DESCRIPTION: To 7.25kg (16lb) about 90cm (3ft). A long slender, golden brown, fish with four barbels positioned on the upper jaw, two at the front of the upper lip and one at each side close to the corner of the mouth. A major sporting fish in England. An average fish is around the 50cm (20ins) 2.25kg (5lb)
DISTRIBUTION: England – Fast flowing clean rivers, where it thrives. This fish cannot survive polluted waters.
HABITS: A shoaling fish moving in small schools usually of similar sized fish.
DIET: A bottom feeder. The natural diet includes aquatic larvae, seeds, worms and tender weeds.
BAITS: Popular baits include: Bread, cheese, grubs, sweet corn, worms and tinned meats.
METHOD: Swim feeder fishing methods are popular with anglers for this fish.
GOOD LOCATIONS: Some or the best Barbel fishing is to be found on the River Severn. Good stocks are also in the Derwent ( Yorks ), Nidd, Swale and Wharfe. The Barbel is also found in the rivers: Avon ( Bristol & Hants), Kennet, Nene, Dorset Stour, Thames and Trent.
Barbel have been introduced into some of the rivers of eastern Wales - notably the Wye, the Dee and the upper Severn – and they have done well there (much to the annoyance of some of the game fishery owners, who perceive barbel as competing for food and for spawning area with salmon).
The streamlined barbel can hug the river bed in fast flows while feeding on passing invertebrates. Freshwater shrimps, nymphs and caddis larvae are their staple diet, but they will also take small fishes, crayfish and swan mussels.
Barbel are long-lived fish and can grow to well over 10lb (4kg).
The British record barbel, caught at Adams Mill on the River Great Ouse in Bedfordshire 2001, weighed 19lb 6oz (over 8kg).The captor was Mr Steve Curtin
Choosing the right bait for the river and conditions when Barbel fishing can make all the difference between a good days sport and one without a bite, and although most fisherman are reluctant to give away their trade secrets sticking to the recognised favourite baits will still give you a good chance of a few fish.
The first place to start is assessing the waters condition, which is easier than it sounds as there are only really four main types.
1. High water – Flooder rivers with a degree of discolouration
2. Low water – The opposite with generally clear water.
3. Cold water – either post flood or during the colder months of the year
4. Warm water – generally shallower and in the Spring and Summer months
Each type will require a different baiting strategy with for example large heavily scented baits being more effective in a flood environment than a single maggot which will be almost impossible for the fish to find in the expanse of a river in spate.
Main Bait Types
Although it is technically possible to catch a Barbel on any type of bait the following are the most commonly used:
Pellets – feed pellets are a relatively recent introduction and they have quickly become one of the Barbel Anglers weapons of choice. They are easy to store and transport, keep for a reasonably long time and Barbel absolutely love them. They are versatile too with small pellets making ideal loose feed, and larger ones (often used with a hair rig) making good hook baits. Pellets can also be soaked to soften them and then added to paste baits or mixed with other baits as a feeder mix. Pellets work in most water conditions however for flood waters a larger, “smellier” bait is usually best.
Boilies – Although more associated with Carp Fishing Boilies do make good Barbel baits with spicy, savoury, fishy or meaty flavours being the most effective. Boilies come in all sizes and it is easy to tailor the size to the expected target fish.
Pastes - This once popular Coarse Fishing Bait went out of fashion for a while when the “sexier” baits such as Pellets and Boilies became more readily available, however paste has undergone a bit of revival in recent years and can incorporate the best bits of both Pellets and Boilies. Pastes are made by mixing smellier ingredients like cheese or sausage meat with a binding agent, often bread or pastry mix, however nowadays ground trout pellets and boilie base mixes are often added.
Pastes are usually moulded directly around hooks, although they can also be used with a hair rig set up.
Strongly flavoured and scented pastes make great baits in floodwater conditions.
Spam or Luncheon Meat – Has long been the butt of jokes regarding its palatability, however the Barbel obviously haven’t heard them and they devour it with some relish on most rivers. There are numerous brands and most Anglers have their own particular favourite and they often have their own special additive to enhance the flavour. The only consideration with Luncheon Meat is the fat content (not that Barbel watch their cholesterol) which can affect the bouncy of the bait so switching between brands may call for a minor weighting adjustment.
Luncheon Meat baits are used in cubes, roughly torn chunks or as ‘pellets’ cut using a special punch. It is a good choice in colder weather when using little or no feed bait and as a big bait in high or flood water.
Sweet corn – can be used both as a feeder and a hook bait, and is most suited to using during the Summer months. Given it has been extensively used in some swims it is often coloured using food dyes, as the bright Yellow colour seems to scare off the fish in some locations. Some manufacturers now sell artificial Sweet Corn as a hook bait, however despite the rise in Corn prices of late this seems a bit pointless to us.
Maggots need no introduction to most anglers. During the summer they are generally considered best used in quantity, with free offerings delivered via a blockend feeder. Regularly recasting to keep a trickle of bait going in can see the barbel becoming so intent on feeding that they will nudge and mouth the loaded feeder – sometimes as it falls through the water. In low water conditions in winter maggots can also be useful, but used more sparingly than in summer.
Hempseed requires preparing before use. There are many ways of doing this – one being to buy it ready cooked in a tin! If you are in a hurry the tinned stuff is good, and it is well worth keeping a tin or two in stock for emergencies or short notice sessions. However, preparing your own hempseed will save you a lot of money in the long term.
