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Winter Barbel

Craig Wood

Craig Wood

Senior Member
Theres so much us anglers dont know about Barbel. It was not that many years ago that fishing for big Carp in cold winter conditions was considered a waste of time and as we all now know it is actually one of the best times for catching some very big ones. I actually think that Barbel will feed in cold conditions and go completely against what so many books say about their behaviour. When i watched the Guy rob dvd when he caught the Thames record i couldent help but notice that there was actually frost forming on the ground and plummeting night time tempratures. I think your chances of catching a very big Barbel are probably better than in the warmer months due to many factors such as lack of natural food and also anglers baits. Although they may not feed as much or often in cold conditions they certainly are not impossible to catch. I intend to fish all through the winter and know its going to be hard but just knowing i have a chance of possibly catching a very big Barbel will keep me trying. What does everyone else think regarding fishing for Barbel in cold conditions? Would be interesting to know..;)
 
Simon King said:
Can sum up in one word.



Maggots.
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Interesting, Simon. I have yet to catch a barbel with maggots. In my experience, tiddlers suck them to death and hence some artificials might be worth a try. I know that there are plenty of barbelers out there who swear by them, it's just that they haven't worked for me.
 
Craig, you are not the only one who will be fishing for them in the colder months.................. its lovely to have the river to myself
 
Instead of going for the chub i will continue to fish for barbel and will probably catch the chub anyway:)
 
Hi guys ,Interesting subject . My opinion on the subject would be . That logic would tell me that sooner or later like any other creature a barbel would go hungry when it has not eaten for a while.So sooner or later it would look for food even in cold conditions. So I would assume with the right bait and the right rig and you are in the right spot at the right time when they decide to feed and you have not spooked your fish .Their is a chance of a take. How long would you have sit there in the cold waiting for a take even if you are fishing a known swim that holds fish . Or do you move from swim to swim . I would think their is less room for errror in the appproach due to the cold conditions. As I said it is only my opinion .The only way to find out is to get out there and try it and hope for the best .
 
Craig
Fair play to you for not accepting everything you read.
Some information is handy as a guide,, but until I have proven some stuff one way or another I would also choose to do my own thing.
Good luck.
 
I would agree with everything you've said there Craig, if we are talking big Barbel - well any big fish - it must feed maybe a lot less for sure but regularly i believe.
The way i've fished for them in winter is no different in principle to summer, the method still holds good, but you need a monumental degree of patience and determination, if you are truly prepared not to play the numbers game.
As Joe said quite correctly the margin for error is so much smaller, but the satisfaction of a biggie in winter is...well you'll have to see for yourself :D

Maggots as Simon says are brilliant, and are your best chance of a fish IMO, providing you are pretty sure you have Barbel in your swim, and if by luck there's a big one the same applies, their love of maggots doesn't diminish in winter, and when i've used them, as in summer i hair rig a huge bunch, so that the small stuff can't suck them.

Good luck to you mate, if you get a big one post a pic and let us see it ! :D :D

Ian.
 
And another word,

Timing.

Provided the water temp has been stable for a few days, barbel will start to feed again, no matter what the temperature is.
Obviously the feeding spells won't be many or long, but they will become apparent. I usually reckon on middle of day and dusk as the banker times. The angler being in frost, snow, whatever are unimportant, it's the water temp trend that dictates. This is when maggots are at their best imo. How you fish them is up to you. I prefer single maggot, short hooklink, which works well for chub too. Once the milder weather spells and rain come along you can bang the meat and boilies back out.

Barbel travel extensively during the cold winter months, much more so than you'd think.
 
Good luck fellas, I won't be joining you unless I make a trip south. I agree that the barbel must feed at some point, they certainly don't stop feeding from November until March. However, there's a fair chance that I could fish every available minute until March on my local river and not catch a barbel.
I'll be fishing for bites from anything that swims, if barbel turn up then so much the better. I won't be holding my breath.
 
I tend to wait for a temperature rise on the river before i put the effort in, it worked very well for me last winter, with just the one blank on the Trent last winter. However its not always like that, as i find the spell from now up to the new year very hard as the fish come to terms with the cold.
I will be trotting with maggot more this winter too, when the opportunity arises, as Chris says fishing for bites is a better option, and if some nice roach, chub and barbel come along using this method i personally couldn't wish for a better winter day's fishing.
 
