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How did your Barbel journey start ?

I was 18yrs old and had only fished local dams,canals and the River Calder which didn't contain any barbel at the time.My friend had just passed his driving test and we set off to fish the Swale at Cundall Hall in his dads hillman imp which found hills a challenge!
We were both using float/match rods with freshly spooled 6lb line,small ardsley bombs,size 10 hooks and a tin of luncheon meat each.Despite our limited knowledge and gear I managed a barbel of around 4lbs(no scales).My bomb had been bouncing around in the current then the rod was pulled off the rest.The start of a magnificent obsession!
 
In the mid 80s I joined a club that leased a stretch of the Kennet. I had never caught a barbel, and really wanted to! I spent nearly every Sunday fishing for barbel, but mainly caught chub and roach. One day near the end of the season, I had a most fearsome take and only just caught the rod before it vanished into the river! The fish headed downstream at an amazing rate of Knots and the carp rod I was using nearly bent double! I tried slowing the fish down by clamping down on the spool and suddenly there was a loud “crack” and the line snapped! I threw the rod down and nearly wept!

Sadly this coincided with the break up of my first marriage and I didn’t go fishing for a few years. I used to do nearly all my own car repairs and maintenance in those days and having just fitted new needles and jets to the carbs in record time I decided to go fishing for the rest of the day. My club membership had lapsed, but I knew of a day ticket stretch on the Kennet that was near the club stretch.

My first cast resulted in a good sized chub and this annoyed the anglers who had been there all day and blanked! The next cast was a rainbow trout! A few more chub were caught before I headed home. After this I kept going back to the stretch and caught decent sized chub every time!

One day a screaming bite resulted in a barbel of 5lb or so. The rod I was using was totally inadequate for barbel and after catching several more barbel on subsequent visits, I bought some more appropriate gear!
 
Mine started in the Caribbean, of all places!
We met a lovely couple while on holiday, he was a fisherman but hadn't brought any gear, so I lent him some of mine and we had a good bit of sport.
When we got back we stayed in touch, and he asked if I'd ever fished for Barbel ,which I hadn't., and suggested going to the Wye.
We organised a cottage for us all, and met up about a year later. I enjoyed it from the off, and since then we go up every year for a few days.
 
It started in earnest when I went back to fishing after a long break (of 15-odd years - life and its shenanigans got in the way) in 2016 when I was determined to improve my river fishing, having spent most of my formative fishing years on lakes.

However, my first actual barbel was in the early-mid 90s, a 4lber from the Bristol Avon (either Freshford, Limpley Stoke or Avoncliff, I can't remember now), BUT I don't mind admitting I wasn't specifically targeting barbel and when I did land it it was just another fish.

Unfortunately I'm in the midst of another lay-off at present, though this time it's due to financial reasons. I hope to get back to it next season, but I've purposely been avoiding posting on here because it just makes me feel a bit down about not being able to get out. Sigh......
 
There’s a bit of an addendum to my story. I finally had my first H Avon barbel about 8.45 yesterday evening! A story 35 years or so in the making, though, to be fair, I’ve only fished it a handful of times over the years. 9lb 5oz, it looked older than God’s dog - if barbel could walk with a stick, this certainly would have done - and the daft thought occurred to me that it had been waiting all this time for me.
 
Richard Gardiner-Smith said:
There’s a bit of an addendum to my story. I finally had my first H Avon barbel about 8.45 yesterday evening! A story 35 years or so in the making, though, to be fair, I’ve only fished it a handful of times over the years. 9lb 5oz, it looked older than God’s dog - if barbel could walk with a stick, this certainly would have done - and the daft thought occurred to me that it had been waiting all this time for me.
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Congratulations Richard.It could have been one of the original stock fish from the Stour!
 
I’ve always been fascinated by fish, even now so see a fish I’ve only ever seen in a book is exciting, fish keeping is the same. I assume most anglers can understand that. A few years ago I was Snorkelling in the Caribbean, I was much more excited to see wild Caribbean Blue Tangs and French Angelfish, sod the sharks and Cudas.

As a kid the books I had about fishing had Barbel in them, but they seemed alien and mysterious and for some reason I assumed they just didn’t live in my local rivers. Then one day I saw one, a mad a few years older had caught one from a swim I fished a bit. At that point it felt possible and it started something. If only I’d known that I was literally sat on one of the best Barbel rivers at that time I would of started earlier. So when I picked up fishing again after a short stint away I was determined to catch one.

My first Barbel came from Throop bt 2, I actually lost that fish at the net and it would take a few weeks to catch another and it count. Stour Barbel, a proper Dorset Barbel will always be special to me. The Avon soon captured me and I’ve been hooked on her ever since.

Maybe it’s that link to my childhood but a local fish is worth 10 from far away.
 
Richard Gardiner-Smith said:
There’s a bit of an addendum to my story. I finally had my first H Avon barbel about 8.45 yesterday evening! A story 35 years or so in the making, though, to be fair, I’ve only fished it a handful of times over the years. 9lb 5oz, it looked older than God’s dog - if barbel could walk with a stick, this certainly would have done - and the daft thought occurred to me that it had been waiting all this time for me.
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Chuffed for you Richard I am guessing you have caught a fair few over the years, but that one will always remain very special.
 
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