Barbel Blanks
By Mark Walker
Around the beginning of 2001 I realized that my fishing was becoming very stale and repetitive. Arrive at commercial type fishery, hold long carbon pole or hurl huge method feeder all day, pull out a few stockie carp with the odd tench and bream, pack up at three o clock and go home for tea. Although enjoyable (after all any fishing is better than not fishing at all!) I was learning nothing new. I started to look at some of the other venues near my Basingstoke home and realized there was this thing called a river that held mystical torpedo shaped creatures called Barbel.
I was fishing with a friend a lot at the time and we both enjoy our commercial fishing so it was not until late summer that I made my first trip to the Kennet. Armed to the teeth with hemp, caster and blockend feeders I couldn’t fail could I? Needless to say it was not to be, made even more humiliating by the guy upstream catching one a cast trotting maggots over hemp. I watched him for some time and had a fairly lengthy conversation about barbel fishing. I had a lot to learn!
Due to personal commitments I didn’t get out as much as I would have liked over the next few months and so when I did get out I went to the commercials as I wanted to maximize my catching time. It’s fair to say I had a severe lack of confidence after my initial Kennet trip. It wasn’t until I relocated to Gosport that my barbel enthusiasm was rekindled and at the start of 2003 I purchased a Ringwood DAA yearbook. This was around the time that the rains came down and every river in the South burst its banks for three months. Although excellent conditions I was not going to start fishing the rivers at this time with no knowledge whatever of swims. I decided to wait until the start of the next river season when the low clear conditions would hopefully allow me to visually locate some catching areas.
June 16th came around and I had already negotiated at home and work to be able to go fishing one evening a week for the next few months. Being in this lucky position I decided to make the most of it and so the 17th June found me walking the banks of the Severals fishery, rod in hand and full of confidence. After chatting to the local tackle shop owner and an angler on the bank I decided to settle in a swim on a bend with good far bank cover. After a few minutes while still setting up I heard rustling in the trees behind me. I turned around to see a cow standing two yards behind me looking most disgruntled at finding me between her and the river! I tried to ignore her and carry on setting up but next time I looked up there must have been ten which soon became thirty! Now I was beginning to get intimidated as I was surrounded on one side by thirty cows and the other by a fairly deep fast flowing river Avon. Although used to cattle after living in the Derbyshire countryside for many years I decided to beat a hasty retreat.
I settled around 200 yds upstream where there was a noticeable change of depth and widening of the river and began to trot an Avon float along the edge of the nearside weed bed feeding Hemp and maggots continuously. I was soon catching small chub and grayling every cast and really enjoying myself when the cows came back. At this point I lost my temper with them and chased them across the field. This didn’t stop them coming back again twice but by now there were more anglers around and if we all ignored them for long enough they wandered off to eat the grass.
I continued to catch steadily and spoke to some anglers nearby trying to get an idea on whereabouts the barbel lived and what methods were commonly employed to catch them. Lesson one: Avon barbel fishing is a fairly closed shop. The regulars don’t give much away. I understand this now but at the time it was very different to anything I had come across before. I continued to catch and as the evening drew in was beginning to think about leaving when I hooked something high in the swim (much higher than I had been catching the small fish) which pulled the rod round and slowly thumped it’s head. I was elated, could this be my first Avon barbel, was my tackle adequate, and a million other questions raced through my head. Less than a minute later I slid my net under a pristine Chub of around 5lb. Although not a barbel I was ecstatic as this beat my PB by around 4lb! I drove home that evening over the moon. I had managed to get a feel for the venue and identified a few swims for future attention as well as bettering my chub PB. I couldn’t wait for the next week to come along.
My next trip came and on arrival I found I had the whole stretch to myself. I wandered along the bank baiting three swims including the one that produced the chub last week. I spent most of the evening rotating the swims with no success until late on the tip nodded and then whacked round in the chub swim. After a short fight where the fish stayed very deep and close I again slipped the net under a large chub. Weighing 5lb 5oz it was my weighed PB but could have been the fish from the week before as in appearance it seemed identical. I fished on for another half an hour but this was the last fish of the night.