I would fish for barbel through the winter if it wasn't for all the wonderfull fishing that can be had on other species such as roach, chub, perch, pike, cod, whiting, flounder and of course the grayling. I definitely believe in adjusting your targets for the changing seasons as it keeps the fishing experience fresh and ensures you deploy a wide variety of techniques and skills. However, I do wish any serious winter barbel bashers the best of luck and if you do get a big one be sure to stic a piccy up! tight lines.
 
Jon Frisby said:
as Chris says fishing for bites is a better option, and if some nice roach, chub and barbel come along using this method i personally couldn't wish for a better winter day's fishing.
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If results so far this season are anything to go by it will be a long wait between bites on the Severn! Hardly had any bites at all when using maggot, only a few gudgeon, a few years back could almost guarantee to get dace and chub.
 
Last winter i had some good catches of Barbel out of the severn, when it was very cold and the ground was solid with frost and not just on one occasion..I had them on simple maggot feeder, and fed the swim quite heavilly, i would say i used about 2 pints each session..The best part about winter Barbel fishing is being able to rove from peg to peg without seeing many anglers at all.I have also witnessed a true severn monster weighing just over 15lb some years ago and the ground was frozen solid and the water was absulutely freezing!!..I must be mad because im actually looking forward to this seasons winter Barbel sessions..:eek::eek:
 
I agree that barbel can be caught in very cold weather. I've caught them when my landing net has been frozen to the bank but what I do know is that they feed for very short periods during the day and that's the trick' find out at what time there feeding and hope it coincides with a time you can be on the bank. I've also caught them on halibut pellet in the depth of winter but I do intend to try maggots this winter.
The river I fish has a very small head of Barbel so it's even more difficult when it's cold but I really enjoy being on the river bank with frost on the ground. I usually fish for chub in these conditions but certainly do not give up on Barbel.
 
Yeah good point there Julian. I never put much loose feed in. Even during the summer months I only use golf ball size pva mesh bags with pellet in and at this time of year it's very little just a boilie on the hair and at most a couple of broken boilies in a small mesh bag.
If there hungry I want them on my hook bait and not filling up on loose feed.
 
I was told years ago small baits work best in winter for all species and break down boillies down in the winter.....I can't say I know how to catch barbel in the winter it is hard enough to catch them in the summer and autumn in oxfordshire.........I can catch chub and crayfish all day long though!
 
I must admit I much prefer to fish for Barbel in the winter and my favourite winter bait is Maggots too!
And a little bit of Hemp can help, even on the coldest of days.

As far as I am concerned the proper Barbel season starts with the first frosts and ends when I run out of season!
I admit winter can have its difficulties, they can be harder to find but good winter waterlore will help enormously and the only way to build up your waterlore is by getting out and doing it.

Simon said that stable conditions make all the difference, he is bang on right, it almost does not matter what the conditions are, as long as you have a few days of stability Mr Barbel WILL have a munch!

Nowadays all my Barbel fishing (except in the belting floods) is on the float, I much prefer fishing the float in winter, you don’t get too many nuisance fish (except Chub and I don’t mind them at all, especially big ones) and as a rule I often have the best float swims all to myself, I will admit I don’t get many bites, but those I do get are more often than not proper fish.

There is nothing better than taking a good Barbel (Are there any bad Barbel?) on the stick and pin in the snow!!

On second thoughts, don’t bother, stay inside, in the warm watching reality television, I quite like having the river to myself!!

Tight Lines Chaps.
 
Simon King said:
And another word,

How you fish them is up to you. I prefer single maggot, short hooklink, which works well for chub too.
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When feeder fishing in the winter I like to start with a hooklength of around 18".
If I get crushed maggots without seeing a bite I shorten up a bit until I start hitting them, If I don't get any bites I will add a few inches up to around 4'. If I still don't get any bites I go home. :D
 
Jim Foxall said:
Interesting, Simon. I have yet to catch a barbel with maggots. In my experience, tiddlers suck them to death and hence some artificials might be worth a try. I know that there are plenty of barbelers out there who swear by them, it's just that they haven't worked for me.
Click to expand...

Maggots in the winter are the ideal bait, by then the minnows are not a problem, but of course you have to consider the other option HUGE baits, whan a fish is cold and torpid he doesn't tear about all over the place picking up morsels as in the summer months...so a a free 'feast' trundling by which equates to minimum effort but maximum benefit is a well worth it.
 
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