When did Barbel fishing change?

[Jim Foxall]

Off thread a bit, first rod I used was step-brothers 10ft pike tank ariel matched with cheap Intrepid reel. Bag was a gas mask one cadged from dad, stool a wire small collapsing type. I wandered down field from our garden to a pit catching crussians & rudd with handful of maggots in tin and quill float...happy days.... I live in Runcorn and said pit together with others now have houses on them....

That's nothing. When I was a lad I used to go down to brickyard pond, with a broken piece of garden cane for a rod, a cotton bobbin for a reel, binder twine for line, matchstick for a float and a piece of bone crafted into a hook. Bait was whatever could be found in a dustbin.
When I made my pile in scrap metal, I could afford to fish properly. It is still possible to find old Retainers like Tom the baitcatcher. The best place to find a Retainer is on an allotment and gardening clubs are well worth a look. Just make sure that "Tom" is suitably servile, has all of his marbles and remembers which swim he baited with two hundredweight of rotavated chopped worms. Lazy types these days use spam, lunchy, pellets etc, time to get back to traditional methods.

 

[Adrian Williams]

I know this is not a competition but my 2A is 40years old and my centrepins about 45. Man and boy, ' Hardest game n the world ......', been fishing for barbel since 1960, or at least I think that's when I first caught one.

I'll get me coat, an ancient Barbour of course, dear boy and don't even mention silly hats.

As ever, and why not?


Hugo

It was never my intention to start a competition, in fact it's nice to see so many people keeping the old Landy's going.
My old girl is a Mitsubishi Delcia L400, It's a bit thirsty but it serves as van, a builders skip, a 4X4, a camper,(it's alternative name is Mitinbivvy), it brings a smile to most peoples faces and I regularly get let out of junctions, It's been great fun in the snow, and easily keeps up with the Disco's on the odd green lane outing.

However, When I had occasion to visit Edinburgh in October I took my other vehicle, A 2.0 Tdi VW which cruises easily at 80mph and returns 55 mpg fully laden.

Horses for courses is the adage, I use the same logic with my fishing and use the tackle I feel is best suited to the circumstances and am equally at home with the pin or the baitrunner Sometimes I even use both in the same swim.

 

[Mike Webb]

I like the Delicia Adrian. Often thought about getting one myself for fishing.

 

[Andrew Green]

even though i'm a landy fan through and through i don't mind the delica, though about getting one for work but needed a longer wheelbase for 8x4's etc so got a vivaro 2.5 lwb , not too bad and 45mpg on a run if i keep the speed down much rather be in the landy, 18mpg is not the most efficient way to travel, bit like a mk4 avon and trudex are not the most efficient way of catching barbel but it's all in the way you want to enjoy the experience. monday to friday the van does the job it has to do, come the weekend, i like to play

too many metaphors creeping in me thinks

 

[Colin Bridger]

Hello Craig,

For me barbel fishing changed in the early 90's on the river Medway where a small group of fish were fatened up on HNV baits, and one fish in particular, Bertie I think, kept beating the record. This has of course been repeated on many other rivers since then.
ATB
Colin

 

[Andrew Green]

ah yes, Bertie, and his band of potbellied barbel, i hope the same thing that happened to carp passes, or how long 'till we see 40lb barbel