Finding a balance between work, family, friends and
other commitments can leave little time left for fishing. After recently being
forced to commute relatively long distances to work it has never been more
important for me to get the most out of my short evening barbel fishing sessions. In this article I'll explain my tactics for both large and
small rivers to help you get the best out of short sessions.
River & Swim Selection
River and swim selection is essential for an enjoyable fishing trip. You first need to select a river/or section of water that you are confident holds a good head of fish. A good way is to research what you're local angling clubs have to offer, or talk to the lads in you're local tackle shop. Once you have chosen a venue it is important to get to know the water, walk the river in the close season, if its a small clear river make notes of where you see the fish, these locations will probably be different depending on the prevailing weather conditions or the season. If its a large river where you can't see the fish, it's important to note areas of fast flow, deep glides, clear gravels and areas that provide some rest-bite from the flow when the river is flooded. Slowly you will build a mental picture of where the fish are and what features they are looking for. My favourite Barbel swims on small rivers tend to be just after sections of shallow weedy riffles where the current picks up in pace calving out a deep glide. Failing this it is also worth trying "snag or tree pegs" that provide the fish with cover and a sense of security in the shallow water. These pegs often consist of a build up of flood refuge against overhanging branches or low growing willows.
On larger rivers such as the Trent or Severn swim selection can be much harder, especially when you're style of fishing may be more static than what it might be on smaller rivers. Making it even more important to choose the right swim at the beginning of the day. In high summer, on a low river the barbel can be located in more concentrated groups than they are when the river is in flood. On a low clear river fishing up near weirs is often a good place to start, sometimes casting directly into the froth right underneath the sill of the weir can produces the fish. Deep fast runs or the deep outsides of bends where the fast current undercuts the bank can also be good Barbel holding areas (sometimes making it possible to catch fish just a couple of rod lengths out on even the largest stretches of river). On a hot day with a low river the fish tend to have shorter feeding periods and will bite better in the evening, which is highly conducive to the short session angler. When the river is in flood I find that the fish tend to be more dispersed (especially on the middle trent around Nottingham) and feed more readily throughout the day. Often inside bends are good places to target where gravel banks descend into the river. On many occasions casting onto the "crease" where the slack meats the main flow on an inside bend has produced good sport.
River and swim selection is essential for an enjoyable fishing trip. You first need to select a river/or section of water that you are confident holds a good head of fish. A good way is to research what you're local angling clubs have to offer, or talk to the lads in you're local tackle shop. Once you have chosen a venue it is important to get to know the water, walk the river in the close season, if its a small clear river make notes of where you see the fish, these locations will probably be different depending on the prevailing weather conditions or the season. If its a large river where you can't see the fish, it's important to note areas of fast flow, deep glides, clear gravels and areas that provide some rest-bite from the flow when the river is flooded. Slowly you will build a mental picture of where the fish are and what features they are looking for. My favourite Barbel swims on small rivers tend to be just after sections of shallow weedy riffles where the current picks up in pace calving out a deep glide. Failing this it is also worth trying "snag or tree pegs" that provide the fish with cover and a sense of security in the shallow water. These pegs often consist of a build up of flood refuge against overhanging branches or low growing willows.
On larger rivers such as the Trent or Severn swim selection can be much harder, especially when you're style of fishing may be more static than what it might be on smaller rivers. Making it even more important to choose the right swim at the beginning of the day. In high summer, on a low river the barbel can be located in more concentrated groups than they are when the river is in flood. On a low clear river fishing up near weirs is often a good place to start, sometimes casting directly into the froth right underneath the sill of the weir can produces the fish. Deep fast runs or the deep outsides of bends where the fast current undercuts the bank can also be good Barbel holding areas (sometimes making it possible to catch fish just a couple of rod lengths out on even the largest stretches of river). On a hot day with a low river the fish tend to have shorter feeding periods and will bite better in the evening, which is highly conducive to the short session angler. When the river is in flood I find that the fish tend to be more dispersed (especially on the middle trent around Nottingham) and feed more readily throughout the day. Often inside bends are good places to target where gravel banks descend into the river. On many occasions casting onto the "crease" where the slack meats the main flow on an inside bend has produced good sport.
Bait & Feeding Tactics
When fishing a large river the tactic I feel most confident using is to fish a lobworm over several pints of casters, maggots, hemp and chopped worm delivered in a swim feeder. I personally do-not see the need to use any additives, extra attractants or flavourings to my bait. Over millions of years fish have evolved to effectively detect and find their food, which was until recently 100% natural. I therefore believe that these baits probably provide a more enticing sent trail that can be recognised by the fish than any shop brought additive or bait. Although casters and maggots are not entirely natural I think that they mimic the grubs and pupa of solitary bees and wasps that nest in clay river banks. During floods these are probably washed out into the river - thus providing me with an explanation to their success.
