Barbel amateur with Q's

[Matty C]

Hi guys,

am new to the barbel forum so dont be too harsh..
Basically, I wanna catch me one. there is only one spot on my stretch of river where I know there are some, some double figures too. I would like to ask maybe a few Q's on whats the best way..

The location is a Big wier pool, very fast flowing over the sill, shallows up after maybe 30 feet where upon it takes a right angle to the right, where upon it shallows to maybe 2 or 3 feet. The water is fast and very clear, with a gravelly bottom on the 3 foot deep part. I dont know if its still gravel in the pool itself, but I know (from expensive experiance) that it is snaggy..

some advice would be helpful if its cool ?

whats the best time of year for them would you suggest ? Bait ? Tactics ?(I would imagine like carp.. sorry guys)

any help would be great guys.. thanks alot in advance.

Matt

 

[GrahamM]

Matty, have a read of this, it may help to start with.

Any time of year for barbel but much better if the water temperature is higher than 44 deg F. Best in summer and autumn though.

 

[Bryan Baron 2]

Graham are we getting abdent minded ;o)

click here

 

[ED (The ORIGINAL and REAL one)]

abdent???

 

[EC]

Yeah Abdent, its a new kind of denture cleaner!

Take a look!

Really clean.

 

[Nigel Moors.]

Yuk!!

 

[Matty C]

cheers G,

very helpful article. has made me very tempted to give it a go.

however, I still have one more Q..

There are Alot of crays on my river.. they have already started being a pain in the ass again, still pulling some out with eggs still on them.. Theyre obviously going to get worse in the warmer months of the year, so nailing something on the bottom intended for barbel has a good chance of being pounced on by crays, before the barbel get there..

My Q is this, are the crays less likely to be in the wier pool because of the fast turbulent water, or will they still be as much of a pain.. If they are there, should I go with hard baits like pellets on a hair for exactly, rather than soft luncheon meat.. ?

Thanks again for the article..

Matt

 

[Matty C]

by the way eddie.. that picture is just wrong.. lol

 

[Bryan Baron 2]

Ok i am not the best typer in the country. The crays will be everywhere. Try a boillie with one of them shrink wrap coatings. Not sure where you will get them dont have the crays up in lancashire.

 

[Matty C]

cheers for the suggestion Bryan.. one problem though..

excuse my ignorance in not knowing how to do shrink wrap coatings.. any pointers perhaps ?

 

[Matty C]

perhaps them little bird cage thingies they have in france to stop the poisson chat getting to them might do the same thing ?

 

[Bryan Baron 2]

Similar and would work. Found some of the shrink tube on the web,

Shrink tube

 

[EC]

Don't rock hard baits work in avoiding crays?

Leave the pic alone!

 

[Bryan Baron 2]

They do eddie but barbel do like softer bait. Another alternative is a paste tube. I can't remember who does them but they were shown on Tightlines. basically paste in a rubber tube that can be cut o size an hair rigged.

A alternative methard if its possible there is to bounce a bait around in search of the fish. Thsi gives it less time for the cray's to home in.

 

[Paul Hayes]

Fish the pellett on a hair either Elips or halibut. If the barbel move in the crays will more than likely move out.

 

[Matty C]

cheers guys for all your help.. will look into shrink tubing and them bird cages.. if neither take my fancy, I can always fall back on a pellet..

I gave bouncing a lump of meat around an idea too.. it sure will whittle away some of the time, and I guess will give me a more accurate picture of the pool on the bottom

cheers again

Matt

 

[Bryan Baron 2]

No problem mate let us know how you get on.

 

[Matty C]

will do Bryan.. but probably wont try it til the start of next season.. depends how my winter carp expoditions go..

might try n squeeze a couple a sessions in if I can.

 

[Graham Elliott 1]

Forget about the crays and fish largish couple of pellets. 10ml each up.

They will bang it about a bit. In this weather thay won't be too active anyway. Crays go nod nod and mini spring back. Barbel go tap tap wham, sometimes without the taps.

As said before, when the crays stop, keep a close eye on your rod.

You will be fishing the Thames or a feeder or tributary, or the Great Ouse. Look out for a milder spell of 2 days or if a main big river 3 days.

Your best bet is downstream from the weir where the water evens out for the bigger fish.

Enjoy. Given fair weather End Feb onwards will give you chances. Last hour of light to 1 hour after will be best.

Graham

 

[EC]

'As said before, when the crays stop, keep a close eye on your rod'

Good advice that man!

*Stores in memory bank for when Ronny and Reggie are next in North west