• You need to be a registered member of Barbel Fishing World to post on these forums. Some of the forums are hidden from non-members. Please refer to the instructions on the ‘Register’ page for details of how to join the new incarnation of BFW...

Barbel bites/ takes

Chris Allcock

Chris Allcock

Senior Member
I have caught a fair few of these stunning creatures. Everyone one of them has been an aggressive/ vicious takes ie rod doubled over baitrunner screaming off... but the one i caught on the tidal was strange. As I said In previous posts this was a typical bream or eel take.
I can honestly say I think the barbel had mouthed the bait. The hook had just nicked its mouth... until I lifted the rod and set the hook home and that's when all hell broke loose. Freight train springs to mind. What's your thoughts?
 
I think it depends on how well you actually watch your tip/tips,if your using bite alarms then you dont have to be as alert,there are normally a couple of little twitches or taps just before the rod wraps round i find,i dont use alarms unless at night, which is not often at all
 
on the upper lea sometimes all you get is what you think are little chub rattles but strike at them and more often than not they are barbel
i’ve never understood why barbel fishing hasn’t progressed with rigs in the way carp fishing has because if you are using just a hair i guarantee you are getting “done” all the time…. how many of those violent big plucks you get do you put down to chub…… are they chub ? …. i’ve watched first hand on the upper lea barbel pick my hookbait up and eject it ..giving me a big pull on the rod tip……… food for thought isn’t it ?
 
Most of my Barbel takes look exactly like Chub takes, that classic dink dink smash. That said my Pb Barbel was a slow click, click like a bit of weed caught on the line, it was if it was just wondering downstream with a 3oz lead under its fin, odd.

A couple of times this season I’ve had absolute screamers out the blue and it’s never been a Barbel.
 
Plenty of variations in Barbel bites over the years and I tend to hold the rod . I would say that the majority are a tap or two (I hold the line) and then the tip pulls round hard. One variation is when a wary Barbel picks up the bait , gets nicked by the hook ,does not run and then tries to shake loose very carefully, the tip will vibrate. If you strike they are always on. I hit these straight away but maybe if left the rod it would pull over, I have never taken the chance. I have seen very big pressured Barbel pick up a bait in their lips and push backwards with their pecs testing for resistance then spit out the bait. I wonder if the shakers are these fish that get nicked whilst testing a bait. One I have seen on very pressured waters is a single Donk on the rod tip, the tip gives one single solid tap which is very hard to hit. I have watched fish do this and they usually move away from the area of the bait. But this does not stop another barbel in the shoal picking up the bait. I had this a lot on the Kennet on Calpac and Newbury waters about 15 years ago with Barbel between 3lb and 9lb. We set ourselves up to strike these donks and had some fantastic catches. I have had it on other pressured waters but its rare and not always down to poor rigs. If I get this happen I usually change my rig and reposition. I once watched a big fish that went on to be the record drag the rod round 3 ft removing the hair and bait avoiding the hook. Its not always down to pressure and rigs but often that is what causes anything different from the norm. To me its always an accomplishment to get one of these unusual crafty Barbel but they are not always big careful fish. On a Colne session I had two big fish to classical barbel bites and then was donked twice. I changed my rig and repositioned thinking something special was about, a 3lb barbel was the result without another bite. I have found naturals seem to always give positive bites.
 
Terry Harman said:
on the upper lea sometimes all you get is what you think are little chub rattles but strike at them and more often than not they are barbel
i’ve never understood why barbel fishing hasn’t progressed with rigs in the way carp fishing has because if you are using just a hair i guarantee you are getting “done” all the time…. how many of those violent big plucks you get do you put down to chub…… are they chub ? …. i’ve watched first hand on the upper lea barbel pick my hookbait up and eject it ..giving me a big pull on the rod tip……… food for thought isn’t it ?
Click to expand...
I agree Terry.

These days I try and avoid the dreaded ‘3 foot twitch’. Life is so much calmer if you get one bleep on the buzzer to alert you and then a steady lift on a bobbin. I’m also not worrying about my rods being pulled In. Obviously fishing like this is hard if you fish across the Trent with 3 foot on….

