One rod or two rods for barbel

[Alan Whitty]

It's strange isn't it, the Ivel had a fish that was going to break the record before it was ottered, these fish rarely came to boilies or pellet as the vast majority of the river is unfishable due to heavy weed, in winter maggot was by far the best bait, in fact I only ever heard of a couple of fish over 14lbs coming to boilie during the winter, yet there were a fair few fish over that weight in the stretch, the natural food must have been rich to hold weights up....shrimp and fly larvae, plus the hordes of minnows which had to be being scoffed at times...

 

[@Clive]

Crayfish can also be responsible for unnaturally high growth rates in some species. A study carried out in a large Spanish lake with little angling being carried out discovered that over 50% of the larger carp's diet was crayfish.

 

[@Clive]

It is nearly October, there is rain forecast and I have an almost commitment free week ahead

So, the barbel tackle has had a bit of maintenance. The old Aero 5000 RE bought around 2005 has never had any attention so that was first up on the bench to be cleaned and lubed before replacing it back on the newly cleaned Shimano Purist 2lb tc. Then I dug out its almost identical twin, an Aero 5000 GTE that has been sitting for about three years on the butt section of a Korum rod that broke unexpectedly. I re-spooled both with some Garner tapered mono and ordered a new rod for the GTE to sit on as I can't repair the Korum. Then it was the turn of the Fox 1.75lb tc outfit to be cleaned, the reel lubed and re-spooled. Once the new rod arrives I'll be ready for the new season. Bring it on

 

[barbelboi]

I love my Aero 5000GTEs, c 2000ish, used regularly, wiped over after fishing, never lubricated and both run like new. We're off to West Yorkshire to stay with my son and his tribe so it's back on the Aire for some barbel...................

 

[@Clive]

The 5000 RE was running smoothly. But when I opened it up the grease was almost solid, a bit like wax. Once I had cleaned it out and used an artist's paint brush to spread light grease over the gear mechanism it did make a slight difference to the good. I thought the GTE had an extra bearing, but in fact it has 3 extra bearings compared to the RE. And the spools are interchangable, not that I have needed to yet.

I also have 8000 REs on my carp and pike rods. When I heard they had discontinued the Aero I bought 3 new ones from ebay.de where they were a lot cheaper. They are so much better than the modern baitrunners imo.

 

[barbelboi]

You'll have a hard time beating the Japanese made Shimanos, I also have a couple of Stradics of similar vintage they just go on an on.......

 

[chevin4]

You'll have a hard time beating the Japanese made Shimanos, I also have a couple of Stradics of similar vintage they just go on an on.......

Agree the early Shimanos circa 2003 manufactured in Japan were cracking reels. I particularly rate the ivory coloured Stradic 2500 with fighting drag. I use this for small river perch and chub bait fishing and drop shotting for perch. One of the items of tackle I wouldn't sell.

 

[Alan Whitty]

Well I sold two Shimano stradic 4000's, one Japanese, the other Malaysian I believe, the former was superior in every way, I also sold a Japanese 4000 sized Aero (I think) with fighting drag, plus two Aero match three's also Japanese, the silly thing was I sold a Drennan 4000 FD and it sold for almost as much and that was a pile of junk....

 

[Woofy Chivers]

Hi all and hope your season is going well. I've fished for barbel for the last twenty five years or so on the River Ribble. For people who aren't familiar with it I guess it could be compared to the Severn or Wye is terms of size. It's quite a large river. For all of 25 years I've only used one rod for barbel. Many of times I've thought of using two rods. Everywhere I look online I see tripods with two rods on themi. I've thought about the pros and cons many times. It just feels like the cons outweigh the pros.
1.You've got two lines in the water. First of all if you get a barbel on one rod it could cross over the other line taking a rod out and a tangled mess.
2. Two barbel on at the same time could find a barbel that you're not playing in a snag before you've landed the other one. 3. In floods branches and all sorts of floating items coming down the river could take a rod out before you've got time to reel the other one in.
4. Having to take twice as many leads/feeders with you adds plenty of weight to your luggage not to mention losing twice as many in snags.
5. Your concentration is divided between two rods rather than focusing entirely on just one.
The only pro I can think of using two rods is if you're a bit of a lazy fisherman (nothing wrong with this. It's nice to chill out and enjoy the day) you could cast out both rods and just wait for a barbel to take one. This way it would improve a chance of a pick up I guess.
I'm not having a go at people who use two rods as I want to use two rods myself simply because I own two and want to use both. I just want an avid two rod user to really convince me that there is a distinct advantage in using two rods and they have evidence that they've caught more barbel using two rods than one.
Mickb

 

[Kevin aka Aethelbald]

^^^ And your point is? Or was it simply to reiterate what mickb said?

 

[chevin4]

Excellent post which pretty much gives pros and cons of using two rods for Barbel. I tend to use 2 rods when fishing for one bite on places like big weirs but only if I can keep the baits well away from each other.

 

[Woofy Chivers]

Each to their own but personally I only ever use one rod for barbel. But I fish the Wye. Perhaps if I fished a very large river such as the tidal Trent which I haven’t I may use two. I think it’s counter productive using two rods as I like to sit with my hand on rod ready to strike. You can’t concentrate on a second rod while putting a pellet on a hair or filling feeder with groundbait. Also I think fish welfare is paramount so if you are playing a fish or unhooking one and a barbel hooks itself on second rod , the chance of losing rod or the barbel gets to a snag is on the cards. So by using one rod the chance of any harm coming to these magnificent fish is nullified.

 

[nottskev]

One's enough for me, although I usually take two rods set up differently. Using two at once would rule out two of my favourite ways to catch them: fishing close up to snags and float fishing. Float fishing with small baits and loose feed works well when two rods/two feeders tends not to, ie through the day in low or normal level rivers in summer. I've noticed two-rod anglers often go for "spacious" swims, use static baits and chuck well out. Fair enough, but there are lots to be caught near the bank and I prefer this rod-in-hand style of fishing.

 

[@Clive]

Same with me. Occassionally, where here is plenty of room I will fish two ledgered barbel rods at differing distances. Even then you have no control over two bites at the same time, or as I found out last month, when the hooked fish, in this case a pike, decides to knit the pike line with the float line.

 

[chevin4]

Each to their own but personally I only ever use one rod for barbel. But I fish the Wye. Perhaps if I fished a very large river such as the tidal Trent which I haven’t I may use two. I think it’s counter productive using two rods as I like to sit with my hand on rod ready to strike. You can’t concentrate on a second rod while putting a pellet on a hair or filling feeder with groundbait. Also I think fish welfare is paramount so if you are playing a fish or unhooking one and a barbel hooks itself on second rod , the chance of losing rod or the barbel gets to a snag is on the cards. So by using one rod the chance of any harm coming to these magnificent fish is nullified.

I think you are preaching to the converted. I haven't ever fished the Wye but I have friends who have and in parts it's very prolific. If I fished that river it would be a one rod approach. I fish a small stream which is prolific the river is narrow the barbel only need to move a yard and they are in the reeds which can be shaggy using two rods on that situation is asking for trouble and counterproductive. Occasionally I fish a weir pool which contains a small number of huge fish which at times of high water move down the river. In this situation I use two rods constant blanks are the norm basically you are fishing for one bite using fishing baits in two distinct areas increases the chances but its still a lottery.