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Barbel

Lee Backshall

Lee Backshall

Senior Member
I read and hear that in general Barbel aren't hard to catch.
So the first question is ....really? I'm struggling.
Next question, if the first statement is true then surely it wouldn't matter so much were you fish and what bait to use.
So I'm beginning to think they are harder to catch than people make out, if so.... is LOCATION more important than bait choice OR is BAIT CHOICE more important as the free offerings and smells would draw them to you wherever you fish.
your varied thoughts and opinions are more than welcome. I'm fishing the River Ribble. (Not the free strech)
 
No fish is hard to catch if you can find them and they are willing to feed.
So yes, the location, the timing and the condition is much more important than your bait choice.
I rarely use free offerings/groud bait nowadays, just drop one single hook bait (worm in most cases or meat if I am too lazy to dig) to likely spots, give it 10-20 mins, move one.

I am fishing upper Thames BTW.
 
Huanzhou Zhu said:
No fish is hard to catch if you can find them and they are willing to feed.
So yes, the location and the condition is much more important than your bait choice.
I rarely use free offerings/groud bait nowadays, just drop one single hook bait (worm in most cases or meat if I am too lazy to dig) to likely spots, give it 10-20 mins, move one.

I am fishing upper Thames BTW.
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One more thing, the barbel population is declining, thats why people thinks it is hard to catch, simply because they are not there. So first thing first, make sure the swim you are fishing holds barbel.
 
Joe Winstanley said:
Location is always THE most important factor in any form of fishing. If the fish aren't in front of you then it simply doesn't matter what methods or bait you employ.

Are people catching around you? Are the areas you are fishing known to produce barbel?
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Joe the area in general is known for barbel yes.....the exact swims un sure about
 
Huanzhou Zhu said:
One more thing, the barbel population is declining, thats why people thinks it is hard to catch, simply because they are not there. So first thing first, make sure the swim you are fishing holds barbel.
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And I'm hustings the only way to find out is to fish and document?
 
I used to fish the upper Ribble a lot, got to know the swims and caught fairly consistently.
The key in my case at least was putting in the hours , keeping diaries and eventually being confident in where I was putting the bait.
Sounds easy , well it is not rocket science , but I can say that certain places , even within a swim could be red hot , be a couple of feet out and there was no interest.
There were always the ” tourists” ( barbel that free range ) that could be relied upon to appear occasionally and just chucking and chancing may well produce one, but in the main I would say walk the banks , look for the places you consider would be likley holding areas, bait them and fish them .

The Ribble, being a spate river is ideal in the times of low water levels to check out the river , look for those telltale areas and try them later .
Worked for me . You should remember though that fearures can change with the help of floodwater and bankside ( mis) management . Then you have to start all over again .

David
 
Lee Backshall said:
Joe the area in general is known for barbel yes.....the exact swims un sure about
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David Craine said:
I used to fish the upper Ribble a lot, got to know the swims and caught fairly consistently. The key in my case at least was putting in the hours , keeping diaries and eventually being confident in where I was putting the bait. Sounds easy , well it is not rocket science , but I can say that certain places , even within a swim could be red hot , be a couple of feet out and there was no interest. There were always the ” tourists” ( barbel that free range ) that could be relied upon to appear occasionally and just chucking and chancing may well produce one, but in the main I would say walk the banks , look for the places you consider would be likley holding areas, bait them and fish them . The Ribble, being a spate river is ideal in the times of low water levels to check out the river , look for those telltale areas and try them later . Worked for me . You should remember though that fearures can change with the help of floodwater and bankside ( mis) management . Then you have to start all over again . David
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Joe Winstanley said:
Location is always THE most important factor in any form of fishing. If the fish aren't in front of you then it simply doesn't matter what methods or bait you employ. Are people catching around you? Are the areas you are fishing known to produce barbel?
Click to expand...
 
Lee Backshall said:
Joe the area in general is known for barbel yes.....the exact swims un sure about
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David's advice is very sound.

Channel your efforts into location, then once you have found areas that hold barbel then think about rigs/bait etc. If your unsure about what sort of swim to look for, then one way is to look for swims that clearly see a lot of footfall, particularly if they are away from car parks. And walk the banks to see what's going on.

Once you've found fish, keep it simple. A basic running rig with a 2-3' mono hook length is a good place to start. Hair-rigged pellet or boilie, and be careful with baiting initially, don't over do it. And fish a few hours into dark if your comfortable doing so - but stay safe. Lots of good tips on here regarding bankside safety.
 
Basically, I agree will all that others have written above... but as a general rule I'd add "If what you're doing (or where you're doing it) isn't working, then do something different". That is, don't keep flogging the same old swim(s) with the same baits/tactics.
Maybe invest in a Trefor West book (e.g. "Barbel: A lifetime's addiction"). That guy often used to catch upwards of 400 barbel a year, and he didn't do it by taking a lot of gear and sitting in one swim. He went after the barbel ...he didn't wait for them to come to him. And although he was highly successful, he would at times walk the banks asking other, less experienced anglers, how they were doing. He worked it, bless him:)
After 50 years of barbel fishing I know I'm still learning, and that's the beauty of it.
 
Lee Backshall said:
I read and hear that in general Barbel aren't hard to catch.
So the first question is ....really? I'm struggling.
Next question, if the first statement is true then surely it wouldn't matter so much were you fish and what bait to use.
So I'm beginning to think they are harder to catch than people make out, if so.... is LOCATION more important than bait choice OR is BAIT CHOICE more important as the free offerings and smells would draw them to you wherever you fish.
your varied thoughts and opinions are more than welcome. I'm fishing the River Ribble. (Not the free strech)
Click to expand...
Your local fishing tackle shop will be a mine of information, just ask. Most staff will give you a couple of venues to have a go at.
Good Luck.
G.T.
 
They are easy to catch on stretches that contain large amounts of barbel but it still needs you to put the bait in the right place. I know plenty of pegs on the Severn where you can bag up but only if you cast to a certain part of the swim. Cast anywhere else and you might get lucky and catch one or two but hit the right spot and you can have 10 or more in a few hours. Lower stock stretches are a different ball game though. Takes time to find the sweet spot due to bites being at a premium. It’s all part of the fun though
 
were you fishing and what clubs if any your a member
as jon says in his post and the ribble is no different you must cast to the correct part of you swim.
certain areas hold more fish i am just fishing for numbers at the moment till october then go to swims what hold decent fish.
when the banks are quieter
 
Another key bit of advice I would add, is that when talking to other anglers on the bank and if they are open about having caught barbel, ask them what time they caught. For me that's of much more interest then where they caught them (I want to work that out for myself). Often feeding spells are at distinct times of the day - finding out what time others are catching can help you build up a picture, so you can target your time more effectively.
 
Jon Young said:
They are easy to catch on stretches that contain large amounts of barbel but it still needs you to put the bait in the right place. I know plenty of pegs on the Severn where you can bag up but only if you cast to a certain part of the swim. Cast anywhere else and you might get lucky and catch one or two but hit the right spot and you can have 10 or more in a few hours. Lower stock stretches are a different ball game though. Takes time to find the sweet spot due to bites being at a premium. It’s all part of the fun though
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So your saying there are ket spots in a swim.....not just a case of chucking and waiting?
 
Lee Backshall said:
So your saying there are ket spots in a swim.....not just a case of chucking and waiting?
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Yes, like I said before, find the spot in the swim. They hide in certain spots, like a deep hole, overhanging tree etc, you can certainly try to bait and attract them out, but sometimes they just not interested, even it’s only few feet away.
 
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