Large masses exert gravitational pull, so I guess all that lead they carry draws them together. There are crowd scene hotspots down here too, particularly where day ticket access plus night fishing allowed lets travelling visitors get a crack at the barbel. But there are plenty of anglers out for other species, and miles of empty bank for those who prefer that. For every Trent stretch densely packed with carbellers, there are numerous stretches on the larger tribs - Derwent, Dove, Soar - which used to be popular for barbel before the fishing dwindled to slim pickings. Even on the Trent, which is always "on fire" in the Angling Times, there are miles and miles of water where catching a barbel is a very long shot.
New Cadence rod...
- Thread starter Alan Whitty
- Start date
Large masses exert gravitational pull, so I guess all that lead they carry draws them together. There are crowd scene hotspots down here too, particularly where day ticket access plus night fishing allowed lets travelling visitors get a crack at the barbel. But there are plenty of anglers out for other species, and miles of empty bank for those who prefer that. For every Trent stretch densely packed with carbellers, there are numerous stretches on the larger tribs - Derwent, Dove, Soar - which used to be popular for barbel before the fishing dwindled to slim pickings. Even on the Trent, which is always "on fire" in the Angling Times, there are miles and miles of water where catching a barbel is a very long shot.
@Clive
Well-known member
Social meeja also has an effect on angling pressure. You only have someone post a specimen capture and the circus descends on the venue. It drives my friend mad. He goes night fishing for cod on the east coast near Grimsby and regularly gets mobbed out by anglers, some of whom have travelled over a hundred miles to get to the place where somebody on facebook has posted of a good catch. Last time he went he took an extendable ladder so that he could get over a wall that would deter all but the dedicated solitude seeking angler 
Social meeja also has an effect on angling pressure. You only have someone post a specimen capture and the circus descends on the venue. It drives my friend mad. He goes night fishing for cod on the east coast near Grimsby and regularly gets mobbed out by anglers, some of whom have travelled over a hundred miles to get to the place where somebody on facebook has posted of a good catch. Last time he went he took an extendable ladder so that he could get over a wall that would deter all but the dedicated solitude seeking angler
After a couple of amateur videos appeared on youtube (why??) of one of my favourite, generally under the radar, places, I found that when I was fishing there people nosing around would come up to me and ask, in a charmless peremptory manner, questions like Any good here, pal? Wossinere, mate? How big are the X? Is it day ticket? I always explain that the fishing's poor, I just go there because it's local and I don't know about tickets - I'm a club member. (I am a club member - but they don't run that water) I'll happily put a friend on any good fishing I come across, but why people broadcast it to the general public beats me.
@Clive
Well-known member
One of my friends started posting videos proclaiming the excellent barbel fishing of our local river. The river is only 30 miles long and the big barbel were to be found in a two mile stretch. There were hardly any under 8lb, but one fish per four or five sessions was the average. Needless to say that our quiet little river received far too much attention mostly of the wrong sort. We fished it with single rods of 1.25lb to 1.5lb stalking individual fish by concentrating on suitable features in the right conditions. So baiting was kept to a minimum. Then the two-rod, two kilos of pellet boys arrived en mass. For about two years another friend and I kept out of the way lest we encountered the circus and gave away the locations. Eventually they stopped coming because not surprisingly their tactics failed to land the big ones they thought were easy game.
Hugh Bailey
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We’ve cycled a few times from home to Richmond, along the tow paths of the Basingstoke canal, Wey nav, Wey & Thames. It’s maybe 20 miles and more often than not, the only anglers we see are bivvied up, all grouped together on a known hotspot on the lower Thame. For literally miles - no one & this is in a pretty highly populated area.
Mark_T45
Member
This short video was using the 2lb TC which was probably a bit over gunned for how the river was on the day, but generally when it’s in flow is for me a better all round rod.