I love to catch fish on the lightest gear I can responsibly use. My gear is all 90's match float rods, and light feeder rods. My poles are pre-carp models and, save for a single "tench" topkit with black hydro, all kits are below old-school no 8. Barbel, though......Over the years I've caught barbel on about a dozen rivers, before moving where I live now, often on what you'd call general or regular gear, but the combination of the characteristics of the river (on the stretches I fish) and the so far ever-increasing average size of the fish has led me, via practical experience not some yen to haul fish on unsporting gear, to make my gear adequate to the demands. It's as simple as that. There are some places where I'll happily fish for both chub and barbel on 8/6 or 6 through, but, believe it or not, where I fish, the swims that allow you the luxury of reliably playing barbel out on that are uncommon.
We all know that chub are tricky customers and adept at snagging us up, finding a refuge etc. But I don't go for this picture of barbel as powerful but relatively dumb etc. On both the Trent and the Dove, where I've caught a fair few, I've found that some barbel make you go phew, thank god it ran out into open water etc, but just as many know exactly where they want to go and will bulldoze and tunnel their way into snags, even on gear that would allow you to wind chub in. I'm aware that some open-water carbellers use their heavy gear to simply pump barbel in. So much for that. I do my barbel fishing in water full of features, without tripods, bite alarms and camping gear. It's often up close and personal and you often play them in a small space where you still need to do everything right, heavy gear or not, the outcome is not guaranteed, but lighter options just won't get them out.
A friend and I fished adjacent swims today; well, 50m apart. Here's one of mine from today, from a swim bookended by snags. The fight was fairly short and rather brutal, but the fish are not left with hooks and/or terminal tackle attached, and are not exhausted by a protracted struggle and recover quickly
My friend, an angler of equal experience who's caught just as many barbel, hooked 4 fish and landed one, simply unable, on his 10lb line, to stop others making it to the snags, despite their alleged dumbness. Two got into the snag; one snapped his hooklength when he tried to put the brakes on it. I did warn him. They say to understand another person walk a mile in their shoes. To which I'd add, and fish their swims.
I recently turned down the chance to join a group with some interesting stillwater fishing because they insist on a 12lb minimum line. I don't go for that. Choose line according to who's fishing where for what, and what it requires to get what you hook out..
