Ray Walton - Barbel rods

[Stuart Bullard]

Ray, I posted you a question some time ago, but for some reason the forum seems to have "lost it". You kindly sent some info re local southern rivers and I was keen to try your roving and rolling approach. My question is about rods and reels. I have various rods, including 2 12ft tench rods (1.75 an 2 test), a shimano aero quiver, and a trotting rod. For reels I have 2 baitrunners ((8010GT) 2 shimano 3000GTMS(I think that the model) and my prize a Youngs Purist II pin. If I bought another rod I would get even less sex from my wife.......and it aint much now. So, what would be the best combination? And what are the main bite indications you look for? Many thanks. Stuart (another cockney, well Barking in Essex is the family home).

 

[Ray Walton]

Hi stuart... The lighter the rod is, the longer you can hold it without getting arm ache! As a rule, you will be holding it all day long. Therefore, if you then get a reel about the same weight (my rolling pin weighs around 9 ozs, unloaded) you?ll find a perfect balance at about 2-3 inches above the handle, ie: neither top or bottom heavy! You can use a heavy ?broomstick? if you want but a test curve of around one and a quarter pound in hollow carbon is suffice. I use an 11ft, 1lb t/c hexagraph solid constructed rod with intermediate whips with a through action, which is nearly the same equiverlant. You must also realise that feeling the power and fight of a barbel through a sensitive but adequately powerful rod is what fishing is all about. Using a too heavy rod with a big test curve will take away your sense of contact, sensitivity and possibly enjoyment when playing a fish.
There are two points in bite detection: the touching of the line on the front tip of the forefinger and secondary; the tip of the rod when your not too sure of a ?happening? bite! It gets more complex than that with experience but that?s the basics. My line strength and set up is totaly ?unbalanced? in the eyes of traditional anglers but absolutley perfect for what i do. If you hit on www.rmcangling.co.uk, you?ll find a feature i wrote on ?Burghfield Fishery? a while ago which you will get more brain damaging info! However i have since taken the ?old? method a stage further... Rollin? Ray. ...P.s your Purist is a nice reel but impractical for constant casting and rolling. Your shimano however is perfect!

 

[Stuart Bullard]

Brilliant, thanks Ray.

 

[Goose Ganderton]

I saw your piece on barbel rods in reply to stuarts question and thought maybe you could help. i have a couple of barbel rods from ashford tackle. they are built on harrison 1 3/4 TC blanks. my question is on reading john wilsons book "catch barbel" part of an old angling times series he suggests useing a 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 TC blank then cutting off the tip by 24in and fitting a solid glass rapid taper donkey top to make the perfect rod for barbel. Would you suggest i should do this to my rods and if so what on earth is a donkey top and where do i get a couple.
whats al this about cockneys then. i come walthamstow but born in hackney. shuld we get our own little click going

 

[GrahamM]

The blanks are probably Harrison's Interceptors which I had a hand in designing. Steve Harrison has just done for me more or less what you're describing, only with a conventional carbon quivertip rather than a glass donkey top. It isn't quite right yet so still some work to be done. A donkey top is just a longer than normal quivertip, or, a replacement top that is more flexible than usual so that it behaves like a quivertip. You might be better thinking about a plug-in quivertip rather than a spliced one. That may be what we shall try next if we can't get the spliced-in tip right.

 

[Goose Ganderton]

Graham when you say " a plug-in quiver tip" is that a screw-in tip ? what make and weight would you recomend.