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Remember your first barbel bite?

That picture of you and your son is a cracker Steve and sings 70s, the lighting, the composition the soft focus, everything about it is spot on.
 
Same place and year as you Steve, !968, river Severn, Shrewsbury below the weir by the island from the gravel beach. Nice and simple, link ledgered Cheese on a Mk 4 Avon and Mitchell. Not big fish but twice the fight of the Chub of the same weight.
Once infected there's no cure!
 
Almost ashamed to say I tried for 3 or 4 years (maybe 6 times a year) without managing to attract a barb bite - mainly due to location as well as tactics with hindsight.

Hatter told me on here to speak to a guide - and a session on the Teme was booked with Dave Mason. Up I turns with a car full of everything :D - Dave told me "you ve only booked a day not a month:D"!

He taught me about roaming and not to cast to the Farbank - why do that when the guy on the other side then casts to your side - he asked "why not fish on your own side?":confused:

my mate and I wandered with Dave to the end of his stretch. We were 10 ft apart and both dropped a pva bag of pellets in some 8 inches from the bank - we wound down until the tip was under tension and waited..............12 mins in and bang both me and my mate at exactly the same time, after 3/4 years were into a barb, the tip was pulled under the water, the rod almost in the river but we both landed a barb of around 6lb each!

I was so giddy and knackered at the same time. I have since caught so many barbs inches from the bank on various rivers incl the Wye - a much underrated tactic (probably not by those on here tho!)
 
River Severn 1970/71 cound lodge outside Shrewsbury.maggot feeder 6lb maxima 16s mustard something like 9034.the barbel went 7/12 and after that It was my port of call whenever
Albert
 
Paul Ashton said:
Same place and year as you Steve, !968, river Severn, Shrewsbury below the weir by the island from the gravel beach. Nice and simple, link ledgered Cheese on a Mk 4 Avon and Mitchell. Not big fish but twice the fight of the Chub of the same weight.
Once infected there's no cure!
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That was me not Steve. Did you live in Salop at the time?

Those fish, or their offspring, are still there Albert, the pub has changed a bit though, it's now called the riverside inn or something.
Did you know it used to be a railway station prior to Beechings axe?
 
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Hi Adrian,I did not know it used to be a railway station.i did several weekends there in the 70s.on the baa. A section I had the fish that is in Steve stayers book. 50 yards from the bottom of the steps on the left.there was a salmon stone in sight when the river was 4inches above summer normal and falling.that fish was weighed by another angler and 8/12 so Steve asked to put in his book obsession which he kindly signed and gave it to me.my younger son took me back there to have a look and a coffee.i hardly knew it .when I am blanking on the Dane I think about those days and it gives me a shot in the arm.happy days
Albert:)
 
Steve Reed said:
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
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Mine also from Old Windsor, at the bottom of Priest Hill, but I think it would have been 1970. My 6ft glass spinning rod and Intrepid Black Prince were laying on the gravel as I didn't have a rod rest and I was laid back snoozing at 2ish in the morning when out of the corner of my eye I noticed the rod heading for the drink. Result was a pound and a half of barbel. I repeated the feat a year later with another fish of the same size from the same swim.
Happy days
 
Sorry Adrian,
got the names mixed up, fond memories of fishing below Shrewsbury weir in the 1960's.
I was living in W,ton at the time and before I got a car would catch the early morning mail train to Shrewsbury then run as fast as I could to get to the beach by the island.
Even fonder memories of being able to run!
 
This is a report I posted on another fishing site in 2008 (and somewhere on the old BFW site) where I'd been made particularly welcome by its members, having recently got back into fishing after a break of over 25 years. This was to be the first of what has now become countless days of barbel fishing. This day, more than any other, was to change my view on the sport and since than I haven't looked back. The fact that I was on the very same river yesterday in the snow and freezing conditions is testament to this.

Following a chance meeting in Tesco's of all places, Gary invited me to join him and a couple of the lads for a day’s Barbel fishing on the Nidd. Now it's about thirty years since I last fished a river with any intent and I've never fished for Barbel. Not only that, but I didn't have suitable gear for the session. He said it wasn't a problem and that he'd sort me out, so off we went to the River Nidd this afternoon. Now due to unforeseen circumstances the other two lads couldn't make it, but I was up for it despite the blazing sunshine! Gary basically kitted me out for the task and dropped me into a 'known' Barbel peg whilst setting up in a less favourable spot. As I had his Barbel Rod, he was relegated to fishing a feeder on his specialist quiver rod (very nice bit of kit). He talked me through all the theory and left me eagerly awaiting my first wrap-around bite. An hour-or-so later and I hadn't had so much as a vibration. Meanwhile he had been catching Chub for fun and had landed a nice Perch as well.

