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Barbel Help

Ashley Francis

Ashley Francis

New Member
Firstly hello I’m a new member here, great to see such a solid community.

Now my main reason for joining is I’m struggling to catch a barbel let me explain.

Over the last 2 years I have fished at the following venues for a total fishing time of around 260hrs:

- River Severn (Hampton loade) knivers side
- River Wye (letton court)
- River Lea (kings weir)
- River Avon (anchor meadow) in all fairness i did see an otter (nearly close enough I could have strangled it) probably why I caught nothing

Each venue I’ve tried varying hook lengths from 1ft to 3ft.

Hook baits Halibut pellet (12mm + 15mm) + luncheon meat

Baiting up the area before and during little and often.

Use of river feeders and just lead

Fishing features closest to the main flow and sections fast and slack.

STILL NO BARBEL

I’m trying to work out what I’m doing wrong or what I need to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Welcome Ashley, I feel your pain.

I mainly fish the fishless upper Trent. Before that the Dove. One thing you haven't said, is what time of the day are you fishing ?? When I have caught Barbel out of the above rivers, it's nearly always in the dark.

Something else, I fed far too much bait in the beginning. Being an ex matchman, it was just natural. Once I started to feed just a little, my catch rate improved. Give a small bait a go. Single 8mm pellet on a flouocarbon hooklength, and just trickle a small amount of freebies in. A small PVA mesh bag of pellets or crushed boilies attached to the lead or hook.

Having said that, I still don't catch much. In the end, I moved to a different stretch and started to have a few.

Keep at it. 👍
 
You seem to have it all going in the right direction. Only advice I’d give is take some time and find a venue that’s prolific and offers you plenty of barbel . Kings weir and the Avon are very pressured or very low fish population waters .
Find a stretch of the Severn or wye where there are plenty of average sized fish , and shoals of them .
Don’t set your targets to high . Catch some fish and enjoy it and go from there 😊🌞👍🎣
 
Ashley Francis said:
Firstly hello I’m a new member here, great to see such a solid community.

Now my main reason for joining is I’m struggling to catch a barbel let me explain.

Over the last 2 years I have fished at the following venues for a total fishing time of around 260hrs:

- River Severn (Hampton loade) knivers side
- River Wye (letton court)
- River Lea (kings weir)
- River Avon (anchor meadow) in all fairness i did see an otter (nearly close enough I could have strangled it) probably why I caught nothing

Each venue I’ve tried varying hook lengths from 1ft to 3ft.

Hook baits Halibut pellet (12mm + 15mm) + luncheon meat

Baiting up the area before and during little and often.

Use of river feeders and just lead

Fishing features closest to the main flow and sections fast and slack.

STILL NO BARBEL

I’m trying to work out what I’m doing wrong or what I need to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Pm sent Ashley. I have given you a long message to read. Access it by the envelope symbol at the top of the page.
 
Last edited:
Hi Ashley, Ive fished Letton and Hampton Loade a long time ago, if you go to Letton again let me know and I can definitely give you some advice on where to fish. That said if you persist with a simple pellet feeder rig on the Severn and Wye you will catch, two things Id recommend that work for me... when its low in summer I often fish long hook lengths up to 5' and a single banded 6mm pellet to a 14. The second thing is do not remain static in one swim, i'd fish a MAX of 30 mins in each swim and tbh I more often move after 15 mins if I get no touches. By moving you cover more water and it won't be long before you drop your bait on a barbel's nose !!
 
Ashley Francis said:
Firstly hello I’m a new member here, great to see such a solid community.

Now my main reason for joining is I’m struggling to catch a barbel let me explain.

Over the last 2 years I have fished at the following venues for a total fishing time of around 260hrs:

- River Severn (Hampton loade) knivers side
- River Wye (letton court)
- River Lea (kings weir)
- River Avon (anchor meadow) in all fairness i did see an otter (nearly close enough I could have strangled it) probably why I caught nothing

Each venue I’ve tried varying hook lengths from 1ft to 3ft.

Hook baits Halibut pellet (12mm + 15mm) + luncheon meat

Baiting up the area before and during little and often.

Use of river feeders and just lead

Fishing features closest to the main flow and sections fast and slack.

STILL NO BARBEL

I’m trying to work out what I’m doing wrong or what I need to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Welcome Ashley!

It sounds to me you pretty much are doing everything Right. Just keep doing what you are doing dude, and they'll come!
Try travelling light, that's if you don't already and move swims try to find the buggers.
I travel light when I'm not night fishing.
1 rod, sometimes 2, drennan specialist roving bag with unhooking mat attached. Bait pouch for bits and bobs, landing net on my back. And additional unhooking mat round my waist with a bungee for sitting on. And a light weight carbon fibre brolly.
Trust me they will come!
Chris.
 
