rods and reels for barbel fishing

[Steve Arnold]

Shimano say their Baitrunner 4000 OC is 380 gr and I find that balances well with my Greys Prodigy 1.5 lb tc barbel rod.

I have a couple of rods between 1.75 lb tc and 2 lb tc that the 4000 OC feels undergunned, so it's a jump up to the 6000 OC which feels too heavy!

When I get to the heavier tc rods the 6000 OC and even the 8000 OC feel reasonably balanced. Those reels are absolute workhorses and have been ultra-reliable over many years, including a lot of sea fishing.

At 380 gr the 4000 OC is not overweight for many rods, and not so much heavier than similar sized non-bairunner 4000 sized reels.

My 4000 OC reels have taken some carp from the river without grumbling too much, though I would worry if the river had its winter flow rate going!

As has already been said, I wish there was a 5000 size in the range. Big difference in weight between the 4000 and 6000 sizes, not so much between the 6000 and 8000.

Even the bream here are capable of ripping the rod from the rest. None of this rivers species are particularly shy, when they take a bait they run! Nearly lost rods a couple of times in my early days here, for me I my Shimano baitrunners!

 

[Goldfish]

Steve I think the 6000, 8000 are the same reel just different spool sizes. They are with a few of the other shimano baitrunners. Not sure about the oc's though. I belive the oc's are fantastic reels. The d's are meant to be better but for general freshwater fishing the oc's are the way to go and no point paying extra for the d's. Spares for the oc's are readily available as well. It's just a shame about the weight isn't it.

 

[Alan Whitty]

Indeed, very, very strong line...

As for where you stand Kev, on rivers like the Avon and Ivel I used to always look as to where I would be netting a fish in relation to the fishing position, the Stour and Gt.Ouse usually doesn't allow that with the trees...

 

[@Clive]

I don't think that weight matters. It is the balance that makes the difference.

Regards grinding in those havy leads and feeders; the Penn Liveliners are as tough as you will get. They are built for blue water bill fish. Not expensive either. Or if you need a baitrunner with a built in bite alarm get an old centrepin

 

[flightliner]

I don't think that weight matters. It is the balance that makes the difference.

Regards grinding in those havy leads and feeders; the Penn Liveliners are as tough as you will get. They are built for blue water bill fish. Not expensive either. Or if you need a baitrunner with a built in bite alarm get an old centrepin

Back in the eighties there was a reel made with a built in audible alarm but for the life of me I cant remember who made it.
It worked fine on a forward take but not on a dropback. It failed to make an impact on the market at the time.

 

[nottskev]

The last couple of years, I've taken to using a pin for all methods float or ledger if I can get the distance. And I favour swims where you can catch fairly close. You can almost always get turns on the reel with a pin, whereas it can be impossible to wind through the gears on a fs with a barbel on a short line, and this helps move them away from the snags and features I like to fish near. The Okuma pins with a drag have been a game-changer since I came across them - in a video Clive put up years ago, as it happens.

I read all the piece on the Abu Suveran reels, and had a look on ebay. A couple on there. One went this evening for £350, others with prices between £295 and £425. If I wanted an expensive new reel, I must say these look more attractive to splash out on than an upmarket Daiwa or Shimano.

 

[@Clive]

The last couple of years, I've taken to using a pin for all methods float or ledger if I can get the distance. And I favour swims where you can catch fairly close. You can almost always get turns on the reel with a pin, whereas it can be impossible to wind through the gears on a fs with a barbel on a short line, and this helps move them away from the snags and features I like to fish near. The Okuma pins with a drag have been a game-changer since I came across them - in a video Clive put up years ago, as it happens.

I read all the piece on the Abu Suveran reels, and had a look on ebay. A couple on there. One went this evening for £350, others with prices between £295 and £425. If I wanted an expensive new reel, I must say these look more attractive to splash out on than an upmarket Daiwa or Shimano.

The Okuma Trent should have been flying off the shelves. Sadly it was a victim of internet trolls who were posting ridiculous comments without having seen let alone used the reel. I still think that if they had made it in green and called it the Stalker it would still be in production. The Yanks love the updated model for steelhead fishing.

The Suverans were over a grand new in 2000. Then ABU drastically cut the cost and they could be had for much less. There are still a few new old stock items about for around £350. In fact Kev, there is one not too far from you.

 

[Alan Whitty]

Pins are great fun for barbel, but in many situations I find myself in are totally inefficient and result in lost fish, as I posted earlier if you get to the stage of an audible bite its too late as the fish have got a going so to speak and weed and snags cause issues on many venues, plus retrieves being so slow(which is brilliant for playing fish in relatively open water) can possibly be a problem with a particularly lively barbel, now in a perfect world I would take both pin and fixed spool, but I don't want excess baggage so only carry one...

 

[@Clive]

Pins are great fun for barbel, but in many situations I find myself in are totally inefficient and result in lost fish, as I posted earlier if you get to the stage of an audible bite its too late as the fish have got a going so to speak and weed and snags cause issues on many venues, plus retrieves being so slow(which is brilliant for playing fish in relatively open water) can possibly be a problem with a particularly lively barbel, now in a perfect world I would take both pin and fixed spool, but I don't want excess baggage so only carry one...

The three foot twitch is imo a sign that the barbel is already hooked and as you say, bolting. Where possible to float fish for them you see a different more gentle bite and it is possible to hook the fish and control it before it gets up to speed.

 

[nottskev]

Pins are great fun for barbel, but in many situations I find myself in are totally inefficient and result in lost fish, as I posted earlier if you get to the stage of an audible bite its too late as the fish have got a going so to speak and weed and snags cause issues on many venues, plus retrieves being so slow(which is brilliant for playing fish in relatively open water) can possibly be a problem with a particularly lively barbel, now in a perfect world I would take both pin and fixed spool, but I don't want excess baggage so only carry one...

