Its all about location and where you live thats my view. Had you been an angler in Norfolk in the 70s 80s you would have had massive barbel, roach, tench and dace available, as well as some huge bream. Still good, but the roach and barbel have declined, so it was pure luck being there. Two anglers I knew well were Dave Plummer and John Watson, both moved to Norfolk for the fishing. Dave an ex-train driver opened a fishing shop, and John worked at the HMSO with me. Where would you locate to now would be the question today?
I am much like Zerkalo in terms of where i would be most happiest and sizes i value (a Barbel is a Barbel to me too) and catch and do agree with what you say about where you are, and really therefore what you have access to influencing your preferences. My view may be different if had started out on some of the more intimate rivers, where a more stealthy approach is adopted in many of the swims on say the Wensum or Ouse etc, but as i say, i have never been able to utilise the 'spot Barbel target that Barbel' approach in the big, deep and powerful rivers i fish, unfortunately that approach by all accounts on certainly the Wensum, also lead to some quite ridiculous stealth in my opinion (wading out and pinning line down under rocks and weed) to outwit the Barbel or sometimes a particular Barbel in order to keep catching the same fish and more so when its at its optimum weight.
I say ridiculous, not antagonistically, but just because and coming back to your point about what an individual wants, leading to where you go and thus how you like to fish, such an approach is just so far removed from where i can go, perhaps chose to go really and how i then fish. I do like the unknown though in terms of what (size) Barbel is going to take my bait, which can be a nice surprise sometimes even in the largely shoal fish areas i look for, in a bid to catch something as justification for the effort, time and journey times still involved, with anywhere from 1 to 2.5hrs, perhaps being further than what many would class nearby available fishing. If i were to wish to try and target the 16lb plus fish, i would head for the same rivers but no-where near the shoals and the pressured pegs.
I could travel that journey time to more intimate rivers, but they and thus the required approach doesn't really interest me, may be different if it was where and how i started, but overall, not so sure.