That being said I am a big fan of non natural baits, It cannot be denied, that they are highly effective baits and are proved fish catchers! The main advantage of meat, pellets and corn for me is that they are cheap, keep well, and take no preparation, making them highly suitable for the busy angler. When I fish the pellet I use a large hair rigged pellet on a size 8 hook and feed a combination of smaller 4mm pellets and micro pellets (a tactic which I apply to fishing with meat also, fishing a large hook-bait and lots of small chopped meat particles). I think even when targeting large fish it is important to lay a big bed of small particles down. Firstly I think feeding small particles that smaller fish can feed on is important for attracting the larger fish, often the small fish will be the first to home in on the bait, which I am convinced plays a role in attracting the larger fish's attention. Secondly a large bed of small particles undoubtedly holds a shoal of larger fish feeding in you're swim for a much longer period of time than if you were to feed larger particles as feed - increasing the probability of a bite. I think this is because it takes longer for the fish to hoover up lots of small particles that it does to hoover up a few large particles. This makes it harder and more time consuming for the fish to eat their fill.
I would describe myself as a busy angler, constantly working to try and understand how the fish are feeding and trying to induce a bite by changing my tactics. On the larger rivers I tend to settle in a swim for a long period of time, aiming to draw the fish upstream into my swim if they are not already present. On the trent I fish two rods which I think gives you an advantage over fishing one rod - I will try and explain why below. Firstly in a large river you can never be sure where the bait is ending up. The current in a river is not linear, flow rates can be stronger in the top layers of water than in the bottom, fishing near bends may take your bait down a shelf in the river, or when fishing weir pools the flow is helicoidal (meaning the current is corkscrewing through the swim) meaning that your bait may be picked up and dropped several times in several different places. This therefore means that your bait may not end up directly below the line that you are feeding and fish may be working there way up on a bait trail that actually runs diagonally across the river from where the bait enters the water.
To tackle this problem I use the first rod as my feeding rod, casting this directly in-front on me in the same area each time I rebait and feed (usually feeding every 5 minutes for the first few hours). If I am getting a god response from the fish I continue or up this feeding rate, if I have no indication of fish in the swim I will reduces the feeding rate and cast less frequently. I use the second rod to explore the swim, casting 60 yards downstream of my main feeding line either just above the line or just below the line. I do this to try and understand what line the fish are coming up on the bait, and to understand where the bait is holding up after I have fed it. I think this allows you to get the most out of short sessions because you can intercept fish moving up on the bait on a different line and it allows you to understand what is happening in your swim much faster than if you just fish one rod or two rods on one line. I have tried to put my theory into a diagram below.
On smaller river the bait use tends to be the same, however I tend not to lay down a large area of food unless I know for sure that I am fishing in an area that contains a large number of fish. When fishing small rivers it is advisable to fish each swim for one bite at a time (this contrasts with fishing larger rivers where you are looking to and hold a large number of fish in in you're swim) as once you hook a fish in clear shallow water it is likely that you will spook other fish in the swim. That being said if you are fishing for a group of barbel that have never seen a hook you can sometimes snag several fish in one swim. My tactics tend to be simple fishing a single hook-bait over a relatively dispersed area of food.
Tackle and Rig Setup
When I have limited time on the bank I need to use dependable tackle and simple rigs. On the larger rivers such as the trent I would describe my tackle as "a bit old-skool". I fish two Silstar traverse-x heavy feeder rods attached to original shimano aero 5000 GTE's loaded with 10lbs maxima mainline. Although maxima costs a little more than other lines I think it is important to have a line you trust, I find maxima has the line stretch, knot strength and abrasion resistance that gives me ultimate confidence when tackling the larger fish. At the business end I keep it simple, I opt for a long hook-length (1 to 1.5 meters) attached to a barbless Kamasan animal size 8 hook. Although not popular with all anglers I believe that barbless hooks should be used more frequently. Firstly I think barbless hooks are actually more effective for sinking the hook into the fish - if we think about the physics behind hooking a fish it actually requires less pressure (although this might be minimal) to hook a fish on a barbless hook than it does to hook a fish with a barbed hook. Due to the fact there is a smaller surface area of hook that has to enter the fish.
I find that barbed hooks hold well in the thick rubbery lips of a barbel, and I can say with confidence that if you keep constant tension on the like you will not loose a fish due to using a barbless hook. Secondly I use a barbless hook out of respect for the fish, barbless hooks slip out easily when unhooking the fish causing less damage to the fish's mouth. At the end of the day it all falls down to personal preference (most fishermen have their own confidence in different chosen hook patterns and styles).
