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Purists look away

Be interesting to see what a proper one would do to that sort of set up.
Can’t knock the guy, he’s catching them but only little ones. I don’t think a no17 elastic on a pole would stop a decent double getting into the main flow.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
Be interesting to see what a proper one would do to that sort of set up.
Can’t knock the guy, he’s catching them but only little ones. I don’t think a no17 elastic on a pole would stop a decent double getting into the main flow.
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Dave's probably caught more barbel than most specimen barbel anglers have and he's geared up to get any size barbel in. What he would probably struggle with is a 6lb chub as it would dart for trees pretty quickly.

It's that thing about barbel not being that clued up, they tend to not head for the trees, poles totally confuse them and light float gear subdue's them surprisingly quickly.

Just treated myself to a new pole specifically to use on the Wye this winter hopefully get a barbel or 2 myself.
 
Jason Bean said:
It's that thing about barbel not being that clued up, they tend to not head for the trees, poles totally confuse them and light float gear subdue's them surprisingly quickly.
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I don't think you could say that about barbel from small/medium sized rivers. Those in the Teme knew every branch and root, and immediately rocketed off towards them. I didn't watch the whole video but, from my experience of catching barbel in highly coloured water, they always tend to just 'chug' around, and pull down, and not go on the long runs that they would normally do in clearer water. The reason seems obvious ...how can they see where they're going in opaque water?
From this I think what Dave's saying about barbel "always wanting to go down" is more applicable/true in flood/coloured water conditions...and not a universal 'fact'.
 
Terry Simner said:
I don't think you could say that about barbel from small/medium sized rivers. Those in the Teme knew every branch and root, and immediately rocketed off towards them. I didn't watch the whole video but, from my experience of catching barbel in highly coloured water, they always tend to just 'chug' around, and pull down, and not go on the long runs that they would normally do in clearer water. The reason seems obvious ...how can they see where they're going in opaque water?
From this I think what Dave's saying about barbel "always wanting to go down" is more applicable/true in flood/coloured water conditions...and not a universal 'fact'.
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agree :)
 
We had a user on BFW years ago called "Poledark" (when alias usernames were allowed), think his name was Derek Darkin but may be wrong. I must look him up on the old BFW. Not sure if he's still around.
 
Seem to remember a pole angler getting 5 doubles and a few others on a Reading and district match. I think from the Kennet at upper Benyons about 15 years ago. Used to pole fish for chub on the river Colne back in the day and lost very few in quite snaggy swims on very light lines and small hooks
 
I've seen similar before. Always struck me as a method for those exceptionally confident in their pole, sponsored, or far more wealthy than I'll ever be.
I'd love to see the same done on the Trent with its bigger stamp of fish. Good advertising for whichever pole is used.
 
I think lb for lb Carp fight harder than Barbel to be honest and know of a guy who caught a 15lb + Barbel from the Ivel from the meadows on a 16m pole and landed it without any problems.

Shimano Beastmaster Margin Pole with a 9lb line, strong hook and Red Hydro Elastic and you can tame most Barbel.
 
Chris Jones said:
I've seen similar before. Always struck me as a method for those exceptionally confident in their pole, sponsored, or far more wealthy than I'll ever be.
I'd love to see the same done on the Trent with its bigger stamp of fish. Good advertising for whichever pole is used.
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It's pretty much proven that you can land anything on a pole. You can make the pole and all the end tackle strong enough to stop a train, it's a just a case if stopping yourself from being dragged in
 
Jason Bean said:
It's pretty much proven that you can land anything on a pole. You can make the pole and all the end tackle strong enough to stop a train, it's a just a case if stopping yourself from being dragged in
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I'm well aware of that. However, it's still a question of how much it costs and how heavy it is. Having had an inordinately expensive section collapse on a pole myself, I'd not chance my arm without being exceptionally confident in the exact model, very well heeled, or sponsored.
 
Chris Jones said:
I'm well aware of that. However, it's still a question of how much it costs and how heavy it is. Having had an inordinately expensive section collapse on a pole myself, I'd not chance my arm without being exceptionally confident in the exact model, very well heeled, or sponsored.
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Chris I'm no expert on margin poles but for around £200 you'll get an 8-9mtr pole that's pretty unbreakable. I brought an 11mtr yank n bank power the other week specifically for barbel/ big float river fishing. 10lb mainline 8lb hook lengths to be used with floats up to 50gram.... I've caught big fish before on standard match poles but obviously if you had to hit and hold they would end up pieces. I'll let you know how I get on and whether I manage to break it😀
 
Ah yes, it was Denis and not Derek - apologies :oops:

It's funny how Jason entitled this thread "Purists look away", knowing there would likely be "opposite views", pretty much as Dennis did in his article (below) where he started it off by saying "I just know that I am going to get a load of stick for writing this ...."

It's pretty much the same that I used to get all those years ago when I started to use a c'pin for barbel (I wasn't the first) and people used to raise their eyes and tut tut (the polite way of putting it) :D

Anyway, I digress .....

This is Denis's article that he wrote for BFW many years ago clickety-click here



Just a reminder to anyone that's not explored the wealth of info on BFW, have a look at the "Articles" section - scroll down the forum listing.
 
Interesting video and article.

Useful reminder that there are many ways to skin a cat. I haven't used a pole for about 25 years, and even then it was to fish for crucians. It's obviously a very effective method, but I'm pretty sure that for me playing barbel on a pole would take a lot of the enjoyment of the fight away - but each to their own.

It has got me thinking though that using a pole in combination with a baitdropper/spopper could be a very effective way to stealthily bait up, particularly when fishing particles.
 
My best ever haul, was from the River Teme and went 44 Barbel, 6 Chub and a Perch; all caught on the pole with a 12's elastic, linked to a 20's elastic loop off the bung. All shoalies, but great fun and around 25 years ago.

Its a method, which I also used on the Severn around Shrewsbury. I'd look for a large near bank slack or back eddy, where I could concentrate the feed close in (hemp and caster), then fish the pole over the top of it. Again had some big catches of Barbel, to just under 9lb. Due to the nature of the swims and elastic, the fish would just plod around under the pole. Never fished heavier than the 12's elastic setup.

Them were the days!
 
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