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The photo doesn't do it justice. Compare the fish to the feeder (rather than Gary's hands which are like shovels!).


When he realised that I was blanking 'with honours', he called me round to take over in his peg. Not only did he just give me his whole set-up, but spent the next few hours alongside me in the peg, quietly coaching me in the use of a maggot feeder. More importantly teaching me when and when not to strike! After a couple of small Chub (and numerous missed bites) I hooked into my intended prey. This was quite a shock to the system as the fish tore off yards of line before snagging me in a weed bed. I was devastated as I thought this might be the only opportunity I would get. As evening came, Gary kept telling me to keep the faith and sure enough my chance came again. Unfortunately, having played the fish successfully and having seen it on the surface, two rod lengths out, this too dived for the only weed near it, and threw the hook! I couldn't believe it. So close... However, I wasn't about to give up, so when I hit the next pulsating bite I was that little bit wiser and kept the fish away from the snags. Minutes later I landed my first ever Barbel of just over 4 lb.

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Gary was as pleased as I was, and having done his work for the day, told me to get on with it as he had to go home (he very kindly allowed me to carry on fishing with all his equipment on the promise that I drop it off later!). By this time I was in 'the zone' and kept dropping the feeder in exactly the right spot. It then went quiet for a long period and as I started to lose concentration I missed another belting bite. This gave me new hope as I knew the fish were still in the vicinity and minutes later I was into a much bigger fish. It had me all over the place and worse still, I could feel the line grating as it swam under a submerged snag. It then went solid. No movement at all and when I tried to force the issue, the line just peeled off the spool as the clutch released it. I gave it a little slack and could feel the fish take up the line. A few pulls later and it set off for the far bank with the line fizzing off the reel. As you do in such circumstances, you pray, you curse and you keep applying pressure. Minutes later and I had my fish in the net....all 9 lb of it!!

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Once again the website has come up trumps for me. Gary has given freely of his time (and his gear) to pass on his knowledge and skill to someone who definitely needs it. Cheers Gary, I couldn't have had a better teacher! What a day!

Footnote: It took me until November 2012 to catch a bigger one from the river, but I've had plenty of fun trying!
 
Best thread for ages.

My first was in 2000 fishing the Vezere at Les Ezyies in the Dordogne (on the pretence that my 3 &4 year old daughters enjoyed it!). 2 maggots, a size 18 on 2.2lb and a stick float. Played it for 5 minutes before I saw it - couldn't believe a fish that size (maybe 1.5lb) could fight so hard.

Sill have the photo my wife took on the windowsill in our bedroom.
 
Why did your wife take a photograph on the windowsill in your bedroom? Most people advocate using a wet unhooking mat or a nice patch of soft grass.
 
Great to read that again Anthony. For me, after a similarly long break from fishing, the first barbel i tangled with when i reignited my passion were imprisoned in a muddy puddle.

I decided that i must catch one in its natural environment. Unfortunately it was winter and i didn't have any suitable tackle. Still undeterred, i headed off down to the Trent with 2 carp rods and a whole lot of trepidation. I'd not fished running water for 15 years.

The first 2 day sessions were blanks but i was hooked. The lure of running water and wild fish was so much more appealing than the sanitised atmosphere of the commercial. On my third visit the carp rod finally nodded twice and i was into a barbel. The fight, even on a 2.75tc rod, lived up to expectation. I remember being embarrassingly excited with a seasoned barbel angler nearby who took pity on me and took a photo or two.

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I was hooked. Next session was December the 22nd and my first double. The best Christmas present i could have wished for.
 
Winkton on Hants Avon in Aug 1987 as part of a short holiday at Fisherman's Haunt hotel. Caught on luncheon meat on Dad's Wallis Wizard and Mitchell 300. Tap , pull , run down stream, chased after it forgetting net! Eventually netted with a keep net and help of a farmer! 7 pound 12!
Next day introduced to hemp and caught 5.
 
Paul Ashton said:
Sorry Adrian,
got the names mixed up, fond memories of fishing below Shrewsbury weir in the 1960's.
I was living in W,ton at the time and before I got a car would catch the early morning mail train to Shrewsbury then run as fast as I could to get to the beach by the island.
Even fonder memories of being able to run!
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Ha, it looks like you and I have spent our lives travelling in different directions,
I started life in Powis, or Montgomeryshire as it was then, before moving to Shrewsbury as a teenager and have now ended up living just outside Wellington.
 
All my early barbel were caught on the float, we thought it was against our religion to fish anything else on rivers unless fishing for bream!
It would be about 3 years later before I had the classic 3ft twitch, just as the light was fading on the nidd. A lovely 3lb fish which almost claimed my feeder rod!
One thing that stops me fishing my favourite way for barbel (touch ledgering) is the joy of seeing that classic bite.
 
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