My rig for smaller rivers is simple, I fish strait through using the lightest weight possible that still holds bottom stopped by two feeder stops position a couple of foot up from the hook. My tackle is a drennan medium feeder rod with a sensitive 2.5 oz quivertip. I balance this with a shimano 4000 front drag real loaded with 6lb maxim. I find that this setup, although it might seem very light can cope well with large fish in snaggy swims and I have landed fish well in excess of 10lb using this setup (I think this shows the advantages of using a balanced rod & line combination).
If you liked this article please take a minute to subscribe to my posts at the top of the page, hoping to write some articles focussed on the fishing around Sheffield & South Yorkshire as soon as I have time!
When fishing a large river the tactic I feel most confident using is to fish a lobworm over several pints of casters, maggots, hemp and chopped worm delivered in a swim feeder. I personally do-not see the need to use any additives, extra attractants or flavourings to my bait. Over millions of years fish have evolved to effectively detect and find their food, which was until recently 100% natural. I therefore believe that these baits probably provide a more enticing sent trail that can be recognised by the fish than any shop brought additive or bait. Although casters and maggots are not entirely natural I think that they mimic the grubs and pupa of solitary bees and wasps that nest in clay river banks. During floods these are probably washed out into the river - thus providing me with an explanation to their success.
That being said I am a big fan of non natural baits, It cannot be denied, that they are highly effective baits and are proved fish catchers! The main advantage of meat, pellets and corn for me is that they are cheap, keep well, and take no preparation, making them highly suitable for the busy angler. When I fish the pellet I use a large hair rigged pellet on a size 8 hook and feed a combination of smaller 4mm pellets and micro pellets (a tactic which I apply to fishing with meat also, fishing a large hook-bait and lots of small chopped meat particles). I think even when targeting large fish it is important to lay a big bed of small particles down. Firstly I think feeding small particles that smaller fish can feed on is important for attracting the larger fish, often the small fish will be the first to home in on the bait, which I am convinced plays a role in attracting the larger fish's attention. Secondly a large bed of small particles undoubtedly holds a shoal of larger fish feeding in you're swim for a much longer period of time than if you were to feed larger particles as feed - increasing the probability of a bite. I think this is because it takes longer for the fish to hoover up lots of small particles that it does to hoover up a few large particles. This makes it harder and more time consuming for the fish to eat their fill.
I would describe myself as a busy angler, constantly working to try and understand how the fish are feeding and trying to induce a bite by changing my tactics. On the larger rivers I tend to settle in a swim for a long period of time, aiming to draw the fish upstream into my swim if they are not already present. On the trent I fish two rods which I think gives you an advantage over fishing one rod - I will try and explain why below. Firstly in a large river you can never be sure where the bait is ending up. The current in a river is not linear, flow rates can be stronger in the top layers of water than in the bottom, fishing near bends may take your bait down a shelf in the river, or when fishing weir pools the flow is helicoidal (meaning the current is corkscrewing through the swim) meaning that your bait may be picked up and dropped several times in several different places. This therefore means that your bait may not end up directly below the line that you are feeding and fish may be working there way up on a bait trail that actually runs diagonally across the river from where the bait enters the water.
To tackle this problem I use the first rod as my feeding rod, casting this directly in-front on me in the same area each time I rebait and feed (usually feeding every 5 minutes for the first few hours). If I am getting a god response from the fish I continue or up this feeding rate, if I have no indication of fish in the swim I will reduces the feeding rate and cast less frequently. I use the second rod to explore the swim, casting 60 yards downstream of my main feeding line either just above the line or just below the line. I do this to try and understand what line the fish are coming up on the bait, and to understand where the bait is holding up after I have fed it. I think this allows you to get the most out of short sessions because you can intercept fish moving up on the bait on a different line and it allows you to understand what is happening in your swim much faster than if you just fish one rod or two rods on one line. I have tried to put my theory into a diagram below.
Tackle and Rig Setup
When I have limited time on the bank I need to use dependable tackle and simple rigs. On the larger rivers such as the trent I would describe my tackle as "a bit old-skool". I fish two Silstar traverse-x heavy feeder rods attached to original shimano aero 5000 GTE's loaded with 10lbs maxima mainline. Although maxima costs a little more than other lines I think it is important to have a line you trust, I find maxima has the line stretch, knot strength and abrasion resistance that gives me ultimate confidence when tackling the larger fish. At the business end I keep it simple, I opt for a long hook-length (1 to 1.5 meters) attached to a barbless Kamasan animal size 8 hook. Although not popular with all anglers I believe that barbless hooks should be used more frequently. Firstly I think barbless hooks are actually more effective for sinking the hook into the fish - if we think about the physics behind hooking a fish it actually requires less pressure (although this might be minimal) to hook a fish on a barbless hook than it does to hook a fish with a barbed hook. Due to the fact there is a smaller surface area of hook that has to enter the fish.
If you liked this article please take a minute to subscribe to my posts at the top of the page, hoping to write some articles focussed on the fishing around Sheffield & South Yorkshire as soon as I have time!
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