Eels! Next visit after searching miles of river I managed one poxy little bootlace eel. I had walked the river three times and not even seen a barbel in low clear conditions. I decided a change of scenery was necessary before a total confidence loss. I thought a trip to somewhere with a larger head of fish would give me a greater chance of breaking my duck.
What a wonderful place Throop Beat 2 is. A clear fairly powerful river greeted me the next week on my first trip and after seeing shoals of Chub and Barbel in the clear water over gravel my confidence was sky high. I again walked a long stretch of river looking to find fish on the first visit and concentrate my attack to an area later. I found many fishy looking holes and fished several swims that evening. I had yet to learn the lesson of patience. What I thought was a long wait to get fish confident was around ten minutes!! It was still all so new to me and the excitement was getting the better of me. Needless to say I was unsuccessful but at least got a feel for the venue. I was eager to return the next week although starting to get some stick from people that had fished for Barbel many years ago and are now confirmed puddle anglers!!! Apparently all I needed to do was throw a plastic pig full off maggots in every few minutes and the fish would be crawling up the rod. This may be the case but I was determined (although weakening) to get a fish trying the roving methods I thought would work.
I tried two more fruitless Throop visits. Maggot feeder didn’t produce any fish and I had seen a lot fewer fish around. I eventually spent a long evening session watching a group of fish in a shallow swim feeding on every morsel of food but my hook bait. I was pulling my hair out by now. This is when I decided to post on BFW for the first time. I had been reading the site for many months without posting myself (reluctant from work) but was pleasantly surprised by the helpful friendly responses my post received. In fact this post lead to me contacting a Dorset Stour regular of many years who offered me some useful advice and we arranged a speculative meeting.
I was so excited when my following trip arrived. I had to paint the outside of the porch first and was rushing the job to get finished in time for an evening session. Anyway 1 hour and 45 miles later I settled into a gorgeous newly discovered swim with a distinct change in depth on the end of the rod top and a noticeable amount of flow where I couldn’t see the bottom. After baiting with a substantial amount of pellets, handful of boilies and some large halibut pellets I sat well back from the bank and got comfortable. I had a couple of early line bites and to combat these added a back lead. My rod top made a few more tiny twitches and then my phone rang. It was Darren the guy I had met through BFW and he had landed an 11lb 9oz barbel some way upstream. I walked upstream to photograph his fish. It was an immaculate conditioned fish and the photo’s came out really well. We then began to talk about barbel fishing and I soaked in all the advice. Darren kindly let me move into the swim above him and I eagerly baited as time was running short. First cast I landed the lead upstream of the position I wanted it to settle in to try and search the swim. I landed straight in a big snag resulting in having to retackle. During all of this disaster Darren had noticed a barbel in between us rolling and showing itself on the surface. He threw in a few baits and kindly let me have a cast for it. I did just that and we eagerly sat watching our rod tips for indications. Around five minutes later my tip knocked twice and the dropped back. A firm strike met dogged resistance and I was convinced it was my elusive barbel. 30 seconds later when it waddled on the top I couldn’t see what the fish was in the darkness but Darren’s light soon revealed it was a huge chub. It’s fair to say we were both excited. Darren netted the fish for me and as we lifted it up the bank i'm sure it grew even more. My initial disappointment at the fish not being a barbel had been replaced by sheer exhilaration at the size of this chub. It was by far the largest chub I had ever seen and the scales tipped 6lb 1oz. I was like jelly and couldn’t stop thanking Darren for his help. He was equally apologetic for disrupting my session but as I have said to him many times since he can disrupt my session with a 6lb chub whenever he wishes. Photographing such a wonderful fish as his 11lb 9oz barbel will always be a pleasure (and that goes for anyone else too). We fished on for a while longer and left the bank with an excellent specimen a piece. What a night!!!!
