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3 rigs - what do you reckon?

This thread has been a great read, as a novice 2 rig angler. There has been lots of questions and lots of answers. I was even one who thought, "lets keep it simple approach". I personally have never seen a Barbel feeding in open water, only by Watching Barbel Days and ways have i had any idea how they feed(roll on 3 & 4). Technically i like the look and the idea behind rig 3, and i may encompass this into my armoury, for use on smaller rivers. Personally i believe, the hook length and hook/bait, is the critical factor, not the fixed/ running lead arrangement. IMO
 
Simon, my back stop always consists of 2 float stops so that they will always slide off the line in any event of a break occurring and to safeguard against a fish having a lead attached to it, i suppose i should add that a run ring and bead finishes the setup with the lead attached to the large run ring....j.w
 
John, "Always slide off". Bit of a rash overstatement as even running link swivels don't "always slide off", rather depends on how much line there is for the swivel, bead, float stop or whatever has to run along before its clear, and of course if the line is a huge birds nest of a mess, then it'll never come clear.

Where as if employed correctly the fish-safe lead clip IS as safe a way of fishing a lead behind a weak link.
Where the lead is only tethered to the swivel on the mainline by a link of 3-4lb line.... IMO.
 
Good read but just to much going on for me. Like to keep things simple and would put location far ahead of fancy rigs etc
 
Dean Aston said:
Good read but just to much going on for me. Like to keep things simple and would put location far ahead of fancy rigs etc
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Agreed, with the caveat of bait to match the conditions.

There are plenty of times when pellet/boilie/meat just won't cut it.

Maggots will, though. :)

Find the fish, use the appropriate bait, then set up the appropriate rig.

Don't over-complicate, these are barbel, not wily carp (or chub).
 
I'm not discounting the value of location or getting fish feeding or being quiet etc etc. I feel all that has to be a given.

Tony Miles writes:

Golden rules
So let us put bait into its proper perspective. When I sat with Dick Walker in his hut on the upper Ouse in the summer of 1972, discussing the basic principles of big-fish hunting, he outlined what he called his five golden rules, in order of their importance.

These were…

1) First find your fish.
2) Having found them, don’t scare them.
3) Fish for them at the right time
4) Fish for them in the right way
5) Choose the right bait.

Me: I do think though that we under estimate how many times barbel get away with ejecting hookbaits.

I'd like to hear opinions of people that fished places like the stretches of the ouse where certain big fish remained uncaught season after season.

Do you think getting golden rules right then getting the rig right might have helped that extra bit or not?

Do you get them feeding so confidently rigs are irrelevant?

How do you do this for one big fish at night?

cheers, simon
 
Hi simon
Very interesting thoughts...Ive not fished the ouse but i did talk to a guy who fished adams mill..They were using carp tactics mainly ie leadcore,leadclips/bolt rigs..Ive heard this mentioned before about fish that seem to not get caught...A place i used to carp fish had a massive true english carp estimated at over 40lbs+ that had never graced the banks..A theory that was said then was that this particular fish only fed on naturals that were in the lake ie bloodworm..But this is just a theory..Very interesting question simon..:)
 
Colin, in over 50 years of barbel fishing i have never had a birds nest, nor in my carp days of the same duration, most of my barbel fishing is within 10 yards of the bank, maybe if we meet up at a bfw event one day i will show you the simple set up, i am well aware of the safety bolts available as likewise i have used them since they 1st came out for carp, as for the ouse i cannot comment as i havent fished it for over 45 years, yes highly pressured fish can sometimes succumb to advanced carp rigs. the run ring is neither a swivel nor a bead, just a simple ring with the inside size that can accomodate a cheap biro and a built in loop for a lead clip....j.w
 
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Dean Aston said:
Good read but just to much going on for me. Like to keep things simple and would put location far ahead of fancy rigs etc
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Mirrored my thoughts exactly Deano.

At the end of the day, Barbel aren't the sharpest tool in the box.
Keep it simple and follow the basic rules of angling.

Location Location Location, after that the rest should be easy.

If Barbel are 'getting away with it' regularly, I suggest you look at your bite detection not your rig. Try touch ledgering and actually holding your rod, rather than just simply sitting it in a rest and waiting for it to rip round.......

As we're quoting some of the more well known angling writers, wasn't it Trefor West that said something like..........,
"To catch big Barbel, use meat baits and fish after dark. If your stretch doesn't allow night fishing or you cant into a good peg, go fish another stretch the does allow night fishing and isn't so pressured".


Steve
 
John Walker said:
Simon, my back stop always consists of 2 float stops so that they will always slide off the line in any event of a break occurring and to safeguard against a fish having a lead attached to it, i suppose i should add that a run ring and bead finishes the setup with the lead attached to the large run ring....j.w
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Interesting thread this . John ,I don't know what kind of float stops you use ,but in my experience these devices don't slide off the line easily , in fact they can be used as very effective lead stops ! Get a couple of float stops, put them on some line , put a lead above them and then pull the lead . I know this is a crude way of replicating a snag up but it illustrates the basic fact that the lead will not slide off the line easily if this ' safe' method is used .
 
