Winter Barbel on the Ribble

[wilbert]

I am looking for some advice on winter Barbel fishing on the Ribble. I have never caught a barbel but as its one of only 3 species in the UK that I have not caught (grass carp and zander being the other 2)I am keen to do so. I have not been coarse fishing serously for over 15years and have been fishing for trout, salmon and sea trout during this time but fancy getting back into it over the closed season.I had a day on the Lower Ribble the other day without any joy and tried maggot, worm and luncheon meat as bait. I kept loose feed to a minumum but not sure if this was right or not. Any advice on rigs, bait and likely holding places in pools would be of great help.

Thanks

 

[David Craine]

Wilbert... read the venue reports for the Ribble, under the topics heading,Via the "Forum "tab, that should point you in the right direction, it is unlikley that anyody will divulge specific Barbel holding areas.....but I understand that the lower Ribble has some areas that are not club owned.....there are only a very limted number of day ticket stretches, so far as getting back into it during the closed season, I imagine you mean the game fishing close season.

:0)

Dave.

 

[Bryan Baron 2]

Alot depends ons the level and temp of the water

low and clear maggots for me. I have found that reds work well.

in flood from a good SW tbest after the pulse as gone and the rubbish starts to fall out. This is when the larger baits come into there own. Smellier the better.

Fish in the gulleys and you should find yourself a fish our two.

Are you in any Ribble clubs.

 

[wilbert]

David i do mean the game closed season not to be confued with the coarse fishing cloesd season. I am a member of a couple of clubs but only 1 stretch is any good for barbel.I will do my homework via the search facilityand hopefully it wont be too long beforeI hook my first barbel. Cheers for the info.

 

[Ian Whittaker]

Wilbert, doyou bait fish for the salmon? Barbel like worms and shrimps! Look for the same features that you would find in salmon resting lies and you'll not go far wrong.

Barbel don't seem to be too tackle shy .

 

[fred hall]

I'll venture an opinion that the vast majority of Ribble barbel that are caught fall to either pellets or boilies. Perhaps someone out there knows better.

PS Maggots can work well at this time of year as the small fish seem to disappear from many stretches.

 

[brendan the dictionary man999]

fred the reason most ribble barbel are caught on boilies or pellets is because that is how most anglers fish for them ?

 

[Andy Singleton]

It's true what Brendan say's! But in my experience the pellet seems to out fish all other baits during the winter. It also worth trotting maggot in the autumn as this method can produce a good number of Barbel once the eels have slowed (I wont say gone totally).

I don't take meat these days as I hardly ever got Barbel on the Ribble using it, strange cause it was magic on the Severn.

Try using 8mm pellets on a hair rig (Dynamite or Sensas are as good as any)! Feed 3mm pellets in a Kamazan black cap feeder and you won't go far wrong!

A word of warning though the city stretches can be quite dodgy these days especialy at night. If your not a member of a club, try the day ticket lengths at the tickled Trout, Bonsi and there's a couple up at Ribchester.

 

[wilbert]

Cheers for the advice,I will have a word with a few of my carp fishing friends about hair rigs and how to make them.I will give it a go once the rain stops and the river falls to a fishable level.

Andy the feeders that you mention are they openended ones that you plug with ground bait at either end to stop the pellets falling out? Its been a while since I last had a serious attempt at coarse fishing and the tackle has moved on at a fantastic pace.I wish that the game fishers could be as inventive with their tackle but most want to stick to traditional tackle.

 

[Fred Bonney]

wilbert,you could just damp down, or scald the pellets, then you don't need to plug the end of the open end feeder.

A hair rig can be created by pushing your hooklength through the front of the hook eye,so you have a tag(hair) hanging off the back of the hook,then you wind your hooklength around the hook shank,(over the tag) about 6 times,then pull the other end back through the back of the eye, and tighten up. A knotless knot!

The tag(hair) can be as long, or as short as you need, depending on the size of the bait your putting on the hair.

 

[Andy Singleton]

Wilbert,

The Kamasan's are block end feeders (get 50g feeders), the black cap comes off to fill them they do not age harden unlike Drennan feeders, use 3mm pellets with these. The basic rig would be (from the mainline) John Roberts link bead, 8mm rubber ball. Then using a no 10 swivel attatch your end rig, 18" of 8lb line to a size 8 hook hair rigged as described by Fred. You can use a number of hair stops, I prefer Korum Quickstops or Fox pellet pegs.I'd recommend one or two 8mm pellets on the hair. During the winter you should not need any more than about 1 pint of feeder pellets for a 3 or 4 hoursession.

As an option on a second rod, you could try an open end feeder filled with damp pellets. jusy cover them with water 1 hour before use, although it does not matter that much you can do it atthe river.

Don't be afriad to add lead to the feeders, I regularly use 4oz in winter due to the conditions. Also don't let the levels put you off neither as you can have some of your best fishing with the river carrying 2-4ft extra on the run off! Wait for mild weather, above 8C in winter (day high)with no cold nights and you should be fine!

Maybe today is not a good idea though, I've never seen as much rain this morning, the Ribble must be in the fields!

Andy

 

[Ian Whittaker]

Today is definitely not the best day , flooded over the banks with high tide to come.

The lostock is well over its banks tooand into the fields where you wouldn't expect it to be.

 

[Bryan Baron 2]

Brendan rang me from he river yesterday at 4pm. He had just arrived and a guy had just banked a 12Ib barbel. Was going to go this evening before but it seems the Ribble has broke her banks down preston. Not worth the risk in the dark.

Today is meant to be the worst for the rain. Hopefully i will be able to get out later in the week.

 

[David Craine]

Look on river reports on BFW... some great picsof the river at TT in flood.

Dave.

 

[brendan the dictionary man999]

church deeps was flooded at one side the water was in the car park at about 4 pm

 

[Phil Hackett The common Boastful Expert :-)]

Wilbert have a look at these two articles hereand here

 

[petehodgy]

brendan when you say church deeps do you mean the church near brockholes wood on the stretch that is owned by a macc club or is it another lenth near the town i have been told there is two lenths known as 'church deeps'

 

[brendan the dictionary man999]

its a bit of an old thread pete but it was church deeps preston

 

[Barrett Lad]

Barbel Are Cool