20lb Barbel? Yer ‘aving a Laugh!I returned to fishing a few years ago having packed it all in back in the late 1980’s. On my return one of the biggest shocks to me was the amazing size now attained by many of our fish, particularly barbel. If someone had said to me our whiskered beauty would reach such leviathan proportions I would have thought they were insane and had better get their scales checked.
Now before I go any further, I’m no expert on barbel but I do think they are one of the most beautiful “fit for purpose” fish that swim in our rivers. The amount of coverage now given to barbel in the press and particularly websites such as this is incredible and got me reminiscing about my own barbel past. Fling them up the bank! Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s I was mainly a club match angler but luckily enough I lived close to the Dorset Stour and Hampshire Avon. It took me quite a while to catch my first barbel but when I did it sparked off something that later caused me to chase them for several years. Back then the nearest you’d get to a 20lb barbel was in the local tackle shop listening to myths and legends of salmon anglers hooking such beasts from the Avon and flinging them up the bank! I once saw a really big barbel at the tail of Ibsley Weir Pool which I initially put at around 10lbs. A mate of mine did land a couple of its smaller companions which then led me to think it was much, much bigger! For a long while that was the closest I came to a ’10’ let alone a ’20’.
Finally landed one and another and another…. They just came along like buses in a convoy! It seemed to me, my mates and uncles all caught barbel with incredible ease but I struggled to get one in the net. That changed in 1971 as I finally caught my first Stour barbel. It came from what is now Beat 3 on Throop just below the Forked Tree. That part of the Stour was then the Littledown Estate and separate from Throop (you could use hemp there but it was banned on Throop). Caught on freelined meat under the rod tip it weighed about 5lb, I realised I hadn’t weighed it just as it swam away! Soon after, I had my first Avon barbel, caught by accident (typical) while bagging up on dace at Winkton Weir. It was about 3lb (again not weighed!) and fought well on the balsa/centrepin combination. The split dorsal fin clearly shown in the photo is not my doing! Both fish were extremely welcome as I felt I’d finally become a proper Stour/Avon angler! Several more barbel, including, incredibly, my first double, came my way in 1971. But it was a later event that became a turning point in my fishing life.
Barbel in keepnets! The catalyst that sent me chasing barbel was a hastily arranged match on the Avon at Ibsley. I landed a total of seven barbel but only weighed in one. I refused to put them in a keepnet and only found the scalesman that solitary time. I continued to fish matches but from that point barbel became a bit of a fixation with me for quite a while. Of course I was spoilt for choice with both Stour and Avon and although I did fish the classic areas at Throop and The Royalty many, many times, my focus of attention was directed at the club waters of those two great rivers. I invariably fished for barbel by sight and although I used the lead and later the feeder I much preferred to catch them trotting a float. Laying the table and waiting…. My standard method was to introduce a bed of hemp, usually with a bait dropper, and then wait to see what developed. Many a time I just sat there waiting and watching until the barbel showed up. Often, if conditions were right and space permitted, I would have several swims on the go at the same time. Observing barbel working their way up through a swim, hoovering up the hemp, often just a few feet away, remains one of the best experiences in my fishing life. For a while, a particular Avon sidestream became the main focus of my attention. It was to produce many superb fish for me, including my personal best at 11lb 06oz and was just perfect for the ‘laying the table’ approach. I can’t claim to have been the first to find those barbel, my uncles showed me how and where, I’m not proud!
A favourite and very prolific trotting swim was to be found squeezed between a footbridge and a small weir. Only about 15 yards long but there were large weedbeds between me and the fish and when the flow was right it positively heaved with barbel. Only once did a hooked barbel go down the weir race but plenty went upstream and under the bridge. 10th September 1978 a day to remember…. My biggest ever barbel came from a swim a little further up the sidestream on the inside of a sharp bend. I’d fished this swim many times and had some nice chub and dace but never a barbel. It was somewhat deeper than average and the flow allowed you to trot a float away and under the far bank trees, definitely chub country. On this day I couldn’t get into any of my favourite barbel swims but was quite happy to go for the chub. I’d been fishing for about two hours and had a few dace and a single chub when something caught my eye. Virtually at my feet just a little downstream, two barbel were rooting about. I immediately set up another rod for them and started to creep about very quietly. Crazy really as I’d been stood there for a while in full view constantly casting and retrieving so why would they suddenly get wary? Anyway, now in full stealth mode, white T-shirt and all, I crept back into the swim. They were still there but had a companion! That third fish was positively huge!
The angling Gods were with me that day as I made several ham-fisted attempts to present the bait, once hitting the big one on the head with the 2SSG link! Even a small herd of cows wallowing in the cattle-drink only 25 yards downstream didn’t disturb these fish! All three fish drifted in and out of the swim several times and I warily introduced a bit of hemp. They loved it! I watched for some time as the two smaller fish came through, virtually always followed by the big one. It was fascinating as they pretty much stuck to the same route and pattern. I even deliberately pulled the bait (casters) away from the two in order to concentrate on the big one. It’s gone past again. Why…. Hang on a minute! That fish came through the baited area time and time again and each time I held my breath and had several near heart attacks. I was convinced it was not to be and can distinctly remember saying to myself “damn, it’s gone past again,” when I felt the sensation of the rod bending over as the fish exited right! Even though I was a nervous wreck and after a very powerful fight, I eventually slipped the net under it. At first my scales read anywhere between 9lb and 14lb, I just couldn’t hold it steadily enough. A fellow angler came up and rescued me, three sets of scales between us and we settled on 11lb 6oz. He also stopped me putting it back with the words “don’t you want a photo then?” Thanks mate! He did the business and later posted the slides to me. Over the following ten years or so I caught plenty of barbel, including a few over 10lb but none would match that 1978 fish. The only one that has come close since then was a 6lb fish I landed last year, the first since my return to this great sport.
It’s just occurred to me that it will take a fish almost twice the size of my PB to set a new record! The chances of me landing such a barbel are, to say the least, incredibly remote (rocking horse and do-do come to mind). However, if the angling Gods give me another day to remember I hope the fish is just ‘a big fish’ and doesn’t have a name! |
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