Small/ medium river fishing - wait or rove

[Ian Woods]

When fishing small rivers i've always found if there are any chub in the swim I will hook one on the first trott, or within half a dozen trotts through. Usually the barbel are a bit slower to take my bait, but again within half an hour of throwing in a few handfuls of maggs and corn I would expect to hook one.
So after half an hour or so of not catching I will move on to another swim. Very often I might move on after several trotts through if things don't feel right....no point in just keep trotting the float through for the sake of it.
Ok, if I stayed put and kept trotting through there is always the chance of catching, but, by the time that happens I could have caught numerous other fish from other swims.
I'm talking float fishing but I would use the same kind of practice if legering....there's not enough time to waste sitting on my harrise hoping for a result.

 

[Andrew Jackson]

I think there's a great deal of truth in what you say. I guess at the end of the day we all fish in a way in which we are most confident. I am interested in your approach though Chris. My results have been poor to say the least on the H. Avon this year. It's a case of breaking away and trying something new I suppose. I do though, as I've said, often bait a couple of swims and fish each. Really though, I find it so hard nothing much works though I catch plenty of Chub, some being very big but it's hardly the point!

 

[Kevin Steele]

I fish the W Avon too, and I was there on Monday and Tuesday with a mate who came up from the south coast. We sat it out in a spot where I was previously guaranteed to catch decent sized chub and small barbel, if I sat tight. Monday I got two tiddlers and he blanked, and Tuesday we both blanked (my first blank of the year).

In hindsight we probably should have taken less gear and gone roving, but I was confident we'd catch and we wanted to try out new baits, so we took everything but the kitchen sink. (Took us both about three hours to clean the mud off our gear.)

My problem (being new to barbeling this season), is having the confidence to try previously untried spots... if you think you're guaranteed to succeed on two or three particular swims, it's hard to wean yourself off them.
.

 

[Vince Maddock]

I'm curious about how much, if any, bait you're all putting in if you're on a roving session. Is it wise/worth it to put loose feed in if you might only be there for 30 minutes? To be clear I'm not asking about any pre baiting you might do on the walk out, just what you do on a fresh, unfed swim.
My campaigns don't really start 'till September and this year has seen me simplify my bait strategy to one fishmeal boilie type and a bait and wait approach.
If it makes a difference most of my fishing sessions a 4 maybe 5 hours and is done on the low stocked river Tees, so it's difficult to judge which style is most effective (i.e. most sessions don't produce a Barbel and 2 in a session is a red letter day)

 

[Richard Isaacs]

The one fish at the end of the day has probably not been there all day, but moved in to your spot a short while beforehand.

Absolutely disagree with that. They will happily sit under or around a feature for hours moving no more than yard or two around the areas they feel safe especially in tough conditions.
This photo was taken on the river nene of afew very big barbel with their heads tucked under that raft.
They were in this position all afternoon and the only way to present a bait to them was on the other side of the raft up stream and wait for a brave one to swim out for it.

Now there’s working hard and there’s working smart.
If you couldn’t see those fish but only gave that fantastic looking feature half an hour then walked away you would have potentially missed a trick. I’ve also fished the great Ouse and the ivel, gottta give those likely looking swims a good chance to produce, it’s got nothing to do with being lazy or not working hard

 

[Jim Brook]

I'm curious about how much, if any, bait you're all putting in if you're on a roving session. Is it wise/worth it to put loose feed in if you might only be there for 30 minutes? To be clear I'm not asking about any pre baiting you might do on the walk out, just what you do on a fresh, unfed swim.
My campaigns don't really start 'till September and this year has seen me simplify my bait strategy to one fishmeal boilie type and a bait and wait approach.
If it makes a difference most of my fishing sessions a 4 maybe 5 hours and is done on the low stocked river Tees, so it's difficult to judge which style is most effective (i.e. most sessions don't produce a Barbel and 2 in a session is a red letter day)

When roving, I approach the swim with great care and make one cast, if I feel Ive achieved this without frightening off the fish, i then loose feed 12 pellets as accurately as I can over the top. Then give it 20-30 minutes. If I’m using meat then I don’t loose feed but the procedure otherwise remains the same.

