I like Barbel fishing. I am just not very successful at it. I came late to Coarse fishing and having spent most of my life fly fishing for Trout and Salmon, I wanted to extend the fishing season, and try and see if I could catch Barbel, Chub, Roach and the occasional Perch. The answer is yes sometimes, but not as often as I would like, or commensurate with the effort that has been put into trying to figure out how to master the various strategies and approaches within coarse angling.
I am a member of a syndicate on the River Kennet which has [reputedly] a good head of Barbel, many over 10lbs. In fact virtually every member of the syndicate which I have met seems to have landed one of these prodigious fish. They are happy to dispense advice and support, but there is no constant pattern to any of the suggested approaches. Basically it seems to me that if you happen to be in a swim where the Barbel happen to be that day, then you have a great chance of a fish, whether you are fishing with a match box size of Spam, or a size 14 Marine Halibut pellet. To date, I haven’t had the guile or the swim reading skills to intercept one of these fish even though I arrive at the river armed to the teeth with the best that a tackle shop and Tesco Metro can provide..Sweetcorn, Spam, white bread and the tackle shop bought red maggot and foul smelling potions that have a fail safe reputation as fish attractors. And still I wait, relieved that having caught a few minnows I must be fishing in the right place near the bed of the river. It is no consolation.
Minnow caught on the River Kennet. Surely there are fish bigger than this…?
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