I never use a pin as a bite alarm; the model I use has either "free spool" or a silent drag. I take the point about the slow retrieve, but in the circs I use them, that's never proved a problem, whereas the ability to wind against the kind of pressure that stops fs's turning regularly pays dividends.
Now and then I've had barbel which, hooked well out in the river, make a dirty dive for nearby nearside snags and have been too fast even for the fs I've been using. I can't think of a barbel I've lost solely due to any inadequacies of a pin. Now and then, barbel will snatch a bait on entry near the surface or on the drop, and I've been on a fs and a barbel on a short line straining at the line round your finger before you've had a chance to close the bail ...... there's one situation where I'm glad the reel is a pin. I started to use pins for barbel precisely because I like to fish in the more overgrown and snaggier places.

 

[Alan Whitty]

The three foot twitch is impossible to preempt in most cases, they are just too bloody fast, but if we use drags or pins to avoid rod losses then lost fish will occur on many venues, sitting watching the tip and fairly tight drags lower the risk enormously...

 

[nottskev]

I've got into the habit, if fishing fairly close, of holding the rod with or without a rest so I can hold the line in my left hand. Adding a bit of touch often gives you a heads up on a bite shaping up. There's nothing like a bit of a twitch, tremble or whatever on the line to get you concentrating and ready for a bite.

Without wanting to have a gratuitous poke at carpers, this little story sums something up. I stopped to chat to a bloke carping at the irrigation res with the big barbel and carp. He asked me where I planned to fish, and I pointed to snag city and said there, touch legering (float banned) down the side. He looked a bit blank, and I explained I love the anticipation, rod in hand, plugged into the water, feeling for something and keyed up to hit a bite. The bloke was in a shelter facing away from the water due to some wet and windy weather, with his two-rod set up around the corner, and he replied he gets the same kick when he hears the alarm go off. He'd been reading a magazine when I passed. As they say, different strokes.

 

[@Clive]

And the bobbin is also sadly neglected. That gives an indication of a bite on a running rig that does not increase the tension felt by the fish that causes it to bolt. Both float and bobbins along with touch ledgering give a different perspective to how a barbel picks up the bait and continues feeding, invariably straight upstream.

 

[Keith M]

The three foot twitch is impossible to preempt in most cases, they are just too bloody fast, but if we use drags or pins to avoid rod losses then lost fish will occur on many venues, sitting watching the tip and fairly tight drags lower the risk enormously...

Apart from when I’m trotting; I nearly always touch leger for Barbel; and even when I’m using a quivertip I will still tend to fish with a finger across my line; and on the smaller streams I often like to fish with my clutch set a little bit on the light side; and will usually adjust my clutch several times during a fight and without needing to think about it.
I have only lost one Barbel in the last few years and that was when a Barbel ran across a bend on the far bank and my line got parted on some tree roots.

Of course now I’ve said that; Murphys law says I’ll probably start to lose them now

Keith

 

[Philip]

I look at pins as being a more direct way to play fish than a FS ...if you stop the pin with your thumb the reel cant give line while a FS can still give if the drag slips. Pins are also just a nice way to fish. Its a pleasure to play fish on a pin.

Angling is supposed to be a fun activity at the end of the day.

 

[Alan Whitty]

It is Philip, however it becomes less of a pleasure when you lose the only fish hooked in two or three sessions, as I say your venue or swim has a lot to do with how good an option a pin is, I must say I've caught a fair few on the pin, in fact I spent a few seasons fishing nothing else....

 

[ian g]

I’m with you Philip ,I love fishing a pin as you say fishing is for pleasure

 

[Goldfish]

Just to throw a spanner in the works I remember reading one of Steve Stayners books many years ago. He was someone who specialised in hit and hold fishing for barbel in snaggy swims. It was a question and answers book. One of the questions was rating the tackle he used for fishing for barbel. Reels was last on his list after rods, line, hooks etc. His reason behind it was if you use the correct rod, line and hooks you could land a barbel of any size without given the fish an inch of line. He was someone who's personal best was over 17lb back in the mid 2000's. He certainly knew what he was talking about. I've never been that extreme when playing out a barbel but makes you think reels aren't too important after all. Most important is knots lol

 

[nottskev]

Just to throw a spanner in the works I remember reading one of Steve Stayners books many years ago. He was someone who specialised in hit and hold fishing for barbel in snaggy swims. It was a question and answers book. One of the questions was rating the tackle he used for fishing for barbel. Reels was last on his list after rods, line, hooks etc. His reason behind it was if you use the correct rod, line and hooks you could land a barbel of any size without given the fish an inch of line. He was someone who's personal best was over 17lb back in the mid 2000's. He certainly knew what he was talking about. I've never been that extreme when playing out a barbel but makes you think reels aren't too important after all. Most important is knots lol

Here's his review of the Harrison Chimera Snag and Flood rod from about 20 years ago. I bought one in 2003 and had a second made up a couple of years ago. The blanks are still available from Harrison. The chap who made the first - he was working for Harrison - also made up the second. He's now an independent rod-builder and it was a coincidence that I contacted him about the new rod. They really are as good as the Review says.

https://www.harrisonrods.co.uk/chimbarbel.htm

 

[Goldfish]

I've spoke to a couple who've owner the snag and flood rod and they can't say enough good things about it. Meant to be a superb rod. Steve Stayner developed his own rod with harrisons called the barbel master. I spoke to Steve over the phone about this rod. It was basically the same as a snag and flood rod. He just softened up the butt section slightly.