Stephen Crowhurst
Senior Member
I was hoping I could get some input, preferably local specific, as well as to increase my Barbel to bank hours ratio. I fished the Wye this year and was blown away at the stocking density and had an excellent days sport.
I'm a Ringwood DAA member mostly fishing beat 2 of the stour. Not the easiest river but I'm sure my average of 1 or 2 barbel a season could be improved, a fair bit. I mostly fish short sessions of three to five hours, sometimes just an hour, grabbing what I can between work and home. This normally gets me out twice a week in all but the depths of winter. I'm thinking about switching to quieter less pressured stretches or even the Avon, not exclusively but broadening my fishing operations. They say the Avon is harder, but I can't really see how it could be harder at my current rate.
My current approach which is how I've caught most if not all my Barbel is to find fish, if possible, visually. Then either bait dropper a few droppers of pellet or fish a feeder full of pellet, depending on the scenario. The baited hook is then left in situee for about an hour or as long as I can before getting paranoid it's caught up or the baits come off, or weed etc wipes me out. Rig wise I use a 12lb main line with a lead clip then a combo hook length of 10lb flourocarbon to a hook end of 8lb sink braid and vary hook size depending on bait from 16 to 10. I hair rig a single or pair of 10mm source bollies.
So the main things I wish to clarify;
Is a hook bait say there for 20 minutes to an hour doing me harm, should I actually be sitting on it for an hour or three? Obviously hook bait will affect the possibility here.
Secondly should I ditch the feeder and use PVA?
Are there better/quieter places I'm missing out on sport from locally.
I've been told that fish on gravel shallows are feeding and I should focus on deep holes. This seems counter intuitive to me as not only would I be fishing for nothing potentially but I can observe fish feeding in shallows.
Sorry for the long post. All help is appreciated.
I'm a Ringwood DAA member mostly fishing beat 2 of the stour. Not the easiest river but I'm sure my average of 1 or 2 barbel a season could be improved, a fair bit. I mostly fish short sessions of three to five hours, sometimes just an hour, grabbing what I can between work and home. This normally gets me out twice a week in all but the depths of winter. I'm thinking about switching to quieter less pressured stretches or even the Avon, not exclusively but broadening my fishing operations. They say the Avon is harder, but I can't really see how it could be harder at my current rate.
My current approach which is how I've caught most if not all my Barbel is to find fish, if possible, visually. Then either bait dropper a few droppers of pellet or fish a feeder full of pellet, depending on the scenario. The baited hook is then left in situee for about an hour or as long as I can before getting paranoid it's caught up or the baits come off, or weed etc wipes me out. Rig wise I use a 12lb main line with a lead clip then a combo hook length of 10lb flourocarbon to a hook end of 8lb sink braid and vary hook size depending on bait from 16 to 10. I hair rig a single or pair of 10mm source bollies.
So the main things I wish to clarify;
Is a hook bait say there for 20 minutes to an hour doing me harm, should I actually be sitting on it for an hour or three? Obviously hook bait will affect the possibility here.
Secondly should I ditch the feeder and use PVA?
Are there better/quieter places I'm missing out on sport from locally.
I've been told that fish on gravel shallows are feeding and I should focus on deep holes. This seems counter intuitive to me as not only would I be fishing for nothing potentially but I can observe fish feeding in shallows.
Sorry for the long post. All help is appreciated.