By Bob Roberts | No Comments
Last updated: Friday, January 11, 2008

I lay on my belly, peering through the foliage into two feet of crystal clear water. Fronds of streamer weed waft sideways in the flow, occasionally revealing a glimpse of golden gravel.

Ten minutes pass and the sun burns into my shirt, a skylark hovers high above, heard but lost in the glare of the sun. Insects irritate me but I still maintain my concentration.

And then I see what I’ve been looking for.

Or did I?

There, beneath the shifting weed, wasn’t that a glimpse of orange? I concentrate even harder, willing the weed to reveal what lies beneath. I’m looking for a pectoral fin. When a barbel is hiding it’s always the first thing you see. Once you’ve got it fixed the fish will materialise and then you’ll wonder why on earth you couldn’t see it before. It’s like the numbers on those colour vision charts at the opticians.

I’m a great believer in the theory that if I can see it I can catch it and I’m going to catch this fish.

I’ve spent countless hours this season watching barbel. But be aware, if it’s easy for you to see one then dozens of other anglers will have seen it before you. They will have tried to catch it, too, so your approach might need to be more sophisticated than if the same fish was in a swim where it has gone unnoticed.

Matt Brown and I spent days creating hidden swims last summer. Tiny swims that everyone else walked by. Swims that we needed chest waders to find, swims with canopies of vegetation, swims where the bank was undercut, swims hidden behind bushes and chest deep nettles. Our swims were all slightly deeper than you might think at first glance and easily overlooked. Our swims had the right kind of river bed - we searched for depressions and hard packed gravel.

We cut channels in the weed, a couple of feet wide, perhaps a couple of yards long, and then we fed them.

Then we watched, and waited, patience being the key.

The biggest lesson we learned is this. Create a haven. Allow the fish to find it and leave them long enough to feel secure. Don’t rush the job, leave it a week, two even and the only problem you will then face is when a rogue chub or bream grabs your hook bait before a barbel does.

To catch a barbel while you actually watch it pick up your bait is the ultimate river thrill. A barbel caught like this is worth ten fishing blind. Size doesn’t matter one iota. I’m surprised it doesn’t carry a health warning because it’s heart stopping stuff. I’ve spent hour after hour observing fish feeding without wetting a line and not regretted a single minute.

Putting the correct amount of feed in the right place, at the right time, is crucial. Barbel are not just creatures of the night. They can be caught in bright sunshine if you get it right.

A Few Don’ts

Don’t go piling in the bait, two or three droppers of hemp and pellets or even corn is usually enough.

Don’t go dropping it on their heads. Wait for them to leave the swim if they will. Better still choose a killing ground that lies several yards upstream and draw the fish towards you. This is a lot easier than you might think. I’ve seen fish swim 40 yards for relatively small amounts of bait.

Don’t be afraid to feed by hand.

Don’t worry if half your bait goes into the weeds. The fish will still find it if they want it.

A Few Do’s

Do wear top quality polarising spectacles. I need prescription glasses so I have my �shades’ made up by Optilabs.

Do wear drab or camouflage clothing.

Do wear boots rather than trainers.

Do move slowly and deliberately without dropping things or making heavy footfalls. (Pic: Make use of available cover)

Do travel light. You can carry most everything you need in your pockets or a bait bucket.

Do take your time, it’s not a race.

Okay, I’ve put the bait in, now what? I wait. And wait.

Eventually the fish move onto my bait, cautious at first, gradually gaining confidence. It all looks so easy but a cast now could ruin everything. Watch them feeding. Occasionally you’ll see fish flashing, exposing their flanks over the bait. And then they’ll back off. It’s as if they realise they are getting too confident.

The fish might drift to the back of the swim or they may leave altogether. This is the time to re-bait. Contrary to what some will tell you it is possible to use a dropper right on the heads of feeding fish but I wouldn’t advise it. Wait for the right window of opportunity and then feed.

Ten minutes later they are back.

Before long they will be ripping up the gravel, colouring the water. It’s my call now, I can lower in a bait and stand a good chance of catching a fish almost instantly or I can bait once more. When I do lower my bait, and take note that I said �lower’ and not �cast’, it will be with the practical certainty that I will get a near-instant take.

I bait again. I wait another ten minutes and the fish are back, feeding harder than ever. One area of the swim appears to be getting a lot of attention so I gently lower my lead slightly upstream of the spot. I can see my bait as it flutters down. The positioning is perfect.

I check the clutch and let the line fall across my index finger but I’m not really feeling for a bite. I’m watching.

A bronze shape appears. It dips down immediately behind my bait and I watch it expel a mouthful of silt before it eases forward. I can no longer see my bait, has it been taken? I feel the line tremble on my fingertip.

I strike, gently, the fish lifts from the bottom, momentarily confused before all hell lets loose…

Easy this barbel lark, eh?

Rig suggestions

Simple running rig

Tackle Recommendations:

Depends to some extent upon the size of fish you are targeting but a general guide would be that you use a 1.25 to 1.5lb test curve rod with a minimum 6lb line, ideally 8lb. The lower diameter/ higher breaking strain of braid as an alternative to using nylon main lines may be considered.

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