As well as helping to break my Chub pb Darren told me the form of some swims on the stretch so on my next trip I felt more confident. I arrived at Throop early one Tuesday evening and the area I had planned to fish was packed. I eventually settled on a swim well upstream of where I wanted to be and wasn’t really confident of any action at all. This is exactly what happened. I sat and watched a motionless quivertip all night and left despondent. Next mornings Stour reports on BFW told me that other anglers had shared the same fate as me which (in the nicest possible way) cheered me up a little. I decided it was time to broaden my horizons or start a rain dance!!! As I write this its been raining constantly for about the last 24 hrs. I’ve already booked a trip for Sunday and will target a different stretch (which once again Darren has been kind enough to give me his inside info on).
Sunday came with the first frost of the year! My luck continued then. I settled into a swim with overhanging trees on the far bank and decided a static approach fishing Hemp and Caster through a feeder was the best tactic. I stuck at this for the next 5 hours until two consecutive casts ended up snagging the far bank tree. As this had caused a major disturbance and the weather had warmed to be quite pleasant I decided to wander upstream and try a roving / stalking approach. I found an area of about 200 yards that is predominantly shallow with a couple of deeper holes and several clear gravel runs. I baited 4 areas including 2 deeper sections, a swim in the lee of a tree and a clear gravel run each with 6 droppers of mixed hemp, caster, pellets and crumbled boilies. I then left this for an hour and messed around setting my rig up in a shallow section further upstream. On walking back along the baited stretch I was dissapointed not to see any feeding fish in any of my visible swims so baited again with a smaller helping of bait and went exploring. After a few speculative casts rolling boilies along runs between weeds or under overhanging trees etc I arrived back at my baited area around 1 hour after I had baited for the second time. I expected to see at least some signs of fish and was quietly confident that the deep section I had baited would produce a fish if they were feeding. As I couldn’t fish into darkness I decided to wait until as late as possible and probably only spent the last 45 minutes of the session fishing. No bites but fish rolling near to where I had baited gave me the confidence that at least I was in the right area and I have earmarked some areas to bait next time. I put the lack of success this session down to the changeable conditions and the rising river. I think my technique is now correct and it is only a matter of time until one of these areas produces.
There was quite a long wait until I got to the river again as decorating had to take top priority for a few weekends. It was November when I next got out after a few days of persistent rain. I was trying a new bait mix in an area I knew had produced fish recently and my confidence was sky high. I began to fish underneath the overhanging trees on the far bank but the sheer amount of weed (even with 2 oz of lead and a back lead) made holding bottom for any sustained period of time difficult. I changed tack and started fishing downstream to an area where the river narrowed to go around a large reed bed. Although still picking up a fair amount of weed I could at least keep a bait still here. Trouble was it kept getting covered by the debris. I persevered through the wind and rain but didn’t even have a knock. I am losing the shreds of confidence I had now. I have a weeks holiday at the end of November where a confidence building lake trip is in order before two or three days intensive barbelling. I’m really excited.
It’s now the
end of November and my fishing week is over. Monday saw a 30lb net of Bream
to remind what a fish looked like and I had arranged to meet Darren to fish
the Severals on Tuesday. This plan changed as Tuesday was wet and wild so we
headed for a more sheltered fishery in Throop. We spent a really pleasant afternoon
together walking the banks below Blackwater Bridge. Darren showed me a number
of productive Chub and Barbel swims (or potentially productive) and although
we never caught anything in the spot we settled in I learn’t a lot about
the river and how to read it. Towards the end of the day the heavens opened
and we called it a day early but I was ready for the next day now.
Wednesday saw me further upstream in an area I know better. I fished 3 swims
in
rotation but had no success.
