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Remember your first barbel bite?

H

Howard Cooke

Senior Member
With little prospect of any actual fishing for a bit, it got me thinking about what I believe was my first barbel bite. And what struck me was how vividly I remember it. Mainly because of the alarmingly rubbish way I reacted when the tip bent round.

It was around 1992 and I was fishing the River Thame in Dorchester-on-Thames with my John Wilson Avon Quiver and a Mitchell Reel. I had heard about Barbel but had never seen one. It was Autumn, mild and a little overcast. I found a very worn swim and just chucked out a very simple rig (I think I looked it up in some A-Z of fishing book) which I recall consisted of a coffin ledger, a size 10 hook and a cube of bacon grill.

After around 20 minutes, the tip bent round. Rather than reacting with grace, poise and fishing artistry, I remained motionless, paralysed almost. But as the rod was beginning to make its way to the Thames a little upstream, I did then respond by picking it up. But the rod tip was still bending and, inexplicably, I just stared at my reel. Just stared at it. Like I was saying "well, are you going to release some line so we perhaps have the tiniest chance of landing whatever it is that is attached to the end of the line, or are you just going to sit there ? I mean, you are a fu**ing reel for God's sake. This is your moment." But the stupid, stupid, reel just sat there, not releasing line. It was then that I became aware that the rod tip wasn't bending anymore and it was only then that I engaged with the reel. It was only then that I realised that I hadn't adjusted the clutch and that there was no fish attached to the end of the line. Or a rig. Nothing.

That has haunted me for years. But I do feel better now so thank you for allowing me to share the experience.

Can you remember your first barbel bite/fish?
 
That is really traumatic Howard, but time is a healer :) I can remember my first Barbel bite, it was on the Bristol Avon 1991 also, at Langley Burrell, I took along my three then young sons, and the bait was frankfurter. The rod was a 9' North Western leger rod, and the reel was a much love Mitchell Performance that was bought from Bowlers Tackle and from none other than Martin Bowler himself. He now fishes that stretch coincidentally.

My first ever Barbel bite was something that I will never forget , with the rod almost being pulled into the river, but I did faff around enough to land it, a reasonable fish of 8lbs theat was quickly followed by another.... I was hooked, and have been ever since, it also had a profound effect on my eldest son, too, other son's escaped the infliction and have gone on to enjoy a fairly normal life. :)
 
royalty barbel for me at the age of 13 and never fished for anything else since
still have the nightmares of kipping in the back of an old escort van with a bucket of maggots in the top car park that belonged to a member on here;)
 
Probably 1968 or 69 from the Severn at Shrewsbury (Stanley Avenue), tackle was a solid glass rod and Woolworths kingfisher reel and the fish was skull dragged up the beach where it spent the next ten minutes while we tried to work out what it was. It weighed about 3/4 of a pound and we thought it was a massive gudgeon until some bloke fishing further down came and told us what it was.
It changed my attitude to fishing and I went from being a kid who messed about down the river to a bit of an anorak overnight. I read everything I could get my hands on and pestered the life out of the matchmen every Saturday in the quarry.
 
Yes, Royalty again. Probably about mid seventies. Maggot feeder, fished to a seen fish, which was no longer 'seen' once I cast out...splaDOOSH :D After half an hour of holding the rod with a pounding heart, I just had to lay it down on the concrete embankment and scramble further up to see if the fish had completely left the area. And yes, sods law dictates that as I climbed the bank, I heard a scraping noise, looked down, and saw my rod sliding along the concrete. Managed to rush down and grab it before it went right in...about 7lbs as I recall. I certainly will never forget that fish....and given a little more time, my technique may improve as well. I don't do anything VERY fast :p

Cheers, Dave.
 
Yes I most certainly do:eek: I was probably aged around 12 or 13? and was staying in a cottage near Highley on the Severn on what was supposed to be a family holiday. I can remember vividly having a massive argument with my parents which centered around whether or not I was going to be accompanying them on a family excursion on the first full day of our stay or whether as planned I would be attempting to catch my first ever barbel.

The next day I woke before dawn and quietly crept out of the house and made my way down to the river. That first bite resulted in the butt of my rod which had been aimed towards the heavens hitting me in the face before a very brief scrap ended with a broken hooklength and me cursing the massive fish that I had just lost:eek:

By the time my parents arrived at the top of the bank behind me some hours later to dish out rollocking number two I had 3 or 4 small barbel along with a similar number of chub in the keepnet (yeah I know better now). The barbel bug had well and truly bitten:)
 
River Severn , Bridgnorth , outside the Severn Arms Hotel where I was
staying for a week in the school holidays at the age of 16 .
Mum dumped me there for a week on my own . I made friends with a few of
the other guests , we used to floatfish lumps of meat , couldnt afford
any other baits , and catch 30-40 fish a day up to 3lbs , but mostly
less than a pound.
I kept in contact with quite a few of my new found friends for many , many years meeting up regularly on the match circuit .
Very fond memories.

