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New member from Leicester

Stephen Smith 2

Stephen Smith 2

Senior Member & Supporter
Good evening all,

I’m looking to get back into my fishing, specifically Barbel, after being away from fishing for around 12 years.

Currently looking into rods and reels etc as I am having to start from scratch again so any advice would be really appreciated.

My local river is the River Soar but will be willing to travel around an hour or so for any recommendations for surrounding waters which would be ideal for someone returning to Barbel Fishing.

Any other recommendations or help would be gratefully received as well.
 
Hi Stephen,
Welcome aboard. I’m not familiar with the Soar but you are within travelling distance of the Trent that has some mighty Barbel. Tackle wise I would say 2-2.25lb TC rods coupled with a 4000/5000 sized baitrunner style reel will do the trick. A budget setup which will do the job admirably would be the Angling Direct Advanta RVS Twin Tip (2.25 &2.75lb tips) and the Advanta Freespin reel. There are some good deals on Korum rods about at the moment also. If your budget is a bit higher I would recommend the Free Spirit range of Barbel/Specialist rods and an Okuma Pulzar reel in either 4000 or 6000 size or a Shimano OC Oceanic. The 6000 is more suited to a river like the Trent. A good 10lb BS line, something like Gardner Hydro Tuff will give excellent abrasion resistance, or Berkley Big Game again 10lb BS, buy the green in the 1/4lb spool size, it’s USA made I had trouble with the very large bulk spool stuff made in Japan. I’ll send you a PM regarding a club.
Regards
Bill
 
Last edited:
Bill Walford said:
Hi Stephen,
Welcome aboard. I’m not familiar with the Soar but you are within travelling distance of the Trent that has some mighty Barbel. Tackle wise I would say 2-2.25lb TC rods coupled with a 4000/5000 sized baitrunner style reel will do the trick. A budget setup which will do the job admirably would be the Angling Direct Advanta RVS Twin Tip (2.25 &2.75lb tips) and the Advanta Freespin reel. There are some good deals on Korum rods about at the moment also. If your budget is a bit higher I would recommend the Free Spirit range of Barbel/Specialist rods and an Okuma Pulzar reel in either 4000 or 6000 size or a Shimano OC Oceanic. The 6000 is more suited to a river like the Trent. A good 10lb BS line, something like Gardner Hydro Tuff will give excellent abrasion resistance, or Berkley Big Game again 10lb BS, buy the green in the 1/4lb spool size, it’s USA made I had trouble with the very large bulk spool stuff made in Japan. I’ll send you a PM regarding a club.
Regards
Bill
Click to expand...
 
Bill Walford said:
Hi Stephen,
Welcome aboard. I’m not familiar with the Soar but you are within travelling distance of the Trent that has some mighty Barbel. Tackle wise I would say 2-2.25lb TC rods coupled with a 4000/5000 sized baitrunner style reel will do the trick. A budget setup which will do the job admirably would be the Angling Direct Advanta RVS Twin Tip (2.25 &2.75lb tips) and the Advanta Freespin reel. There are some good deals on Korum rods about at the moment also. If your budget is a bit higher I would recommend the Free Spirit range of Barbel/Specialist rods and an Okuma Pulzar reel in either 4000 or 6000 size or a Shimano OC Oceanic. The 6000 is more suited to a river like the Trent. A good 10lb BS line, something like Gardner Hydro Tuff will give excellent abrasion resistance, or Berkley Big Game again 10lb BS, buy the green in the 1/4lb spool size, it’s USA made I had trouble with the very large bulk spool stuff made in Japan. I’ll send you a PM regarding a club.
Regards
Bill
Click to expand...

Thank you for this Bill, have replied to your PM
 
Morning Stephen and welcome to the group.
I'm up in Yorkshire now, but used to fish the Soar, Dove and the Nene many years ago, B.B. (Before Barbel).
Agree with the above tackle advice for the Trent, but would choose a lighter set up if mainly fishing the Soar. 1.75 test rods for example.
I would definitely recommend buying second hand from this classified section as guys on here only offer good kit. You can then resell and trade up as your requirements grow.
Best of luck.
Mike
 
Welcome to BFW Stephen.

Good advice given.

You could try find a 2lb Torrix rod and Shimano size 5000 reel here or ebay to cover both rivers. Proven tackle and probably mainstream barbel gear for many. Both items will also retain good values.

Lots of good value cheaper alternatives from Korum re Rods for example.
 
Mike Thompson said:
Morning Stephen and welcome to the group.
I'm up in Yorkshire now, but used to fish the Soar, Dove and the Nene many years ago, B.B. (Before Barbel).
Agree with the above tackle advice for the Trent, but would choose a lighter set up if mainly fishing the Soar. 1.75 test rods for example.
I would definitely recommend buying second hand from this classified section as guys on here only offer good kit. You can then resell and trade up as your requirements grow.
Best of luck.
Mike
Click to expand...

Evening Mike and thank you for the help.

Will probably start myself off on the Soar to begin with and work on building up the knowledge before moving onto rivers like the Trent etc, so will take your advice about rod setup and also check out the classifieds.

Not heard much about the Dove & Nene but will investigate them further.
 
Graham Elliott said:
Welcome to BFW Stephen.

Good advice given.

You could try find a 2lb Torrix rod and Shimano size 5000 reel here or ebay to cover both rivers. Proven tackle and probably mainstream barbel gear for many. Both items will also retain good values.

Lots of good value cheaper alternatives from Korum re Rods for example.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the welcome and advice Graham, it’s really appreciated.

Will check out the rod and reels thank you
 
Re our classified section, don't just look at what is for sale. If you know what you are after, just ask if anyone has it. You often get some great kit that way.
 
Morning Stephen. I'm fairly local to Leicester. I don't know if you use Facebook at all, but there is a page selling tackle in Leicestershire.

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Worth a look for the odd bit of kit that comes up on there.

As for the fishing on the Soar, I'd suggest a Loughborough Soar book to start with. The area near Cotes mill is a good place to start. I believe the Barbel are sparse nowadays on the river, the odd big one does come up occasionally, and the river has recently had a injection on new fish. As for the Dove. It's tough, very tough. I haven't fished it for a couple of years now, but the fishing isn't what it used to be.
 
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