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Foul hooking barbel while float fishing

J

Justin Martin

Senior Member
Hi recently the guy I fish with has been foul hooking barbel on a fairly regular basis just wanted to know if any others have this problem while stick float fishing and can shed any light on to why this happens
 
Justin.

This is a common occurance when you have managed to get a group of barbel actively feeding in your swim,

I used to feed hemp every cast and use tares on the hook and hold back overdepth. What happens is the barbel move into midstream to intercept the bait going in midwater as its competitive.

I reckon 1 in 5 or 6 fish would be foul hooked.

I suggest that if it's not being done, after the intial indications of fish, your pal should change to using a bait dropper to try and keep the fish on the deck, especially if using maggots/casters or similar....or shorten up and fish the place where the fish are feeding.

Graham.
 
Thanks graham only started happening last few sessions he took a pub of 12.6 today but not counting it as was hooked in tail we had to go 50 yards downstream to land it lol
 
I float fish a lot on the Trent for Barbel and its just one of those things you will have to live with. I have hooked them in the pecs, dorsal and tail and its like dragging a fighting bin bag in. I think the basic shape and more so the size has more to do with foul hooking not the way you fish. If you hook and lose one quite quickly thats a good sign of a foul hooked fish. As Graham says its roughly a one in 6 ratio.
 
Try burying your hook in your bait,a tiny piece of meat on a size 14/16 hook,hooked so that the point is inside the bait helps,it also bumps the bottom without catching. If you are using maggot try two on the bend and a tiny piece of meat over the point.Yes, mid water competition causes foul hooking so as graham says bait dropping helps and trotting slightly away from the baited area also helps. Fish moving across your swim with big pecs whilst dragging the hookbait over depth can foul them.Try fishing the exact depth with a buried hook and only hit fast positive rod pulling over bites,proper bites on a float are usually very aggressive(like dace bites but x10), running the float away,but float anglers like us are tuned into hitting smaller bites and strike them.
 
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