Barbel bites caught on camera (Sods Law)

[Zerkalo]

I love this guys videos and think he's worth subscribing to.

I just watched his latest video on the Wye and found myself chuckling at the bites and the way they can be quite powerful (3 foot twitch) when you least expect them.

First one (video starts at right time) just as he's speaking to a passerby.




Second one (video starts at right time) just as he looks down to get some pellets and the rod butt lifts up.




I love watching people fish for Barbel and think the best videos are the ones that catch the bites on film like these ones so thought I'd share.

 

[brian carragher]

Should watch Charley Farley on YouTube, reactions like a cat

 

[Zerkalo]

Should watch Charley Farley on YouTube, reactions like a cat

I've just subscribed, thanks for recommendation! Comic timing again, reading the paper...

 

[rd115]

I've never had a proper 3ft twitch yet, just little rattles, but i wonder if that's because i fish a bow and the fish has a lot of slack to take up first?

 

[Scribe]

Well that's confirmed something for me that (a) Baitrunners and (b) butt cups are definitely the way to go. In the second video if the chap had been pouring a cup of tea from a thermos then the rod would have definitely gone in.

 

[Zerkalo]

Yeah I try to remember 3 Bs when Barbel fishing now.

Bow
Baitrunner
Butt Cup

And hopefully not the 4th... Balls, my rods gone in!


I had thought at one point about doing my own very basic vlogs but it takes some doing. I've taken to filming the tip of my rod in the hope it will bounce so I can capture a bite on film but no luck yet. If I do it long enough...

 

[carphauler]

Yeah I try to remember 3 Bs when Barbel fishing now.

Bow
Baitrunner
Butt Cup

And hopefully not the 4th... Balls, my rods gone in!

You forgot....... branches

 

[Scribe]

Not experienced a 3Ft twitch I have seen myself, best I have managed is a 3mm one from a roach at Fiskerton.

 

[carphauler]

Yeah I try to remember 3 Bs when Barbel fishing now.

Bow
Baitrunner
Butt Cup

Don't do any of that, sometimes use a guru butt rest if I can be bothered to set it up.

 

[Zerkalo]

What I try to do is have the first ring of the rod just before the rest, so in the event the rod does decide to take off, something is there to stop it.

 

[carphauler]

What I try to do is have the first ring of the rod just before the rest, so in the event the rod does decide to take off, something is there to stop it.

That's exactly what I do, sometimes rest the nearest ring tight against the rest and wedge the butt under my chair or carryall, I do forget sometimes but I'm normally right next to my rod anyway.

 

[Zerkalo]

That's exactly what I do, sometimes rest the nearest ring tight against the rest and wedge the butt under my chair or carryall, I do forget sometimes but I'm normally right next to my rod anyway.

You have a good length of rod above the rest that way to cushion the bite too.

 

[squimp]

I try very hard NOT to get ‘3 foot twitches’.

So; rods as low as possible, running leads, baitrunners/instant drag etc etc. A nice controlled take means you don’t panic like you do when you think your rod is going in the drink.

Last winter I found some elastic rope and made a basic 2 rod retainer with loops that I pushed over the ends of the rod butts. As it happens all the takes I did get were steady - so No issues.

 

[NoCarpPlease]

Something that Bob Roberts put in his legering book 30 odd years ago ... when multiple barbel are feeding confidently they go up the swim to the head (mopping up bait along the way) and then peel off and head back to the tail of the swim with the flow (to rejoin the queue).
I reckon that can be the cause of "rod wrenching" bites!.

I rarely if ever experience this because I'm usually fishing a bow (where the bite is a short forwards tug and then the full drop back) and am fishing a single rod.
Downstream fishing is liable to produce this sort of bite.

 

[ravey]

I remember having to feed out a very big bow, and the bite was a pronounced drop back, which took many turns of the reel handle before I connected with the culprit (barbel). That would correspond with it dropping directly downstream after picking up the bait. Bob Roberts’ book is one of my favourites, and essential reading for anyone wanting information on fishing pacy rivers. While it is no longer available, it should be possible to pick up a copy secondhand. Alternatively, I believe it is possible to access some of the chapters via his website Bobrobertsonline.

 

[NoCarpPlease]

page 43, chapter 3
not in the online updated version
available used on Amazon