I fish a stretch of the Bristol Avon for the majority of my barbel. The particular stretch that I like is very narrow, sometimes as little as a few yards wide and also not very deep, as low as 12 inches in some places. Being so shallow, fish location is made a lot easier and with the help of some polaroid sunglasses and a bucket of hemp I can usually find some good looking swims. These swims are usually fairly snaggy so I use a multi-strand braid as a hook length. These are far more robust than the usual nylon lines and also more supple, this means that the bait will behave more naturally when under water.

I tend to make up rigs at home in good light so that I can make sure that I’ve got everything just right. I transport them in a plastic ‘rig-bin’ that, although takes up a lot of room in my bag, is a life saver when fishing after dark. The rigs that I make are usually constructed using the following :

10lb Kryston Silkworm
30lb Berkley swivels
Size 8 Drennan Continental Bollie Hooks

The hair part of the above rig is actually the same length of line as the hook length, and is tied as follows :

Tie a 5mm loop at the end of a 25-30cm length of Silkworm or other braid.

Lay the line along the shank of the hook leaving 3-4cm of hair and thread the long tail through the eye of the hook.

Double back the long tail and whip the hair to the shank of the hook 5-6 times.

Thread the long tail back up through the back of the eye and pull tight. A small blob of super glue can be added to strengthen the knot although I have found this not to be essential.​

The other end of the hook length is tied to the swivel using a Palomar knot, as is the main line.

Andy Frances