No overnight fishing or bivvies involved either. It’s all short sessions.

Im fishing the best rigs I can construct, using rods as close to horizontal as I can get, running leads that just hold bottom not cast far downstream and throwing a slight bow into the flow. Then balancing a heavy (as required) bobbin on a short drop with a decent indicator. I want to know when something mouths the bait and where I’m fishing it doesn’t happen often - so relying on watching the rod tip doesn’t work for me. I want to see (hear!) the bite at the reel end of the rod rather than the rod tip.

I’ve done plenty of carp fishing in the past as well as a stretch fishing for decent chub - so playing around with rigs interests me. I’m sure it makes a difference for other species - so the same almost certainly applies to barbel. I don’t think they are as stupid as some people suggest ! If I’m fishing 2 rods, I almost never have 2 identical rigs on at the same time - my analytical mind tells me that you can always build a better mousetrap…….
 
I had two 'classic' barbel takes yesterday and one as Jon described. They were all hooked in the lower lip, in the corner. I get more of those more hesitant bites when using double baits such as two maize grains or double banded 6mm pellets.
 
Tim Marks said:
I agree Terry.

These days I try and avoid the dreaded ‘3 foot twitch’. Life is so much calmer if you get one bleep on the buzzer to alert you and then a steady lift on a bobbin. I’m also not worrying about my rods being pulled In. Obviously fishing like this is hard if you fish across the Trent with 3 foot on….

No overnight fishing or bivvies involved either. It’s all short sessions.

Im fishing the best rigs I can construct, using rods as close to horizontal as I can get, running leads that just hold bottom not cast far downstream and throwing a slight bow into the flow. Then balancing a heavy (as required) bobbin on a short drop with a decent indicator. I want to know when something mouths the bait and where I’m fishing it doesn’t happen often - so relying on watching the rod tip doesn’t work for me. I want to see (hear!) the bite at the reel end of the rod rather than the rod tip.

I’ve done plenty of carp fishing in the past as well as a stretch fishing for decent chub - so playing around with rigs interests me. I’m sure it makes a difference for other species - so the same almost certainly applies to barbel. I don’t think they are as stupid as some people suggest ! If I’m fishing 2 rods, I almost never have 2 identical rigs on at the same time - my analytical mind tells me that you can always build a better mousetrap…….
Click to expand...
have used a “german rig “ on a couple of occasions this year and have had some success
 
Tim Marks said:
Im fishing the best rigs I can construct, using rods as close to horizontal as I can get, running leads that just hold bottom not cast far downstream and throwing a slight bow into the flow. Then balancing a heavy (as required) bobbin on a short drop with a decent indicator. I want to know when something mouths the bait and where I’m fishing it doesn’t happen often - so relying on watching the rod tip doesn’t work for me. I want to see (hear!) the bite at the reel end of the rod rather than the rod.
Click to expand...
Absolutely spot-on Tim. Although I don't use bobbins myself.

Some anglers must get terrible neck ache at the end of session, I'm amazed how often I see rod tips pointing at the sky when conditions dont warrant it. Plays havoc with bite indication.
 
I remember a night session with a friend on the lower middle severn once, we were just getting little, frustrating taps. Eventually we decided to try hitting them and started catching barbel, ended up with a handful each, all the same bite. Very weird, never experienced anything like it since, though maybe I'd catch more of I did start hitting them, who knows. Usually just wait for the whacking big bite.
 
this with a critically balanced hookbait so it just hovers above the hook …don’t know why it’s called a german rig… perhaps it’s because it’s reliable 😀

when you use a wafter or critically balanced bait it sits up and masks the hook
F547C607-DB2D-452F-8CFE-E748299CD23D.jpeg
 
Last edited:
i actually just use a supple braid with it and i use a shrink tube kicker on ALL my rigs… and like a said before a normal hair rig is much easier to eject
fish aren’t worried about a small bit of tubing they pick up small twigs and detritus of the bottom all the time
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top