Paul Richardson
Senior Member & Supporter
What he has....
Joking aside and I'm certainly NO expert on float fishing for barbel, but doesn't it depend on how you're going to fish it?
If you're in the river, this changes things a lot and I use an old Daiwa Connoisseur Tommy Pickering 12' waggler rod, and it's landed Swale barbel to 9lb and is just a joy to fish with, but a power rod it isn't.But you can use the current to your advantage, pivot 360 degrees so you're following fish upstream if they go that way and you can sometimes watch the fight so you have a much better idea when to clamp down on the spool and still play and land fish in a sensible timescale.
If i'm fishing from the bank, I'll use a 16' power rod ( I use a Cadence #2) and I'll have to use the power lower down to try and stop them ( or big chub) from getting into the numerous willows/ snags
Also I'm using bigger floats on the 16' - Bolos, loafers or speci-wagglers and deeper runs too, so I need that extra length.
Can't comment on the Severn but I have fished the Wye a fair bit and on one ticket you could have fast, shallow runs and deep glides and the approach would be different for me .
If you look at the Hadrian Whittle videos on-line it's worth a watch and he uses relatively light gear and lands some Wye lumps but, he's in the river and it does make a big difference.
Joking aside and I'm certainly NO expert on float fishing for barbel, but doesn't it depend on how you're going to fish it?
If you're in the river, this changes things a lot and I use an old Daiwa Connoisseur Tommy Pickering 12' waggler rod, and it's landed Swale barbel to 9lb and is just a joy to fish with, but a power rod it isn't.But you can use the current to your advantage, pivot 360 degrees so you're following fish upstream if they go that way and you can sometimes watch the fight so you have a much better idea when to clamp down on the spool and still play and land fish in a sensible timescale.
If i'm fishing from the bank, I'll use a 16' power rod ( I use a Cadence #2) and I'll have to use the power lower down to try and stop them ( or big chub) from getting into the numerous willows/ snags
Also I'm using bigger floats on the 16' - Bolos, loafers or speci-wagglers and deeper runs too, so I need that extra length.
Can't comment on the Severn but I have fished the Wye a fair bit and on one ticket you could have fast, shallow runs and deep glides and the approach would be different for me .
If you look at the Hadrian Whittle videos on-line it's worth a watch and he uses relatively light gear and lands some Wye lumps but, he's in the river and it does make a big difference.
