First time Barbel sessiion

[nicholaslukey]

Had my first Barbel session on the River Derwent the other day, the river was just going down to normal after the bout of heavy rain. I had a few severe knocks on the rod tops, about 15 minutes after casting. I didn't strike, as I was waiting for a screamer.

I must admit my knowledge of River fishing is quite poor, spent most of my fishing life on Carp waters. Couple of questions, when to strike? and how often to recast in a swim.

Off back down today for a late afternoon into dark session. Any pointers welcome.

Cheers

Nick

 

[Graham Elliott 1]

Nick. First thing to think about is why those severe knocks didnt result in any hook ups?

Need more info about your bait and tackle setup. Ie.
Meat on hook? Hair rig? Bait and hook size etc.


As a general rule ensure your hook size is adequate to at least be width wise as wide as your bait.
Unlike most carp setups arrange any hair to hold the bait immediately under the bend of the hook not 1-2inches gap.

Again as a general rule 2 or 3 casts in the first half hour with feeder, pva mesh or similar to put some bait in then sit in it for an hour or two.

When to strike...if hair rigging when the rod pulls right round.....but DONT STRIKE. the fish is hooked.

If fishing with bait on the hook, like maybe lump of meat.....different game.

 

[thecrow]

Which Derwent were you fishing and if you don't mind disclosing the area that would help (just a general area not specific to many lurkers or even PM if you would rather)

 

[nicholaslukey]

Hi
Thanks for the replies, Fishing on the Borrowash section.

Baited with one rod on the method feeder, 18 inch braided hooklink, with a size 8 and a 14mm pellet, other rod fished same but with 2 15mm bolies. hair was quite generous though. I was torn between thinking they were bites, but as the river was running quite strong I did think it maybe some weed/detrius catching the line.

I may change my approach today keep one on the method, and fish a heavy gripper with a single bait with a stringer or pva mesh. Either way I will shorten the hair.

The other thing is, being a new water i wanted to have a bit of a lead around but was worried about spooking fish any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[thecrow]

I have always done best on a bait and wait method on the Derwent using a bait dropper, I didn't leave the swim to settle preferring to introduce my hook bait before any fish were on the freebies. Recasting will spook fish that may be there and imo is to be avoided unless you have had indications that fish (not just Barbel ) have been in the swim then I would top it up say every 90 mins or so. If the river is at normal level don't ignore loose feeding pelletsit does work.

The bites you had yesterday were almost certainly Chub and if you are just interested in the Barbel you may have to find an optimum hair length that will not hook the Chub but will hook the Barbel, iirc I used one around half an inch from the bend.

The river rises and falls very quickly and you might find much different conditions when you next visit and your fishing into dark may be the better idea, its what I found when fishing the Ambaston stretch anyway the river always came alive come dark.

 

[nicholaslukey]

Well 2 further sessions, one late afternoon until 11am, and one early morning. The evening session was very quiet with a few anglers dotted around, no one had caught. Early morning was more productive in so much as there seemed to be more signs of fish swirling and topping. Again same thing happening with the rods tops, knocks and pulls.

Still it was enjoyable though, and I'm learning quite alot about the river, Barbel fishing is no walk in the park on the river thats for sure.

 

[iain t]

Those server knocks were probably Chub sucking the bait in then on feeling the hook or tension blew it out again. If this keeps happening to try leave a longer length between the hook and the bait.

 

[keora]

A braid hook link might not be the right choice, depending on the swim you are fishing.

In "Underwater Angling" by Paul Garner, he says he uses braid on occasion, but only fishing amongst dense weed. He adds that braid is often quite visible on open gravel and doesn't generate as many bites. His advice is based on both fishing and swimming under water to observe various types of rigs.

You might be better using fluorocarbon as a hook length.

You're using 14 mm pellets, they seem a bit big to me, why not try a smaller one on a size 12 hook. I've had a few barbel this summer fishing a deep tidal river with one or two 8mm pellets on the hair rig and a small piece of luncheon meat on the hook.

If you're using two rods in the swim, with big gripper leads, then this might deter barbel from entering the swim.

 

[Graham Elliott 1]

Isn't barbel fishing a joy.

Personally I would disagree with both the last two posts apart from the need to try smaller hookbait. Say a single 10mm.

My observations tell me that a line that cant be seen causes more fish to spook.

And If I am missing bites I would ensure the hook point is
Immediately above the bait. Prevents lipping to a large degree. Suggest size 9 or 8 for a 10mm pellet.

Graham

---------- Post added at 10:51 ---------- Previous post was at 10:47 ----------

Added.

Also not sure what hooklink length being used but if using a fairly solid mix for a method feeder I wouldn't go more than 12inches. Probably 6"

 

[theartist]

Hi

The other thing is, being a new water i wanted to have a bit of a lead around but was worried about spooking fish any thoughts?

Thanks

That's the key phrase there mate you don't have to complicate things too much with your set up, you'll know when to strike when they bite just learn the water this is far more important

 

[nicholaslukey]

Re: First time Barbel session

Thanks for the replies.

The session started out with open feeder, semi fixed. I inititally started out with a 2 foot braided hook link with 2 small pellets. Other rod same setup but using a small meat bait. Both the feeders contained a mix of particle and pellets.

During the session I switched to mono hooklinks of around 12 inches smaller hooks, seemed not to make any difference, still getting quite ferocious pulls. Which seemd to come in bursts just after re casting. I can only presume this was from fish being attracted to the feeder mix. The feeder was quite light.

I think my next visit will lead me to backleading/leadcore so that the area around the lead/feeder is clear of line. Not sure I was that positve about the early morning session, as I was about the evening/night previous. Still it made for one or two nice photographs.