Tag Archives: big barbel

With the rain this week I decided to make a rare trip to the Trent after barbel. I knew the river would be high with plenty of colour so I wanted to use the smelliest baits I had. I found half a pot of The Hook Bait Co. Big Squid boilies from 2016 in the garage. They still looked and smelled good as new, so into the bag they went! I only had 5 hours to fish and I knew location would be paramount. I had the stretch to myself, so I baited marginal spots in 3 swims. Four Spoppers of mixed pellets laced with Nimrod oil, garlic oil and hemp oil went into each swim. In these conditions I favour leads & PVA stockings over swim feeders, and I also used back leads to keep debris off the lines. For hook baits I opted for a Garlic Nimrod & The Big Squid combo – one of each on the hair. All was quiet in the first swim, but after an hour in the second swim I had a good take on my downstream rod. After a tough, but thankfully uneventful fight I managed to net the barbel at the …

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Introduction Juggling time between family, work, friends and other commitments can leave little leftover for fishing trips.  Not an ideal basis for targeting specimen fish, but I’ve worked 6-day weeks since I left school and I remain a mad-keen angler.  Two years ago I bought my first house with my girlfriend and her daughter, which has further constricted my fishing time, but I have plenty of experience in squeezing short sessions into what little time I have left. Rivers are my favourite venues and during the first four months of the season I mainly target barbel, after work during short evening sessions.  To get the best out of these sessions you have to be prepared, efficient and have your tactics ready to employ quickly and confidently.  I shall explain how I do this, which should give you a basis of knowledge to help you get the best from your local rivers. River & Swim Selection First you need a venue within easy driving distance of work/home.  I finish work at 6pm, so for evening sessions I set myself a limit of 45 minutes driving time each way.  Research which local angling clubs offer you the best river fishing to suit …

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Although I caught my first barbel from the Trent and my second came from the Derwent, my third and probably the next forty-odd were all River Dove barbel. It’s the place I spent my most formative barbel angling years to date and it’s a river which, although a tough nut to crack at times, I will always hold dear when it comes to summer barbel fishing. The beauty of the river certainly helps; it abounds with wildlife and the combination of gravel runs, streamer weed, gnarled overhanging trees and numerous intriguing twists and turns, make the Dove constantly fascinating. It’s a special river. Andrew’s rods await the interests of a Barbel at sunset on the River Dove I’ve held various tickets for stretches of the Dove and I’ve had varying results from them. Some stretches hold numbers of fish in the 4lb to 8lb bracket with the odd larger fish; others are more famed for elusive but hefty specimens. Due to struggling early-season on the Trent and Derwent in recent years, I decided to give the Dove a go at a narrow stretch, which happened to be the first I’d fished, back in 2003. This would “ease me in gently”, …

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How great it’s been to sit by a river in this glorious heat to while away an evening or two!  After such a cold, long, snowy winter I’m not really surprised that the extremes of weather have gone full circle and now some of the reservoirs are dangerously empty!  Normally with such dry and bright conditions the fishing is difficult but I’ve either been doing something really right (granted, I have changed a lot of my setup) or I’ve been extremely lucky (or more probably a bit of both) in my first couple of sessions of the season. I fished last Tuesday & Wednesday evenings on the River Dove for my first sessions of the new season and unusually, I managed to hit the ground running!  The first evening I only had a couple of hours fishing because I was so disorganised, I didn’t cast a line until half past 9!  The very first cast I had some tip rattles on my upstream rod which seemed like a bite given by a chub mouthing the bait.  After the bite continuing for a good few seconds I struck but failed to connect.  Next cast, a similar but more forceful bite resulted in a …

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