If you are good at forward planning then soaking the seeds for 24 hours will reduce the cooking time. If you are less organised you will just have to cook your hemp from dry for a little longer. Simply place the seeds in a pan, cover with water, and heat until the water boils then simmer until all the seeds have split and the white shoot is showing. Ensure that the seeds are covered with water during the cooking process. If you have a pressure cooker that you can dedicate to hemp preparation that can be used to cook the seeds more quickly than an open pan. Once cooked decant the seeds and the now oily water into a plastic bucket with a tight fitting lid. Don’t let the cooked seeds dry out.
Cooled, cooked hemp can be bagged in its liquid and frozen for later use.
Primarily used as an attractant, hempseed can also be used as a hookbait – either directly on small hooks, or on hair rigs tied to larger hooks. Artificial hempseed can be an easier to manage alternative as hookbait. Barbel can become preoccupied with hemp, so it is best used sparingly as feed, maybe mixed in with other baits. Hemp and casters are a classic combination, but hemp and small trout or halibut pellets are a modern alternative.
Cost usually prevents anglers from using casters on their own in large quantities, but they are a superb loose feed, introduced via a swimfeeder or a bait dropper in deep or fast water, or with a catapult in slower or shallower swims. They can be combined with other baits as feed and can also be used as hookbaits.
Never discount the humble lobworm as a barbel bait. In days gone by the introduction of hundreds of worms by a trusty manservant was a tactic used by barbel fishers who had trusty menservants. Today the lobworm is seen primarily as bait for use in floodwater conditions when barbel can take them with a vengeance.
Low Clear Rivers-
During the early season when the rivers are running low and the majority of the time clear, can be a tricky time for the Barbel angler. The Barbel may well be ravenous, so heavy feeding of groundbait is accepted as working well. You should be using a smaller bait in clear conditions, generally a 6-8mm pellet or boilie on a hair rig below a small hook. During the summer these should be high in oil to leak off flavour and give a good scent for the Barbs to follow. Barbel will be wary of a larger baits which stand out obviously from there natural foodsources.
You may also choose a few maggots or castors, which alot of people have great success with. I do find however that I am sometimes troubled by smaller nuisance fish.
In the colder months of November through till March the same theory applies. The only difference being that any pellets or boilies should be of the foodsource variety and based on a low oil mix.
High Waters- In rivers that are containing more water than normal and probably carrying a lot more colour, you can increase the size of your baits and think about using meat in its various forms. A Barbel will comfortably go for a 1/4 tin of spam directly on the hook or a larger pellet upto a monster 22mm! You can also use larger hooks and really be more crude in the methods you employ. When using meat it is important, in my opnion to use a quality brand, as they contain less fat and tend to lie on the bottom instead of float.
I have found in the past that during high water, not much will surpass a pellet or nice lump of meat glugged in something smelly (this is a secret I’ll keep, but look in your local shop!)
Warmer v’s Colder weather.
As the seasons change, so must your approach to fishing for Barbel. During the hazy summer days and nights you may feed liberally to encourage fish into and around your chosen swim. The fish are very active when the water is warm, especially when there is some nice summer rain, providing more warm oxygenated water. During these periods are your best chances of catching without doubt. A nice load of rain coming from the South and falling pressure will undoubtedly do the trick!!
During summer months it is best to go for ‘high oil, high attract baits, but as the weather turns and the Barbel become lazy in the cold water you should be looking at ‘food source, low oil pellets and boilies’
Below are some blast frozen food source boilies which can be what the Barbel are after.
Feeding time!!!
As we have previously discussed, feeding your swim can make or break your session. You have two main choices. The first is to feed with solid food type feed and the second is to create a cloud full of small particles.
The first I would definatley recommend in the warmer months when the river is at a normal level. It attracts and holds large numbers of fish in your swim. The more often you cast the better! The second one which creates a cloud of dusty smell and is often used in conjuction with a few pellets or hemp in a sandwich type thing used in the feeder.
The cloud of feed is produced by a method mix, which is very fine particle that are dampened. This is then packed around a weight or in an open ended feeder. It gradually breaks down, providing a scent trail but no actual food source.
A solid type feed is created by soaking halibut/trout pellets overnight in an amount of liquid equivalent to half the pellets i.e. 2 pints pellets + 1 pint liquid. You can easily add bait additives to the water to increase the smell factor! This can then be moulded around a method feeder or, as I do, compressed into an open ended feeder to gradually break down and be released.
Both the above have been introduced to Barbel fishing, mainly by Carp anglers, but we must remember the traditional feeds of hemp and casters. Whenever I make up a groundbait mix, I will always add to it either a bag of casters or a bag of hemp! Often in crystal clear water, the only way to feed is pure hemp and casters on the hook.
Be Patient!
Keeping a constant supply of food going into your swim is vital to attract and keep the fish in it. This should be done by casting regularly with your swimfeeder loaded up. At first you should aim to cast at least 8-10 times per hour for the first two hours. Building up a good bed of feed in the area you have chosen to fish. A really good way of creating a big bed of bait in warm weather is to introduce it with a large bait dropper. Before you intend to start fishing consider spending half an hour dropping out a couple of pints of hemp with a mixed assortment of hookbaits you may use. Now is the best piece of advice I could give……………………….WAIT!!!! For this to be effective, you must leave the swim pre-baited for at least half an hour!! This gives the Barbs time to gain confidence, feeding freely. For this reason, do not be suprised if your rod is pulled over almost immediately. Concentrate from the minute your first baited cast lands!
Below is my baitdropper loaded pellets. On the banks I would load it up with hemp and samples of my chosen hookbait, whether it be castors, pellets or boilies.
So here are a few basic guidelines -
1. High water – Larger smelly baits
2. Low water – Smaller baits/natural (maggots or castors)
3. Cold water – little or no feed
4. Warm water – feed more heavily.
http://www.bobrobertsonline.co.uk/effective-barbel-rigs-%E2%80%93-part-one/
