto land your first one, Barbel in my opinion will test your resolve and challenge what you thought you knew, more than any other fish. Remembering that we, the we being the similar type of angler reading this and the few I sometimes go with, are the visiting angler and go when we can, not necessarily when it's right; blanks should be prepared for in advance and reflected on but not to an extent where it knocks you down, blanks can be used to gauge your progress when they become less often than the good days occur. If all I describe above is you, then I can summarise the approach as fishing as you would for a specimen sized fish in terms of numbers, yet catching anything from juvenile fish to specimen sized fish, using a hybridisation of specimen and match tackle and tactics and a good day can be managing one fish or putting a handful together, with a special day being defined using the time available to you as above, as more than a handful Barbel.
River Barbel fishing, more than any other discipline of fishing I do, gives me by far the most enjoyment, exhilaration and feelings of achievement whenever I am fortunate enough to catch my whiskered quarry.
I have decided to write this guide because I enjoy writing about angling and helping other anglers or would be anglers. Regarding my reference to it being a guide, rather than a tutorial;there are but a few facts when it comes to Barbel and these are usually physiological and biological, beyond that, they can be as unpredictable as any other fish, can take you by surprise or give you a wake up call in equal measure and there are contradictions out there in abundance.
Secondly, despite building my skills and knowledge over a good few years now, I don't have any doubt that there are other anglers out there, possibly local to and 'living' on the rivers I visit, countless angling authors and purely and simply better anglers than me around, hence a 'tutorial' would give me a feeling of having over estimated the albeit precious skills and knowledge I have gained, in some cases gained, courtesy of authors and other anglers.
So, if I do help anyone who is starting out, thinking of giving it a try or in the early part of their journey, then I will have gained almost as much satisfaction as when it comes together and I get one in the landing net. I mulled over how perhaps the satisfaction should be equal, but you will hopefully get to know why it can't possibly be the case; when authors, magazines or other anglers talk about 'that' feeling and that you will never look back, this is one piece of information that is fact, yet needs to be experienced to be appreciated thus.
Having defined who I feel may be the target audience for this guide, that I will post in sections, readers do need to know what type of Barbel angler I am, if this also fits your plans or what type you are, then I am sure you could pick up some useful tips. I fish day ticket stretches on the Severn and Trent and am what may be referred to as a visiting angler, commonly fishing from dawn until dusk with feeder/lead tactics and when 'it's right', the float. Target for me is simply Barbel of any size and although some may purposely set up to avoid Chub, I am rarely disappointed to catch them too; as they can frequent similar habitats and parts of the river as Barbel, their presence can sometimes be an asset to you in knowing your aren't far off the right place. On such rivers you do need to take advantage of any clues or information you can get. I won't be numbering the tips, but if I were and prioritising, then number one is location, location, location, ranging from the stretch of river right down to where, sometimes talking metres, of where you need to be casting on the stretch or in the peg. In essence, the wider the river, the more room for error. Yes, you are aiming to pull the fish in or more accurately up the river, so being on that right line as in distance across is vital, be aware that the word distance has been used as a measure and not an indication that you must always be as far as you can cast.
A penultimate note does need to be for me to point out that whilst I may mention tackle or kit, I have no affiliation or links to brands, I use practical kit across various manufacturers that I find reliable, fitting my budget/expected usage and fit for purpose as proven to me during my time on the bank. In terms of reading, there are books I have found very useful and I will possibly include in section at the end.
In this, the final thoughts on the introduction, I must be open and give what I feel is an honest appraisal of where things are in terms of Barbel fishing on the rivers I frequent and when. Having fished for them in the last fifteen years or so, I can confirm that the much publicised Barbel boom of the 1980s ended over two decades ago and you shouldn't be expecting nor planning for 100lb of Barbel in a session. Whether this is due to less Barbel or just a lot more wiser pressured Barbel is a debate for another day. In the latest book I am reading, it also talks about a pinch of salt being needed when hearing of sizes of Barbel quoted by some anglers some twenty five years ago, I can only take the authors word for that, but what I can say is nowadays twenty five years on, Barbel do seem to be getting larger and catching a double can be anticipated and prepared for. The pinch of salt does still have its place though in today's Barbel fishing and you may need it should you hear other anglers or the less helpful type of bailiff you might encounter questioning your tactics or abilities, whereby they advise that they regularly have fifteen Barbel off 'that' peg, take some comfort in knowing that, that just doesn't happen anymore or at least is rare if I had to come down on the fence. Nor should you let a magazine sometimes have you believing that in order to catch your first Barbel you just need to turn up at one of the likely stretches of river, chuck in the right place and hey presto land your first one, Barbel in my opinion will test your resolve and challenge what you thought you knew, more than any other fish. Remembering that we, the we being the similar type of angler reading this and the few I sometimes go with, are the visiting angler and go when we can, not necessarily when it's right; blanks should be prepared for in advance and reflected on but not to an extent where it knocks you down, blanks can be used to gauge your progress when they become less often than the good days occur. If all I describe above is you, then I can summarise the approach as fishing as you would for a specimen sized fish in terms of numbers, yet catching anything from juvenile fish to specimen sized fish, using a hybridisation of specimen and match tackle and tactics and a good day can be managing one fish or putting a handful together, with a special day being defined using the time available to you as above, as more than a handful Barbel.
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