Winter barbel catches

[Rob Swindells]

November is when my "winter barbel fishing " kicks in, and from that period onwards through to the end of the season all of the barbel that I catch are caught usually an hour or two before dark or after.
Is this the same for most of you on here?
Dont get me wrong I know why fish feed at night etc etc blah blah blah. But do most of you get results in the day or night in the winter ?

 

[Simon K]

Same as you Rob, but we can't fish beyond 1&1/2hrs after sunset on my stretch. Not being much of a Dawn fisherman, I wouldn't have that info for you anyhow! Summer's different, most big fish in the middle or late afternoon, smaller (singles) fish after dark.

 

[Rob Swindells]

Hi Simon
It's typical aint it, after I made that post I had my first daytime winter barbel for this year from off the Severn on friday.

 

[Simon K]

Rob, please post your lottery numbers.................

Funnily enough, I fished with another bailiff last Sunday on the Lea, he had 2 doubles out late afternoon in daylight 4pm to 5pm. I had couple of good Chub at the same time. River was well coloured though. What about the Severn?

 

[EC]

Could be worth having a look on the venue reports lads!

People who post their catches often give the exact time of their first fish etc

 

[stuart clough]

A mate had his first ever barbel on Sunday from the Hants Avon - 11.07. River was fairly clear. Fish came at 2pm on maggot.

Under "normal" conditions I have usually found last hour of daylight and first hour of darkness to be best. Often there is a second flurry of activity three or four hours after dusk (if rules permit). This sits well with radiotracking data that shows that barbel naturally leave their daytime residences just before dusk, go off and feed, return for the night, and go out again just before dawn.

If it is up and couloured then the timing is critical. It seems they go on the munch as it is rising, then sit tight until they have digested that meal, and then have another go. Often, by the second spell the river is falling again, but I don't believe the level is significant. I think it is the water temperature and the time since the river started to rise that determines that second feeding spell.

In summer dawn can be really good, and often quiet. the best swims are those that have been fished the evening/night before, as mr barbel thinks he can get a free feed.

 

[Simon K]

Stuart, is this radiotracking data in the public domain?

I find in Summer that the vast majority of the bigger fish get caught (for me) any time in the afternoon and the singles tend to come out at/after dusk. Regardless of whether water is colured or clear.

We find if you can locate the fish (in Summer), with enough particles in clear conditions, you can get their heads down within 20 mins no matter what time of day. All of my Winter fish, so far, have been last hour or first hour of dark. Even in flood.

 

[stuart clough]

Yes - the paper I was referring to was by Etienne Baras regarding barbel on the Meuse (Belgium). There are some that have been done by Martyn Lucas in the UK.

Type Baras & barbel, or Lucas & barbel into Google Scolar for abstracts.

If you catch fish during the middle of the day in summer you are probably fishing in the areas where they live (residence areas) - inducing them to feed at an "unnatural" time with bait.

Their natural feeding grounds may be some distance away. I think it helps to understand the natural pattern of activity, without the influence of bait or captures.

 

[Rob Swindells]

Hi guys
The Severn was well coloured and about a foot on... The temp if I remember was about 7.0C......:-0, which was great but by darkness it went dead and when my headlight was switched on there was good bit of frost around.
Simon, I'm the same as you , if I can locate fish in the summer I can usually have them feeding and bag one or two regardless of the time of day, but why not the same for winter ? Perhaps because they are only feeding every now and then it makes sense for them to forage at the best time of day ie under the cover of darkness with know worrys of daytime predators etc.

 

[Simon K]

Thanx Stuart, I'll check that out.

And yes, they're often residence areas, but we are tempting them out rather than plonking the bait right in their bedroom. Just not very far!

Unfortunately, it's a heavily pressured fishery (especially in Summer) so if you try to leave a bit of gap between you and the fish, some-one else plonks themselves into it pretty quickly. Often not knowing what they're on top of and then fishing completely the wrong spots. ;-)

Rob, I'd tend to agree with you, but I know Barbel move around much more in Cold Conditions than most anglers would believe. It's become one of my favoured times to fish for them, especially with few around to witness what I'm doing/catching. Too many lazy anglers waiting to pounce on other's work. :-(

 

[Simon K]

Took a friend up the Lea today. He had his hook straightened out by a good double about lunch-time. Clear, cold conditions, bright sunshine, air temp of 3c.

Says it all really.

 

[Rob Swindells]

Thats fishin .....no hard and fast rules in nature.

 

[Deecy ACA]

Thames in the main in good conditions ie a few inches or feet on with good winter temperature and colour then the last couple of hours daylight through to night.In poor conditions if a bite comes it is more likely to be well after dark.Mornings have proved to be very poor with the middle of the day again poor to the point of pointless.

 

[MOSSY]

your spot on deecy when the water level drops and the night draws in the bigger fish show

 

[malc blake]

simon,your mate wants to change his hooks.with the quantity of quality barbel hooks about these days there is certainly no need for straightened hooks!...On the ribble night fishing is certainly more productive but fish do show regulary during the day especially in high coloured water

 

[sallysludgebucket]

I have fished for many years on the Severn around Bewdley and the middle Teme. A bit of colour is ok, but I find its better when it is start to fine down, although I have had decent bags in fairly clear conditions as well. For bigger fish it has to be night time for me though, I even ended up with several 2lb+ roach regularly on one mark on size 2-4 meat hooks with 10lb bottom ! Oh happy days, bring on the warmer weather ! LOL

 

[Simon K]

Malc, he did, but a bit late by then! A midday bite caught him unawares and instead of picking the rod up to let the fishes momentum set the hook, he made the cardinal error of striking. I think he was half-asleep at the time. ;-)