We are all guilty of it. Choosing a swim because it looks good above the water surface.
What they see and what we see are two completely different perspectives of the river.
Take a rod armed up with a heavy lead and a super buoyant float and go find some stuff that’s good below the water surface. Or use a deeper if preferred.
It will pay in dividends
 
Hi Ashley. My barbel fishing is limited to a couple of weeks a year as my local river (Wensum) is now almost totally devoid of barbel due to a combo of pollution and predation.
There has been some excellent advice already given by members who probably know far more than me about catching barbel. However, I usually successful when I do target them.
What works for me is:
1. Going light and roving
2. Single halibut pellet or cube of luncheon meat
3. Do NOT overfeed the swim. Small PVA bags with hemp/micropellets
4. Experiment with hooklengths. I start with 18" and increase by 6" up to 4'
5. Fluorocarbon hooklengths work best for me
6. Hold onto the rod!! I lost a lovely Shimano rod/reel combo at Backney (Wye) some years ago when I let go of the rod for a few seconds to pour a coffee! Naturally the barbel was watching me and nicked my gear!!
7. Finally, keep the faith. You WILL hook and barbel and you'll love it.
Tight lines
 
A few years ago, Ashley, I had a friends with similar travails; everyone else fishing the same venues was catching and he wasn't. Also, he was using methods and baits (as you are) that should buy a few fish here or there. Then one day, at his lowest ebb....BOOM....he started catching, and he still is.
Some situations just beggar belief and can't rationally be explained - this being one.
As someone else said, just keep at it, particularly on the Wye or Severn. Have a read of the River Reports for those rivers and ask questions - you are amongst friends. I see Cliff has already offered his time - good on him. I'm sure others will offer more localised advice too.
 
I’ve only been Barbel fishing a couple of years although other fishing well over 50 years
one thing I’ve noticed is how many have there rod tips pointing skywards even on small / medium sized rivers
I always have my rod tips at eye level and watch the tips for any sign of movement in the swim
even the little stuff can tell you what you want to know , if I’m getting lots of sharp pulls / knocks but no bite I’ll introduce a bit more bait to gain a bit of confidence , and sooner or later the barbel will turn up and move the other fish out of the way .
you can’t do this with tips pointing towards the moon with bite alarms and watching p0rn on your phone 🤣

also I’d fish a venue with a lot more stock , gain some confidence catching a few then move onto harder waters

and always try and fish an hour into dark or early mornings, you’ll soon realise there quite easy to catch (mostly) at those times , they seem to turn up out of nowhere !
 
Ashley Francis said:
Firstly hello I’m a new member here, great to see such a solid community.

Now my main reason for joining is I’m struggling to catch a barbel let me explain.

Over the last 2 years I have fished at the following venues for a total fishing time of around 260hrs:

- River Severn (Hampton loade) knivers side
- River Wye (letton court)
- River Lea (kings weir)
- River Avon (anchor meadow) in all fairness i did see an otter (nearly close enough I could have strangled it) probably why I caught nothing

Each venue I’ve tried varying hook lengths from 1ft to 3ft.

Hook baits Halibut pellet (12mm + 15mm) + luncheon meat

Baiting up the area before and during little and often.

Use of river feeders and just lead

Fishing features closest to the main flow and sections fast and slack.

STILL NO BARBEL

I’m trying to work out what I’m doing wrong or what I need to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Ashley.

Photos sent.
G
 
Great advice above, adding here from my own experiences on the Kennet. I will prefix it with the fact there is a very good barbel population in this part of the Kennet. Also every river is very different shoals almost have their own unique characters depending on where you are. But the point is the amount of variables and you still need to catch them. So you much try ANYTHING. How many 18" hooklinks with a halibut pellet have been chucked in the wye, maybe it works sometimes but you can be different! Here goes.
1. Try a lobworm!! Not seen this above, strange. goto bait for me. On my river meat normally works better in autumn when the smell is preferred to sight.
2. Mentioned above fish near side downstream slacks and margins with your rod as close to the river as possible. Almost like a match feeder.
3. Fish light and move more. If you fish post dawn and pre dusk, move a lot. I would give 15 - 30 min in a swim in summer, if not even a liner there's nothing there. Further backed up by the above feed very little, so your not drawing fish into your swim your effectively hunting them.
4. Be super quiet as possible. Goes well with carry light.
5. Use a back led where possible. If you're fishing close in then back led your mainline.
6. Don't use a bolt rig! If your fish spook easy and are hard to find (I'm guessing they are) let your quiver do the work.
7. Use as light a lead as possible. If you are essentially looking for them, you don't absolutely have to have a static bait. You could even try a paternoster with a Lobby on and let the rig move down into a natural slack to settle.
8. With a light lead use a big sharp hook! In summer if there is something there it will be hungry! I use a size 6 gardener hand sharpened mugga. It won't let you down and is hard to see considering it's size.
9. The most important thing I've learned is to look for the fish!! Get a decent pair of polarised glasses and a hat. Go down the river during an overcast warm day and don't fish. Just walk the beat and look for signs. Up high where you can and spot the flint of the flank.

