I rarely target barbel and I haven't caught one from running water in years, so when a mate suggested a session at a spot he had recently caught a few, I jumped at the chance. After a very early start we were at the river by 5am and we quickly baited an area running alongside some over hanging bushes. The plan was to use heavy float gear and trot caster as close to the bushes as we could.
I was assured that the barbel would be there but after 15 minutes of running the float through, confidence was starting to fade. I added another foot on the rig and on the next cast I held the float against the flow, the float buried and I had a fish on, nothing too exciting, a perch of half a pound or so but it was a start. Another hour past with no other fish being landed so I decided to sit it out on the straight lead down stream of the bushes.
I started off using boilies with a small bag of mixed pellets and after 15 minutes I started getting indications. The knocks were most probably from chub and weren't really positive enough to strike at. I changed the hook length to a lower diameter and smaller hook and used a super glued pellet on the hook. Ten minutes after my next cast I had a positive wrap around but for some reason I didn't strike! I was waiting for the bait to be taken again but nothing else happened. We had to pack up at 1030hrs as we both had things to do in the afternoon.
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| A blank saving perch |
The session was a disappointment but still it was good to be out. Barbel aren't usually a target of mine but next year I'm joining a club with some decent stretches so I'll probably spent some time on them next season. I'm planning on a couple more eel sessions before I start going for the pike again, with the aim of beating my p.b before the end of the year....
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