Too cold for barbel?

[Donny Pete]

Have a look at the Idle Adam, lovely little River and you can have a rove traveling light between Retford and Bawtry.

 

[AdamRussell93]

Have a look at the Idle Adam, lovely little River and you can have a rove traveling light between Retford and Bawtry.

I normally fish the Dearne mate as it’s a 2 min drive from my house, and whilst I know there’s barbel in there (some huge ones aswell) finding them is proving difficult for me. Had some lovely chub but I really do want to get a nice barbel. I’ll have a look into the idle though mate, thanks for recommendation!

 

[Donny Pete]

All the best Adam lad, just be patient.

 

[RedhillPhil]

I'm chasing Barbel on Sunday.

 

[AdamRussell93]

I'm chasing Barbel on Sunday.

Where you off mate?

 

[Flathead]

Winter can be the best time for Barbel, especially on a warm flood where warm rain follows cold weather.....but not if road salt is washed in

Night can often be the best time .....they are not shy and you can fish heavier in the right conditions.

If conditions are not right then fish for Chub etc.....or stay at home.

 

[crumpercatcher.]

Good time of year now. All the fairweather fishermen **** off, good bit of rain to get the river levels up then fining off with some colour in it.

 

[AdamRussell93]

Good time of year now. All the fairweather fishermen **** off, good bit of rain to get the river levels up then fining off with some colour in it.

Sounds perfect to me, I’ll sit in the cold all day. It’s wind I can’t be arsed with.

 

[RedhillPhil]

Where you off mate?

River Mole, Surrey.

 

[mattnewark]

I prefer to fish for Barbel in the winter than the summer, and I'm very confident of catching when I have my thermals on more so than when I've got me shorts on!

I was going to go yesterday but with the new slight frosts and the river dropping it was a no from me.....now if it was to rain for 2 days solid then I would be definitely there in 3 or 4 days time.

Had my best days in the cold with the Trent looking like milky tea and well up. Theres something quite satisfying in catching a Barbel in a flood, right where I would have been sat in my shorts in the summer...about 3 rod lengths out.

 

[Wise Owl]

Another thing about winter is i dont get as many Mozzy or other insect bites

 

[AdamRussell93]

Another thing about winter is i dont get as many Mozzy or other insect bites

Usually they’re the only bites I get when I go fishing ??‍

 

[AdamRussell93]

So I’ve been proper reading up on my watercraft in the last few months, do the same things apply in winter than they do in summer for barbel? Like trying find a crease in the faster flows or am I better off trying to find cover and casting towards those?

 

[squimp]

In winter barbel hold where they feel ‘comfortable’.

That generally means water that is smooth, not boily and going no faster than walking pace.

As levels rise and the river gets more boily they tend to end up closer to the bank.

I Remember a classic swim on the B Avon years ago. In normal warm winter conditions the fish sat in the middle of the river in the deepest steady water on a short straight. They were catchable there when the river was up a bit and warm.

When a flood came the fish dropped 40 odd yards down the river where there was a LH bend. They sat just below the bend on the inside - again in steady water but only a rod length out. The flow all went to the far bank as a result of the bend in the river. They were then really easy to catch IF you knew where they were !

I photographed the same 13lb fish for 2 different mates - one caught it from each of the two spots mentioned above.

im fishing the Thames at the moment and I’m on a new stretch so I don’t know where the fish live. My tactics are to very lightly bait general areas and then fish only in good conditions when I think the fish will be feeding and mobile. That way I maximise my chances of bumping into one.... It is a totally different approach to the one mentioned above,

 

[Northantslad]

With water temperatures, it's more about trends really and within reason fishing on the 3rd day of a frost is better than on the first day drop into a spell even warmer than frosts, its the drop that sees their interest wain, with metabolism slowing the colder it gets. It's only since reading up and seeing photos of Barbel caught with snow on the ground that this picture starts to form, along with being out there trying of course, and since reading up i have been out there trying for the last few years every calendar month of the year, instead of just the favoured weather i had been out in prior to then.

They can be bigger this time of year, equally when shoaling and finding them you can still catch shoal fish sizes.

In essence let the temperatures impact on your bait decisions-sizes and amounts and not on the enthusiasm to get out and try. Creases still apply imo and its only when there is a very significant amount of water on, that they don't.

 

[Zerkalo]

Well I need an excuse for not catching today and so I will say yes, too cold! My favourite in my limited experience is a cloudy day in summer with a bit of colour in the water on a falling river.

 

[BoldBear]

Well I need an excuse for not catching today and so I will say yes, too cold! My favourite in my limited experience is a cloudy day in summer with a bit of colour in the water on a falling river.

Just to show that Barbel do feed in the coldest conditions when the temperatures have been steady for a couple of days or are rising a degree or two, even with snow on the ground.

The recently deceased Keith Speers holding a 19lb plus Barbel caught during the coldest Decembers for years. Keith had a 13lb-er the week before and a 15lb-er the week after and all on float and centrepin from a small river.

Keith

 

[squimp]

Just to show that Barbel do feed in the coldest conditions when the temperatures have been steady for a couple of days or are rising a degree or two, even with snow on the ground.

The recently deceased Keith Speers holding a 19lb plus Barbel caught during the coldest Decembers for years. Keith had a 13lb-er the week before and a 15lb-er the week after and all on float and centrepin from a small river.

Keith

That guy was one of the best specimen (barbel) anglers this country has ever produced.

 

[Zerkalo]

You wouldn't catch me out in snow so fair play.

 

[smiffy]

I’m by no means an expert but have been to the Wye several times in November. Mainly because it’s a good bet it will have some colour and be at winter levels. Barbel haven’t been a problem there, even after frosts, if there is plenty of water going through. I’ve driven from Suffolk to Collingham just for a days fishing before ,in January and February, when the Trent has been coloured and hossing through and caught Barbel during the day. Also the last couple of weeks of the season can be really good. Took a lad to the Wye several years ago in March. He’d never caught a Barbel and on the day he caught his first ever Barbel he caught eighteen of them. A better catch than I’ve ever had??