Steve Williams said:
If Barbel are 'getting away with it' regularly, I suggest you look at your bite detection not your rig. Try touch ledgering and actually holding your rod, rather than just simply sitting it in a rest and waiting for it to rip round.......
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again I agree, just not always realistic with the amount of tea I drink :)
 
Mike. I would say about 30% of barbel anglers use float stops. I don't, because I am of the same opinion as you.

Graham
 
John Walker said:
Colin, in over 50 years of barbel fishing i have never had a birds nest, nor in my carp days of the same duration, most of my barbel fishing is within 10 yards of the bank, maybe if we meet up at a bfw event one day i will show you the simple set up, i am well aware of the safety bolts available as likewise i have used them since they 1st came out for carp, as for the ouse i cannot comment as i havent fished it for over 45 years, yes highly pressured fish can sometimes succumb to advanced carp rigs. the run ring is neither a swivel nor a bead, just a simple ring with the inside size that can accomodate a cheap biro and a built in loop for a lead clip....j.w
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Guess that told me.:eek:;);):D
 
Mike i havent had any problem with the stops sticking, maybe its something to do with size or brand? yes i could see a problem maybe occurring if a lead was used on its own to run up and hit the f/stops as the stop could maybe
get squeezed in the swivel eye, between my runring and f/stops there is a large bead, this smooths things out a bit, in fact when using them to stop a flying backlead or bullet the damn things usually move with the inertia of even light casting, anyway i dont want to clog a decent thread by keeping on about it, i can remember jon callan starting a thread about rigs for barbel
a while back and sure graham would remember this too, rather interesting if its still in the archives.
do barbel suck or do they pick bait up with their lips more? now that could chuck some interesting observations up....j.w
 
John Walker said:
Mike i havent had any problem with the stops sticking, maybe its something to do with size or brand? yes i could see a problem maybe occurring if a lead was used on its own to run up and hit the f/stops as the stop could maybe
get squeezed in the swivel eye, between my runring and f/stops there is a large bead, this smooths things out a bit, in fact when using them to stop a flying backlead or bullet the damn things usually move with the inertia of even light casting, anyway i dont want to clog a decent thread by keeping on about it, i can remember jon callan starting a thread about rigs for barbel
a while back and sure graham would remember this too, rather interesting if its still in the archives.
do barbel suck or do they pick bait up with their lips more? now that could chuck some interesting observations up....j.w[/

Hello John . You could well be right with regard to one brand of stop behaving differently from another . Anyway it's all interesting reading . For what it's worth I think that the very simplest running rig is the best . I don't think the carp based rigs are required at all ,way too sophisticated . Find feeding fish , don't scare em , give them something tasty , keep the line out of the away to avoid spooking and with the proverbial luck and following wind , barbel on .! If they out fox us well so what , it's all part of the fun of fishing . As an aside ,I note several mention of the supposed invisible qualities of flurocarbon in these rig threads , now that claim is very questionable .Fluro attracts suspended sediment like nobodys business , not invisible for long me think! Re sucking in or picking up , hmm , combination of the two maybe ? Whatever they do they can clearly get rid quickly if they don't like the feel of things .
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mikev i agree fluro aint always what folk think it is, for hooklink i prefer korda
the stuff with a dull mud colour or a green colour, its got a real soft casing
its not springy either and peels easy, i find matching the hooklink with the colour of the riverbed helps me, i also squeeze 2 or 3 mouse dropping sized bits of heavy metal on the h/link to pin it down leaving a 2-4 inch bit which has been peeled back free to waft in the current...j.w
 
I reckon flouro in a river will be fine. It's only if it's out for days/hours in lakes that sediment can attach itself I think and reduce is invisibility.

I feel a flowing river, with, ahem, beautifully clean water as all our rivers contain these days, won't affect a 2 foot long flouro hooklength at all.
 
There are occasions when you need to get cute with spooky barbel but I doubt that we need to go quite as far as those imaginative carp boys just yet. After all, they have a lot of waiting time in their bivvies to come up with rigs and stuff :p

This is my standard rig....

files.jpg


If the fish are playing hard to get I will increase the hooklength to 20-25" or, if I feel that I need a softer hooklink, I'll tie 3" of braid onto the end and fish it as a combi-link.

The lead is attached directly to the tail rubber so you have an instant 'bolt' effect when the fish picks up the bait and is set so that the lead will slide free in the event of a line failure. Should I want to use a running rig I simply slide the link above the tail rubber. A rubber bead can be put above the tail rubber in this event but when fishing close in this is unnecessary.

There you have it, a bog standard, dead simple, one model fits all barbel rig.
 
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