Whatever happens good luck and don't give up!! It will come my friend.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
We are all guilty of it. Choosing a swim because it looks good above the water surface.
What they see and what we see are two completely different perspectives of the river.
Take a rod armed up with a heavy lead and a super buoyant float and go find some stuff that’s good below the water surface. Or use a deeper if preferred.
It will pay in dividends
Click to expand...
Anthony James said:
Great advice above, adding here from my own experiences on the Kennet. I will prefix it with the fact there is a very good barbel population in this part of the Kennet. Also every river is very different shoals almost have their own unique characters depending on where you are. But the point is the amount of variables and you still need to catch them. So you much try ANYTHING. How many 18" hooklinks with a halibut pellet have been chucked in the wye, maybe it works sometimes but you can be different! Here goes.
1. Try a lobworm!! Not seen this above, strange. goto bait for me. On my river meat normally works better in autumn when the smell is preferred to sight.
2. Mentioned above fish near side downstream slacks and margins with your rod as close to the river as possible. Almost like a match feeder.
3. Fish light and move more. If you fish post dawn and pre dusk, move a lot. I would give 15 - 30 min in a swim in summer, if not even a liner there's nothing there. Further backed up by the above feed very little, so your not drawing fish into your swim your effectively hunting them.
4. Be super quiet as possible. Goes well with carry light.
5. Use a back led where possible. If you're fishing close in then back led your mainline.
6. Don't use a bolt rig! If your fish spook easy and are hard to find (I'm guessing they are) let your quiver do the work.
7. Use as light a lead as possible. If you are essentially looking for them, you don't absolutely have to have a static bait. You could even try a paternoster with a Lobby on and let the rig move down into a natural slack to settle.
8. With a light lead use a big sharp hook! In summer if there is something there it will be hungry! I use a size 6 gardener hand sharpened mugga. It won't let you down and is hard to see considering it's size.
9. The most important thing I've learned is to look for the fish!! Get a decent pair of polarised glasses and a hat. Go down the river during an overcast warm day and don't fish. Just walk the beat and look for signs. Up high where you can and spot the flint of the flank.

Whatever happens good luck and don't give up!! It will come my friend.
Click to expand...
I use as light a lead as I can and an olivette between two drennan float stops set a couple of feet above the lead .
 
Ashley Francis said:
Firstly hello I’m a new member here, great to see such a solid community.

Now my main reason for joining is I’m struggling to catch a barbel let me explain.

Over the last 2 years I have fished at the following venues for a total fishing time of around 260hrs:

- River Severn (Hampton loade) knivers side
- River Wye (letton court)
- River Lea (kings weir)
- River Avon (anchor meadow) in all fairness i did see an otter (nearly close enough I could have strangled it) probably why I caught nothing

Each venue I’ve tried varying hook lengths from 1ft to 3ft.

Hook baits Halibut pellet (12mm + 15mm) + luncheon meat

Baiting up the area before and during little and often.

Use of river feeders and just lead

Fishing features closest to the main flow and sections fast and slack.

STILL NO BARBEL

I’m trying to work out what I’m doing wrong or what I need to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
And WHEN you do catch pop up some photos and a write up for us to enjoy 👍🎣🌞
 
Barry Peck said:
I use as light a lead as I can and an olivette between two drennan float stops set a couple of feet above the lead .
Click to expand...
I tied on a heavy lead directly to the line and have nothing on the line but a big float held inline with 2 rubbers.
I want the lead to go straight down not get carried any distance by the flow. If the float lays flat I’ll move it down till I get a depth

I just keep chucking it about make afew adjustments and notes to build up a picture
 
Another vote for small pellets 8-10mm especially if you are feeding smaller mixed pellets
It’s amazing the difference can make
I fished with small dumbbells last week on one rod and couldn’t buy a bite
Switched to a large elips and a 10mm plain old halibut pellet and had some brilliant sport
Took a while to get the swim going but once I did, fed a dry ish groundbait/ hemp/ small pellet feeder and a small 50g feeder and caught all day
 
Paul Richardson said:
Another vote for small pellets 8-10mm especially if you are feeding smaller mixed pellets
It’s amazing the difference can make
I fished with small dumbbells last week on one rod and couldn’t buy a bite
Switched to a large elips and a 10mm plain old halibut pellet and had some brilliant sport
Took a while to get the swim going but once I did, fed a dry ish groundbait/ hemp/ small pellet feeder and a small 50g feeder and caught all day
Click to expand...
Very similar to info I've given Ashley with photos
 
What’s your local river? Maybe some of the guys who fish it may be able to give you more specific advice to get off the mark
 
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