 

[Ian Woods]

Absolutely disagree with that. They will happily sit under or around a feature for hours moving no more than yard or two around the areas they feel safe especially in tough conditions.
This photo was taken on the river nene of afew very big barbel with their heads tucked under that raft.
They were in this position all afternoon and the only way to present a bait to them was on the other side of the raft up stream and wait for a brave one to swim out for it.
View attachment 32287
Now there’s working hard and there’s working smart.
If you couldn’t see those fish but only gave that fantastic looking feature half an hour then walked away you would have potentially missed a trick. I’ve also fished the great Ouse and the ivel, gottta give those likely looking swims a good chance to produce, it’s got nothing to do with being lazy or not working hard

Problem with that Richard, is those fish may not feed for hours, and you may have to wait until some others come along that are actually on the hunt for some jack bit.
Do you remember the conversation me and you had and I told you about all the barbel infront of me which wouldn't feed and how I noticed that every now and then small groups of fish would come upstream hunting for grub? I switched from the float and waoted until a group of these fish appeared and then dropped my baited hook infront of them amongst a handfull of bait and watched the fish take it.
I think that people are often sat with their baited hook laying in an empty swim and eventually a roaving fish or shoal of fish roll up on the hunt for food, so I think Chris Guys statment often happens.

Looking at your pic, i'd be tempted to catty maggots up to that cover to try and intice those fish to start snaffling them, even catty them onto the undergrowth so they crawl off the leaves and drop into the water over the fish. I used to do that when carp were feeding amongst lilly pads, often casting my bait onto a pad and have it just hang over the leaf. I imagine those barbel would be likely to feed up just under the surface using that technique.

 

[Richard Isaacs]

Problem with that Richard, is those fish may not feed for hours, and you may have to wait until some others come along that are actually on the hunt for some jack bit.
Do you remember the conversation me and you had and I told you about all the barbel infront of me which wouldn't feed and how I noticed that every now and then small groups of fish would come upstream hunting for grub? I switched from the float and waoted until a group of these fish appeared and then dropped my baited hook infront of them amongst a handfull of bait and watched the fish take it.
I think that people are often sat with their baited hook laying in an empty swim and eventually a roaving fish or shoal of fish roll up on the hunt for food, so I think Chris Guys statment often happens.

Looking at your pic, i'd be tempted to catty maggots up to that cover to try and intice those fish to start snaffling them, even catty them onto the undergrowth so they crawl off the leaves and drop into the water over the fish. I used to do that when carp were feeding amongst lilly pads, often casting my bait onto a pad and have it just hang over the leaf. I imagine those barbel would be likely to feed up just under the surface using that technique.

On a low stock river Ian 3 or 4 barbel like that is a gold mine and waiting for them to move out and feed is far more proactive than moving somewhere else prematurely. I totally get what you say, which if populations are plentiful is more viable than waiting for a couple of fish to drop their guard but on rivers that contain so few fish, if you know a feature or swim has a sporting chance of holding barbel from my experience the worst thing you can do is have it on your toes too quickly.

 

[Richard Isaacs]

I think Chris Guys statment often happens.

I’m not saying they don’t move but Chris was saying in that instance if you wait all day for a bite, then it’s unlikely the fish was there in the first place.
I disagree. I think it’s just as likely that the fish was there all along. I have seen them quite often sit undercover and stay there for long periods of time and they will come out and feed when they are ready.

 

[Ian Woods]

On a low stock river Ian 3 or 4 barbel like that is a gold mine and waiting for them to move out and feed is far more proactive than moving somewhere else prematurely. I totally get what you say, which if populations are plentiful is more viable than waiting for a couple of fish to drop their guard but on rivers that contain so few fish, if you know a feature or swim has a sporting chance of holding barbel from my experience the worst thing you can do is have it on your toes too quickly.

Well, you know your river Richard, so you know how best to fish it, at the end of the day I can only spout off my opinions etc on rivers that I have experience of. I do fish a river where barbel are unheard of and as you say it would be hard to leave if you know they are there.

 

[Alec Hague]

I agree but likely in the same area though held up somewhere ( how do you know though?)

one day I hope to catch a fish which talks English. I plan to ask it (her/him or as appropriate in the fish world) so many questions. Until then that's the beauty, mystery or whatever, of what we do and love.

 

[Chris Guy]

I’m not saying they don’t move but Chris was saying in that instance if you wait all day for a bite, then it’s unlikely the fish was there in the first place.
I disagree. I think it’s just as likely that the fish was there all along. I have seen them quite often sit undercover and stay there for long periods of time and they will come out and feed when they are ready.