December was quiet but January 3rd and 4th saw me attend the BFW fish in on the Royalty. I arrived early on the Saturday and spoke to some of the guys before heading off upstream to try my luck. After 3 biteless hours on the Trammels I wandered back downstream and put the tackle in the car. If I was going to learn anything I needed to speak to as many anglers as possible. I walked the banks for about 2 hours spending much of that talking to John W (thisisjohn) soaking in advice and hopefully not making too much of a nuisance of myself! After walking most of the fishery tackle less I went back to the car picked up the gear and settled in just above the pipe bridge. I was very confident here and after 1 hour when a barbel rolled on my rod tip my confidence went sky high. I fished into darkness but didn’t manage a bite. As I left I threw a handful of boilies into the swim and decided to arrive early the next day and bag the swim. As I couldn’t stay down in Christchurch for the weekend I went for a drink in the Royalty Inn with a few guys from the site but as I was driving had to leave before most of the fish in arrived.
6.30 Sunday morning saw me throwing the gear in the car and the second that the Royalty opened the gate I was on the bank heading for my swim from yesterday. After around half an hour the day was warming nicely when a Salmon that must have been all of 15lbs swam past me in about 4 inches of water less than 1ft from the bank. An amazing sight. Still confident I trickled a bit more bait in and sat back to wait for a bite. Suddenly (just as I was looking upstream and away from the rod) the rod was pulled from the rests and I grabbed it before I lost it. Bending well beyond recommended levels I realised my reel wasn’t giving line! I loosened the drag right off but nothing happened so I disengaged the antireverse. At this point a salmon well into double figures jumped in the middle of the river and there was a sound like a gun shot as the line parted at the reel. I don’t know to this day what happened but there was no evidence of a tangle. I decided after this disturbance to move off and speak to some other anglers. I was dissapointed not to see any other BFW’ers around but hear that some were ill and others went to Throop. I spent the rest of the day rolling meat walking the whole length from the Car park up to the Great Weir and down the other bank. I didn’t hear of a single fish caught and must admit I don’t think I fully understood the technique. I must try it again as putting a bait on the fishes nose seems to be the only way to catch here.
All in all the fish in was a great weekend and I learn’t a lot especially on the Saturday. All of the anglers were very approachable and friendly and I thank you all for the help given.
It’s February
now. I’ve probably made 15 trips to Throop in various areas as well as
4 to the Avon and still the elusive barbel has not graced the bank. I have just
returned from a session on an almost flooded Throop again with no success but
by persevering and speaking to other anglers I am still trying to learn every
time I go. I have read many books articles and even seen videos on the theory
but haven’t yet successfully put it into practice. I’m sure with
persistence and thought it will come.
Reflecting on the season I have a number of observations which I will try and
use to my advantage next season.
1. Pick an approach
and stick to it: I have tried a few different approaches this year, maggot feeder,
baiting large beds of hemp or pellets, boilies, other particles, roving or static.
I think this has just added to my already confused state. Recently and going
into next season I have now adopted an approach which suits me. I know anglers
having success using a similar approach. This will allow me to concentrate more
on location and feeding.
2. Concentrate on a small area of river: This season I have covered 3 miles
of the Avon (very briefly) and around two of the Stour. This has given me a
rough knowledge of areas and a few specific swims but hasn’t allowed me
to find a group of fish and learn about them. Next year I will pick a quiet
section of river (I feel this is important as some areas are so busy you cannot
get the swims you want. This also leads to very pressured and difficult fish.)
and spend the first few weeks of the season finding a group or groups of fish.
I can then hopefully get to know this stretch intimately before trying to catch
any fish.
3. Rigs: I have fished the same one all season!!!! There is nothing wrong in
this if it is working but I really need to think about adapting my rig to different
situations on the river as they arise.
4. Spend more time prebaiting areas and ensuring fish are there rather than
turning up casting into a likely swim and effectively fishing blind. As well
as this devote specific time to plumbing the river and finding features.
5. Finally keep enjoying my fishing. Surviving this many blanks is hard. Never
in the 15 years I have fished have I had such a run of blanks on any venue (although
this is the first time I have specifically set my sights on a specimen of a
specific species). After March 14th I will take a three month lay off (except
my week at Whiteacres in April) and come back refreshed for next season.
I hope you have enjoyed
the story of my first season and found some useful observations. I was hoping
to end this tale with a fish on the bank but it was not to be. Keep enjoying
your fishing. I hope to see you on the bank soon.
