Barbel.

[Cloughy1]

Hi all, I've bought a Grey's Prodigy 1.75lb barbel rod.
Never fished for them before. Could someone advise me on which reel size will best go with?
I've got everything from 3000 reels upto a 6000 Shimano baitrunner but I think that might be overrunning it a bit.
Any help will be much appreciated. TIA Daz.

 

[@Clive]

Hi all, I've bought a Grey's Prodigy 1.75lb barbel rod.
Never fished for them before. Could someone advise me on which reel size will best go with?
I've got everything from 3000 reels upto a 6000 Shimano baitrunner but I think that might be overrunning it a bit.
Any help will be much appreciated. TIA Daz.

I would go for a 4000 or 5000. You will probably be aware that there is no exact conformity with Daiwas tending to be slightly larger than Shimanos, but a 4000 Shimmy would be my first choice.

 

[seth49]

A baitrunner would be my choice, barbel bites can be very aggressive, and quite capable of pulling your rod in, that’s what I always used when I barbel fished.

 

[Keith M]

A 4000 series or 5000 series reel would be fine with your 1.7lb Greys Prodigy Barbel rod.

I use a Shimano 5000 series baitrunner; allthough I only use the baitrunner function when I’m setting up or occasionally needing to let a little line out; because I ‘Touch Ledger’ with my finger on my line; allthough most of my Barbel bites are sail aways I sometimes get warning indications which I can feel through my finger.
Also as Seth has already said barbel bites can be very aggressive, and quite capable of pulling your rod in which is another reason why a hand either hovering over, or holding the reel/rod, is a good thing; even more so on small rivers or streams where you are fishing at relatively close ranges.

Touch legering also allows me to take my gaze away from my rod tip occasionally and look at other things happening around me as I can feel what’s happening down by my hook through my finger.

Keith

 

[Alan Whitty]

Imo baitrunners are only functional in open water, if you let the 'bull' run it will smash the china, so the only way is to watch your rod, but if your on a river like the Trent, Wye or Severn in most swims they give the option of three rods like many use....

 

[Philip]

Touch legering also allows me to take my gaze away from my rod tip occasionally and look at other things happening around me as I can feel what’s happening down by my hook through my finger.

I'm with that.

When legering with one rod its what i do most of the time now. I spent many years staring at a quiver tip (which can still be very effective) but touch ledgering just lets you relax a bit more and look around...plus it does away with the need for a rod rest.

 

[@Clive]

I touch ledger with the rod on the rest. I just hook the pad of my index finger over the line with my hand resting on the rod handle.

 

[ian g]

I don't use the bait runner much on the Severn , they can run to a snag if your not careful . Better to be be on your rod.

 

[seth49]

I used to fish two rods on the ribble for barbel, the upstream rod with a feeder containing pellets hemp etc, and the downstream rod with either a large pellet or boilie, the feeder rod drew them upstream but most of the bites came to the downstream rod, so that’s why I fished with the baitrunners on. I only got took into a snag a few times, if I did I put the rod back on the rest with slack line, and the fish would come out after as long as twenty minutes sometime.

 

[ian g]

Sounds like you were on your rods Seth . We get the odd guy sitting in their bivvy on top of the bank , rods at the bottom thinking they are ok because they have baitrunners. Not many but enough .

 

[seth49]

Yes always sat by my rods, I used to have some nice catches, but I’m a bit too old now for clambering up down the ribble banks, my best was 11lb 3oz, which wasn’t bad for the ribble, only had one more double figure one, most around 7 to 8lb.

 

[Keith M]

Although my first choice of reel when I’m after Barbel is one of my Shimano 5000 series reels (I have five of these); I would still be quite happy using my Shimano Stradic 4000 series rear drag reel for Barbel fishing; however my Stradic reel is currently loaded with slightly lighter lines of 4lb and 6lb bs line and is reserved for my Chub fishing and for other slightly smaller species such as Tench, Crucians and smallish Carp; although it would still be OK if pressed into use with slightly heavier lines for Barbel.

NB: For some reason Shimano have now stopped selling their 5000 series reels; so if I needed a new reel for my barbel fishing and didn’t already have my other 5000 series reels then I might have needed to go down to a 4000 series reel anyway; or go up to a 6000 series reel which is a bit over the top but is still feasible.

Keith

 

[Alan Whitty]

What the hell are Shimano up to, first of all they start selling reels with no anti reverse, then they do away with 5000 size reels, a size commonly used by specimen anglers, especially as their 4000 size are slightly smaller than some manufacturers (Daiwa), 6000 sized reels are way too big for my barbel fishing, almost beach reels....

 

[@Clive]

The bodies are the same size. It is only the rotor that differs.

 

[Steve Arnold]

I use Shimano Baitrunner OC (Oceanic) reels for my barbel fishing.

On my 1.5 lb rods the 4000 oc size is well balanced, on my 2.25 lb and 2.75 lb rods I have 6000 oc and 8000 oc. The two latter sizes may seem a little overkill but the river Lot is big, often with a very powerful flow........and there is a realistic chance of 30 lb+ carp taking your "barbel" bait.

As said already, Shimano seem to have missed out the 5000 size! Pity as that would be more useful on my 1.75 lb rods, for that I look to Daiwa.

 

[Alan Whitty]

I think reel sizes are horses for courses, on rivers like the Lot in France, the Trent and at times the Severn and Ribble where big feeders or leads are required it makes sense, however the majority of barbel rivers can be fished with a 3500 or 4000 reel and even a 5000 is overkill, not that it can't be used, but the smaller reel makes it more of a pleasure, for me at least...

 

[The Source]

I still prefer using my Abu Cardinal 54s for chub and my 55s for barbel, I do occasionally use a Shimano Baitrunner 5000RE but l believe these haven't been available new for a while.

 

[Goldfish]

Best reel for barbel are shimano 5000 size reels. 4000 too small for bigger rivers and 6000 like a house brick. If I had to choose between a 4000 and a 6000 reel it would be 6000 for big rivers and 4000 for small rivers.
However there are always 5000 sized shimanos going second hand on ebay. Some look almost brand new. Hardly used.
If I was in the market for a reel to balance well with a 1.75lb tc rod I'd look on ebay and pick up a second hand shimano baitrunner re or gte 5000. Best reels for barbel fishing in my opinion.

 

[Alan Whitty]

I'm curious (not doubting), why do you base the thought that a 5000 is the best size, reeling big leads/feeders etc possibly?

 

[nottskev]

My barbel reels are either 4000 or centrepins. The 4000's are either old Shimano XTRA's or newish Stradic ci4's. Both balance well with barbel rods. or float rods. I tried a baitrunner, but I found it clunky and heavy by comparison. And unnecessary, as I fish one rod at a time and if I have bait in the water I'm either holding or watching the rod.