Richard
 
the float went under and I realized quickly that this was no dace or roach I was attatched too ,,I was fishing with a light hooklength and a daiwa 123 closed face reel (no drag) so I spent a bit of time wading downstream and backwinding initially,,thought id hooked a carp at first but it was a 4-5lb barbel
 
Mine was when i was 11 years old 5lb barbel on a 8 metre pole, fishing in a match on the river thames at appleford what a fight never forget it great memory,s
 
About 40 years ago on the Thames at night(above Staines stone,illegal then)when the river allways had a good flow.Only about 4lb but fantastic to me.
 
Aldermaston Mill on the Kennet in the mid-90's, fished from the lawn with an original Porky Pig and Mitchell 2250RD, both of which I still have. Maggot feeder fished under the Willows on the far bank. First one took the tip round and carried on going, managed to land that and 8 more to just over 7lbs, never bettered.
 
It was on the kennet for me when I was 16 I think. Think it was the 3rd time I'd attempted to catch one. Had my nice new shimano x carp 1.25tc rod and shimano reel. Plus I'd taken my old 10 minor match rod and my first zebco reel with old 3 or 4lb line attached. Not sure why I took that one think I was after perch with worms as a distraction (they were easier to catch).

Moved to a new swim, flicked out the perch rod next to a tree while I prepared a big chunk of meat for the "proper" rod. Sure you can guess what happened next turned round to see the perch rod bent round and the butt beginning to lift off the floor. Pounced on the rod and just managed to undo the clutch in time as it shot off on a run that seemed to last forever. After a very one sided fight, involving me getting the line caught in the tree next to me, having to get down a steep bank for a better angle. Then having to climber back up the bank enough to reach my landing net which I'd forgot somehow I got the fish in the net. Remembering after watching countless go fishings I left the fish in the net to recover for a few minutes. I got it out the net unhooked it weighed it 7lb8oz and went and put it straight back (didn't own a camera) and can still remembering watching him swim off. I was over the moon and was itching to catch more.
 
Garry Lee said:
Aldermaston Mill on the Kennet in the mid-90's, fished from the lawn with an original Porky Pig and Mitchell 2250RD, both of which I still have. Maggot feeder fished under the Willows on the far bank. First one took the tip round and carried on going, managed to land that and 8 more to just over 7lbs, never bettered.
Click to expand...

OMG yes, yes, that's where I caught my first barbel and around the same time too and in identical circumstances Garry-bait, method, swim etc.

I remember one trip when I stopped fishing to watch a chap a couple of swims up from me, take 8 chub and all over 6lb. All on a size 22 hook and single caster. Awesome.
 
Aldermaston mill for me to, i was about 15 i think and had walked down under the road bridge cast out a small cube of meat and bang!! only a little un but it got me well and truly hooked!!
 
August 24th 1963, on worm, from the Mole just above the A309 at Hampton Court. A lovely little weir pool that was destroyed by a flood "improvement" scheme in the 70's!
 
Steve, used to love fishing around there on the Mole and Ember until they ruined it with their flood improvement scheme. Even worse my first barbel bite was on the Kennet at Burghfield mill, circa 1980, 9' glass spinning rod, mitchell 300 and a lump of cheese. The mill is now flats and the rest of the mill island is a housng estate, worse destruction of a beautiful fishery I have ever seen.
 
River Thames at Old Windsor, 1971. I used to fish a light leger with small blobs of cheese paste for 1lb+ roach. The bites were delicate except for the day that the rod took off javelin style and I hooked my first barbel - 4lb 5oz which took me a long time to better.

Steve
 
I remember my first Barbel bite, it was as sixteen year old, on a village club match at Attenbrough on Trent. I had my Mal Storey severn Trent feeder rod set up with 5lb maxima and a 3.2lb bayer perlon bottom with probably a b560 size 18 hook intent on catching the resident Chub and skimmers from the far bank.
For those who dont know the area there is an island at attenbrough and from what I remember it had some boat houses built onit. Now where my peg was it was opposite an old boathouse that had its roof partly submerged in the river and what I doing was throwing over bouncing the feeder on the roof and letting the feeder roll off into the swim.I know it sounds mad but it was a bite a chuck. On one of the casts I felt the feeder down and put it in the rest. My first Barbel bite promptly bent the rod right over and smashed me in the rest, I was totally gobsmacked and my mate said what do you expect fishing with such a light bottom.
It would be over 20 years til I had my next.....
 
Cliff, here's a pic from 1972, possibly the first time I took my eldest fishing. In the background you can just see where the Ember joined the Mole below the weir.
Shaunsfirstattempt_zps498a7e65.jpg


This is my eldest son 40 years on, catching more and bigger barbel than me!
DSCF3170.jpg
 
Caught my first Barbel just under 2lb in 1959 on The Thames at Penton Hook Weir whilst fishing with my Uncle. Caught it on Cheese, Rod was a split cane Chapmans and reel a Speedia. After that i was hooked on Barbel.

Regards Ray Thorpe
 
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