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New to the forum and my first "proper" barbel

S

Stuart Smith

New Member
Hey all

New to the forum so I thought Id just say hi!

Been fishing for 25 years and have done everything from carping to fly fishing but in the last few weeks my attentions have turned to barbel. I have had a few small ones from still waters in the past but never a real river fish. Anyway, when I learned there were good barbel in the Goyt (Which is just a couple of miles from me), I firstly couldn't believe it and secondly thought I had to have a go for them.

Anyway, after reading about baits, rigs and the limited info there is about the Goyt I started my quest! I had fished the river 4 times previous over the last 2 weeks on 2 different pegs but finally found a peg I was happy with. So last night I started at 6pm by bait dropping 2 pints of hemp and 20 or so crushed baits over 2 spots that were quite close to each other. Then at about 8pm I got a good bite on my right rod which resulted in the fish below at 13lb1oz. Anyway now my confidence is up and I know my baits/rigs are working Ill explore the river more and see what else I can get out!

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Cracking fish, you might find the swim busy next time you go though, i would guess anyone who has fished the Goyt will know exactly where that came from and there are a fair few people who just follow the captures.
 
Robert Richbell said:
Cracking fish, you might find the swim busy next time you go though, i would guess anyone who has fished the Goyt will know exactly where that came from and there are a fair few people who just follow the captures.
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Thanks Robert! Haha I did kind of guess that, a couple of people witnessed the capture too! ;) I don't mind though really, I am going to move to another spot now I think anyway for the next challenge!
 
What is amazing is that back in the 80/90s i used to teach about the Goyt as an example of a heavily polluted river...you would not believe the change and what is possible.
 
Nice fish, Stuart, but now the circus will descend - particularly with such overtly-placed photos. Discretion might be the order of the day, somewhere down the line; something I learnt a few years ago.

Congrats, however.
 
Its amazing and almost sad how fellow anglers move into swims where a good fish has come from. I personally always take the photos and hide as much as l can of the surroundings so people cant guess where it was caught. Last year back end l had a thirteen three from a peg far away from the usual haunts, and really l didnt honestly expect to pull anything out , but l did and was extremely pleased.
 
Paul Blackburn said:
Its amazing and almost sad how fellow anglers move into swims where a good fish has come from. I personally always take the photos and hide as much as l can of the surroundings so people cant guess where it was caught. Last year back end l had a thirteen three from a peg far away from the usual haunts, and really l didnt honestly expect to pull anything out , but l did and was extremely pleased.
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That's a whopper, Paul. Well done, particularly with it being caught away from the crowds. :)
 
Well done Stuart!
Nice fish and lovely pics. It is a pity that we often feel the need to photo shop panoramic photos to disguise the location, which can diminish a memorable moment in time.
One could argue that some pics taken at night can still look impressive I guess.
I used to lower the aperture setting to blur the background , but nowadays blank the backdrop on paint shop if necessary , and retain the original for personal gloating !:D. My camera has hardly been overworked lately though!:mad::rolleyes:
Dt
 
Thanks for the comments guys!

I know what everyone is saying about keeping the pictures covert and to be honest I did think about it at the time but as it was my first barbel I wanted some nice shots of it. Not only that the peg it came from is hard to get on at the best of times so there's no real secret there. Plus if everyone who is fishing the river swarms to those pegs it just free's up the rest of the river for me to try!

Thanks again all.........now for number 2!
 
Nice fish Stuart!
Quick question, that peg looks very stoney, will I struggle to hammer the bivvy pegs in? :D
 
Where I've been going recently the swims are numbered pegs. I've had a few decent fish this season and a friend who I sometimes go with asks me the peg number I caught from. Last time I went with him he weighed and photographed an 11 15 for me. Next trip two days later he's fishing the same swim. Two days after that his mates in it. When I go on my own now I tell him a different swim to the one I was actually fishing.
 
At least the photo is a still.

Nice to have a good clear photo of a great fish , at least you haven't made it into a you tube epic .
 
Paul Hayes said:
Where I've been going recently the swims are numbered pegs. I've had a few decent fish this season and a friend who I sometimes go with asks me the peg number I caught from. Last time I went with him he weighed and photographed an 11 15 for me. Next trip two days later he's fishing the same swim. Two days after that his mates in it. When I go on my own now I tell him a different swim to the one I was actually fishing.
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I have made the same mistake in the past. A mate of mine rarely tells anyone if he catches, if he does and if they want to know where he says in the River.
 
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