I used to love watching them, as much as catching them. Sadly the Ouse's clarity isn't what it was. So that joy is mostly history.
Interestingly once you get to St Neots, the clarity returns, and by Godmanchester it runs beautifully clear. For my money, any future barbel stock into the Ouse should be downstream of Bedford, where they would have a greater survival rate.

 

[Richard Isaacs]

I used to love watching them, as much as catching them. Sadly the Ouse's clarity isn't what it was. So that joy is mostly history.
Interestingly once you get to St Neots, the clarity returns, and by Godmanchester it runs beautifully clear. For my money, any future barbel stock into the Ouse should be downstream of Bedford, where they would have a greater survival rate.

There has been a number of stockings done at offord but only 1 or 2 of them caught over several years. The first stocking was 2017
Any survivors should be 6-8lb by now

 

[Alan Palmer]

I had my best season on the Ouse last year, by introducing a bait into an area downstream of a known holding spot or likely looking area then waiting it out, sometimes for 4/5/6 hrs with minimal casting/disturbance. All my fish were caught in daylight. On low stock rivers I believe it can take a long time for the fish to get confidence to venture out for a feed, and a good food bait source helps. If I had roved around trying many different swims for an hour or so I doubt I would have caught. Doing the groundwork is key, if you know your river half the job is done!

 

[Jim Brook]

I had my best season on the Ouse last year, by introducing a bait into an area downstream of a known holding spot or likely looking area then waiting it out, sometimes for 4/5/6 hrs with minimal casting/disturbance. All my fish were caught in daylight. On low stock rivers I believe it can take a long time for the fish to get confidence to venture out for a feed, and a good food bait source helps. If I had roved around trying many different swims for an hour or so I doubt I would have caught. Doing the groundwork is key, if you know your river half the job is done.

6hrs for one bite! I couldn’t do it that’s 12 swims I could have fished on my terms, if like me you just don’t have the patience and like to be proactive then I’d Thoroughly recommend this book

 

[Christian Tyroll]

6hrs for one bite! I couldn’t do it that’s 12 swims I could have fished on my terms, if like me you just don’t have the patience and like to be proactive then I’d Thoroughly recommend this book View attachment 32309

Which rivers are you fishing Jim?

 

[Andrew Jackson]

I had my best season on the Ouse last year, by introducing a bait into an area downstream of a known holding spot or likely looking area then waiting it out, sometimes for 4/5/6 hrs with minimal casting/disturbance. All my fish were caught in daylight. On low stock rivers I believe it can take a long time for the fish to get confidence to venture out for a feed, and a good food bait source helps. If I had roved around trying many different swims for an hour or so I doubt I would have caught. Doing the groundwork is key, if you know your river half the job is done!

I agree with that Alan. In low stock rivers what is the point of moving from a swim you either know or are confident there are fish? Better to sit it out I think though a couple of similarly productive swims can be alternated. When you have plenty of fish you can afford to be more impatient but even then they won't necessarily feed right away.

 

[Mike Thompson]

6hrs for one bite! I couldn’t do it that’s 12 swims I could have fished on my terms, if like me you just don’t have the patience and like to be proactive then I’d Thoroughly recommend this book View attachment 32309

Jim, I love Trefor's books and I even fish with one of his 11' barbel rods. But most of his writing relates to waters holding many more fish than the venues we fish today. He writes about feeding small numbers of pellets and watching the barbel reactions. I would love to do that, but on the Yorkshire rivers I fish there is little chance of that.
I do rove sometimes, but usually early season and with float gear. Come Autumn and extra water it's sit and wait time.

 

[Jim Brook]

Which rivers are you fishing Jim?

Mostly the Wharfe and a new to me part of the Nidd in Yorkshire this season, have fished the same on the Severn and Teme in the past. Works for me

 

[Alex Gowney]

Jim, I love Trefor's books and I even fish with one of his 11' barbel rods. But most of his writing relates to waters holding many more fish than the venues we fish today. He writes about feeding small numbers of pellets and watching the barbel reactions. I would love to do that, but on the Yorkshire rivers I fish there is little chance of that.
I do rove sometimes, but usually early season and with float gear. Come Autumn and extra water it's sit and wait time.

My thoughts exactly. Trefor wrote that book when we had probably three or four times the number of barbel in our rivers that we have now.