Lee with a 14lb Trent barbel he carbelled out
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THE GEAR, THE GIZMOS AND THE GADGETS!
The tackle I now use to tame both the fish and the river, which just happens to be the Trent, but could just as easily be the Severn or Thames, is more along the lines of what a carp angler would use. The rods are Shimano carp and specimen rods between 1 ¾ lb TC and 2¾ lb TC, the active chosen pair dependent on river levels and the area I am fishing at the time. These are matched with Shimano Baitrunners in the 5000 size but in reality any large durable reel with a free spool facility could be used. I am awaiting the arrival of a pair of Maver reels which I won in a competition and must admit to being curious as to the comparison.
The trusty Coleman
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The reels are loaded with my favourite line of the moment, Krystonite. Nine point nine times out of ten I will choose a clear line above all others as I feel confident that it gives me the greatest amount of camouflage when in use, but really its down to confidence and if you choose a green or brown line and that suits you then so be it, it's a free world and who am I to change a winning formula! I just think that the Krystonite is the most advanced line on the market today which gives me both the best chance of hooking and landing a monster added with the value of the product as a bulk spool. I use the line in the ten pounds breaking strain but if the venue was 'hook and hold' twelve or fifteen may be better suited to those needs.
The end rigs I use are either simple running feeder or straight lead rigs, semi-fixed feeder or straight lead rigs, or in-line method feeder rigs, none of them rocket science. All of them allow for the disposal of the weight or feeder should the barbel manage to either trap and break you on a snag or become tethered. There is no room in barbel fishing for loop rigs - these are death rigs and should never be used-EVER! The range of safety links available now are also very good and these can be used from the packet or with the use of scalpels and scissors doctored to suit your requirements. So there are now no excuses when creating a rig, whatever the rig's concept, in creating possible tether rigs; these are now a thing of the past.
Lee's anti rat device
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Hooklength material is always going to be a contentious issue as with mainline favouritism comes into the equation and as I have said before this is not a bible reading, it is what I do and I am not here to quote psalm and verse in favour of one type of material in particular. All I will say is that I carry many types of materials including mono's, fluorocarbons and braids and, depending on what the prevailing conditions are and what I want from the material, I choose which I consider the best option for the job. At the moment though I must admit I am quite besotted with the Fox Mega Silk braid which in my opinion looks and behaves like a thin strand of silkweed and up to now has not let me down once.
Onto the hooklength goes the ironmongery and I choose to use either Drennan Super Specialists or Kamasan B982's in sizes 10 down to 2. The shanks of both are given a slight angle with the aid of a pair of style scissors to aid in the turn over and bite of the hook. This is a totally personal touch and improves the hooking qualities of both in my opinion.
Now with the hooklength and hook sorted out everything is coming together quite nicely. We have the rods and the reels, the line is on and good to go, the rigs are safe and effective and all we need now are the bits and bobs that fill the bags, quivers and hold-alls. Those that set a carbeller apart from a run of the mill barbellers.
The first item that sets us apart has to be the use of electronic alarms. Some people really berate alarms and knock the anglers that use them. I find this strange as the alarm is only there to give an audible indication that you have a bite, it doesn't improve your general skills or land the fish once hooked. I think that technology is there to be exploited and if a bit of kit not much bigger than a match box can make you a little more efficient, then all well and good!
Lee's Fox Microns
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I have three Fox Microns and they range in age from six months to five years and I find them a most robust and reliable bit of kit, although their performance is improved even more with the purchase of an angulated bank stick adapter which can be tilted forwards to ensure the line always passes over the sensor wheel of the alarm. The banksticks as well should be the very best and longest you can afford as the whole presentation of the rod and therefore the bait is affected by them. Badly positioned rods impair detection, presentation and efficiency and could result in the worst case scenario, that being the rod getting dragged into the river by a running fish. You need two rests per rod with the rear rest incorporating some form of grip, again as an insurance policy against running fish as the bites with this form of barbel fishing are almost always booming slam downs.
After the alarms the next thing to consider is a landing net and super strong landing net pole. The one I use is ten years old and apart from a spot of Araldite on the thread rivet, it is as good today as the day it was bought; you almost always get what you pay for, and a cheap pole could be a very nasty experience in false economy if it were to fail whilst you played the fish of a lifetime. Onto that I fix a 42 inch triangular carp net with large mesh but this does have the down side of not being capable of digging a fish out of the weed. So I would say that if your chosen venue had a lot of bankside and aquatic vegetation a metal framed hoop net would be a better option for you.
An ugly Trent carp
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Add a comfortable chair and a bagful of bits and bobs to this lot and you are well on your way to being a daytime carbeller. All you need then to complete the set up and become one of the dreaded and despised long-stayers, is the one thing that will get the Barbel Police screaming for your blood - a bivvy. I have had a bivvy for five or six years now and apart from when its wet or very cold and windy it doesn't get set up, I have had some disgusted looks and heard some disparaging comments made about bivvies and all I have to say on the subject is when its wet I keep dry, when its windy I keep warm.
A bivvy is simply a tent, it is not a servant of the anti-Christ and does not herald the end of days. I am not one of the riders of the apocalypse and all hell is not following close behind me. Although there is a definite connection with bivvies and travelling carnivals, but being unable to walk the tightrope, ride a horse bareback or juggle, combined with my skins intolerance to grease paint makeup, I have unfortunately found that I am unable to join the circus. But that hasn't stopped me having a lot of fun on my own.
Bivvies are not a problem, they are simply an item of kit that improve the fishing experience for the angler that likes to stay that little bit longer than the norm, although I would argue that three months is getting a little bit silly, and the anglers who do put that amount of time into a session are not catching their fish, simply boring them into submission and winning by attrition. But being a part time bivvy boy who am I to cast aspersions on another man's sport. I just hope that he isn't financing it all on a boilie giro! Enough of that anyway!
Lee's 'special treasures', the things you just can't do without
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When you are doing the overnighters and you are all snuggly in your bivvy, do you go for the Coleman type lantern which has the added advantage of giving off quite a bit of heat as well as light but stops you ever fully adjusting into night vision, or do you get an LED headlight and use that for all your fiddly jobs that night sight will not handle? I use both. I must admit that I do not like rats and the Coleman definitely keeps them at a distance. I prefer and I use the headlight for the up-close and personal jobs like unhooking and tying knots. Yes I may look like Blackpool illuminations from a distance but I don't get bothered by rats and that suits me just fine!
Back to the bits and bobs that fill your bag up; I use a Fox box for the majority of my 'special treasures', you know, those things that you simply cannot live without, like shock beads, hooks, swivels, crimps, anti-tangle tube, shot, braids, PVA tapes and threads - you know, all those things you cannot live without and yet constantly lose. Well, with a Fox box everything is in one place, organized and ready to use and as long as you don't lose the box everything is going to go smoothly.
”Restricting myself to just a stone in feeders and strap leads”
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At four in the morning, when it's blowing a gale and you have to replace an end rig everything should be at hand, and if you are using your box to its full potential the rigs are already tied and stored safely on your rig cards. If you haven't got one then get one, it will save you a lot of time and money because you will not be scrabbling around looking for a swivel or buying another pack when you know you've got twenty five stashed somewhere, but you're just not sure where. The other bits and bobs I keep in my bags are things like forceps, weighing scales, sling, batteries, spare torch, unhooking mat, spare spools of line, spare reels; you know the type of stuff, all the things that make up the weight.
Although this year I will be restricting myself to just a stone in feeders and strap leads and I don't care if that is leaving myself short.
Part 3, 'Advanced techniques, spods and droppers, PVA and all things magical!'
Baz
