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The holding swims and passing swims are difficult to work out. But I do think I know of one holding swim at least, and I’ll always start off there just to see if any fish are present. It’s hard to say with any real certainty though because you can’t see the fish. It could be a case that I always...

Cheers for the reply, Phil. Do you find that the barbel are in the same places where you fish? And you just need a different approach to catch them? Or do they seem to migrate elsewhere? The pellets have been put away already, I’ll be on the maggot feeder next time out with maggot, caster and...

As winter draws closer and we’ve already seen the first frosts. Where do the barbel go in your rivers? I’ve been fishing my local small river this season, exploring a stretch over a good few miles, and with good success. I’ve caught 11 barbel from two swims, but mostly only those swims...

Not a river, but the South Yorkshire Navigation Canal does converge with the River Don at various points. It’s a nice picture from yesterday morning that I thought others might appreciate (feel free to remove if this violates the thread 😗)

I’ve had good results this year with Sonubaits Spicy Sausage pellets. I’ve had 11 barbel to 10lb 2oz in approximately 12 sessions, the vast majority have been no more than 2.5 hours after work quickies, with a few longer ones as well. The best success has been with a single 8mm on the hair...

Same here, Mike. I use exactly the same approach as you, it’s worked out well for me. I try not to overcomplicate my rigs, but that’s not to say I shall never try new things. It’s always worth keeping an open mind.

There is some cushioning on the back rest but not on the actual seat. It’s comfy enough though, certainly for short roving sessions. Not sure you’d find it suitable for an all nighter/day session. It would need a taller back so I could rest my head, for me.

I took delivery of the Korum Transitions ruckbag on Thursday, initially I thought it looked a bit big, but then I started packing bits into it and now it’s quite full. I looked at the Drennan and the Thinking Anglers ruckbags, but opted for the Korum as I know I can clip my Korum Supalite chair...

Always just one rod for me, I’m happier just focusing on one swim, getting the feed right and looking for indications. I think I’d get in a right mess if two rods went off at the same time. I prefer to watch the tip, but do have a bait runner set just in case my mind wanders and I get distracted...

Well my pva clips haven’t arrived yet so I ended up attaching the pva mesh bags to my lead clip, just pushed it through and slid the rubber over. Seemed to do the trick and the weight of the lead took the bait straight to the bottom where it broke down as it should. It must have worked as I...

I find fish behaviour really interesting. I was fishing last Friday and found a shallow section that contained a shoal of around four bream, as my eyes adjusted I saw a few lone chub and a couple of carp every now and then. No barbel though sadly, but the thing that surprised me that I’ve never...

Just seen there’s another thread on this topic, sorry for the repeated question. I should have looked really. My questions are answered in here: https://barbel.co.uk/forum/threads/pva-mesh.17829/

Thanks Terry, I’d not seen those before. Looks a good idea.

I’ve got a new PVA mesh dispenser on order ready to use this weekend. I’d like to get your thoughts on how I’m planning to use it, to see if I’m missing any tricks. I’ll be fishing the local river, mostly in swims that are no more than 3-4t deep. The flow is mostly steady, with some faster...

I only joined myself this afternoon, so it feels a bit strange to say welcome. But welcome all the same.

Thanks Brian. That’s it’s main problem, there are so many swims that just scream barbel, but there’s not quite enough barbel to go round them all. They’re few and far between, but grow to a good size.

I somehow managed to miss chub off my fish list up there. I’ve definitely caught them this year, every time I fish for barbel 😂

Thanks lads. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of questions to annoy you all with 👍🏻

I’ve set a slightly different target for this year, and that’s 21 species for 2021. Roach ✅ Rudd ✅ Perch ✅ Dace ✅ Bream ✅ Tench ✅ Crucian ✅ Ide ✅ Gudgeon ✅ Minnow ✅ Mirror carp ✅ Common Carp ✅ F1 ✅ Ghost carp ❌ Silver Bream ❌ Bleak ❌ Grayling ❌ Trout ❌ Eel ❌ Tommy Ruffe ❌ Barbel ❌ So far I’m...

There’s some amazing pictures here, truly beautiful stuff. Happy to add a couple of my own from my local river Dearne.