I've decided rather than litter the forum and because I'm rather limited with bank time, to do monthly updates. So here's month one.
I've really resisted the temptation to stray from my goal. So far I've kept to this fishing Throop just twice, the second time for only an hour. With fishing time really limited to one session a week on average at present there's not much time to "waste" on Chub.
So have I caught a Barbel this season from my new venue, short answer is no. Have I seen Barbel, damn right, every session without fail. Banking them, actually getting them feeding has been the issue. Maybe I've been to heavy handed, I have been dropping a mix on halibut pellet and hemp with limited success, ok no success. Three sessions like this later, including one whee I was working local and baited my chosen swim every three hours, it's clear this isn't the right way forward here. Time to rethink.
Prying myself out of bed at 4am I jumped in the van. Gearing myself up with a longer 4ft hook length and a lighter lead a mix of crushed and whole boilies were PVA bagged and slipped into place. 45 minutes later the tip wrapped round my hopes were up as I struck, it became clear after about 5 seconds this wasn't a Barbel. Moments later a large but spawned out Chub hit my net and tipped the scales at 4lb10oz. It's not what we want but it's a start and a big damn improvement from the three blanks... the kitten, (oh yeah the wife brought me a replacement cat for our anniversary to replace my old moggie that passed age 18 in January) had to be at the vets by 9.30am so I had to pack up a touch early. Leaving a Barbel visible in my swim, grr. Off home to work on the kitchen, sick of that kitchen already haha.
So now we wait, wait for the weekend with greater confidence. Il pop a photo up once I'm on laptop.