Barbel - stationary or mobile tactics

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keora

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Is it best to stick in one swim all day, or try a succession of swims.

The "one swim only" method can work, although it can be boring waiting for the fish to arrive. There's always the doubt that there might never be any fish in the swim at all during the session

Moving from swim to swim is more interesting, although you may not allow enough time for the fish to find the bait before you move to the next swim.

I noticed that in the Angling Times two weeks ago there was an article on Trefor West fishing the R.Wharfe. He suggested throwing in a dozen or so pellets, fishing a swim for only 15 minutes, and then trying a new swim if there were no bites.

Please let me know what you think is the most effective tactic - stationary or mobile ?
 
F

Fred Bonney

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I think it depends on the river your fishing and, how many other anglers there are on the river, at the time.
The smaller the river, the more you may need to rove and bait up a few swims.This is where the Trefor West approach works.
On the other hand,if your fishing a big river like the Trent or the Thames, it may well be that your best bet, is bait up and wait.
 
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BAZ (Angel of the North) aka Fester

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Exactly what Fred says.
I tend to stay put on the larger rivers. But move about on the smaller more intimate ones.

But even on a smaller river I will stay put at times as I know they will turn up.
 
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Bryan Baron 2

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During the day i would roam. The smaller the river the more i roam. The problem on the smaller rivers can be that landing a fish kills the swim for a while. We had this brought home just the other week fishing the Teme caugt a few fish in the afternoon evening. Decided we would go back before breakfast for a couple of hours and just fish 2 very good swims. We both had 1 fish each and then not even a twitch for the next 1 1/2 hours. This can be hard to do on places like the lower Trent but Trev still fishes this way. I also think 15 mins is not enough time i always give it 20-30mins.

What river are you on Keith.
 
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keora

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The river I usually fish is the R. Wharfe, which is a medium sized river - usually 20 to 25 yards wide and 4 or 5 foot deep. There's the occasional swim where you can see barbel if it's shallow, although most of the time you're fishing in swims just a bit too deep to see the bottom.

Thank you all for your help.
 
F

Fred Bonney

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Bryan, I think 15 minutes is a bit short too.
A wiser man than me ,steered me in the direction of 10 to 15 with a tightly packed feeder,leaving more of a scent trail rather than a feed and, then the same, with a looser(?) packed feeder, to give a bit of feed.
During these times sit on your hands!
No result,move on.
 
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Nigel Connor(ACA ,SAA)

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I think it also depends on conditions.

Where there is a reasonably high head of fish that are likely to be feeding in any section of the river such as in a flood, a big smelly bait cast to a likely looking area should get a response if fish are present.If not then move after a short while and fish eleswhere.

In low conditions when fish are not likley to be feeding well then a particle approach in a single swim over a good few hours may persuade them to feed.

Keith, like much in fishing it boils down to matching your appraoch to the prevailing conditions on the day.
 
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keora

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I've had some good advice from this thread - thank you all for your help.
 
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BAZ (Angel of the North) aka Fester

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It has to be said that if I lived nearer to the Ribble or Trent. Then I would have a more intimate knowledge of the biggger river also.

Then I would roam or stalk these bigger rivers the same as I do the smaller ones.
 
A

alexander laurie

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On a small river, I would go with the concensus and roam. Assuming you have some space to yourself, pick the 4 or 5 best looking spots. I am avoiding the use of the word swim, because this to me is a bit like the word "peg". In other words, you sit "here" you cast "there". Some of the best spots will be bloody hard to get at and may need upstream casting or a long tail to get a bait to roll under a bush etc.
I would give each spot half an hour each, baiting lightly when fishing and more heavily when leaving to go on to the next.

Alex
 
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