Ribble problems

darren rosie · Jul 20, 2011

I fished a stretch of the river today that ive only fished twice previously, i caught one chub and four barbel. Not bad by my standards but is was the four barbel that i lost through severed hooklinks on the rocks that has got me thinking how to get them in. I started with a 10lb braided hooklinks but stepped up to 15lb still to no avail. One passer by when i told him said he uses 40lb braided mainline and 22lb flouro hooklinks. Is this the way to go?

Stuthebroo · Jul 20, 2011

Why not try a coated braid hooklength and just try a couple of feet of rig tubing above the swivel. I tried this on the Wye last year having been adviced about the rocky bottom severing line and never had a problem.

Lord Paul of Sheffield · Jul 20, 2011

lost fish on the Trent due to the rocky bottom - so I'll be interested in replies

sam vimes · Jul 20, 2011

Both braid and fluoro don't mix very well with rocks. There are ways round it without fishing very heavy braid and fluro.

darren rosie · Jul 20, 2011

i tried that and still lost one.so is thicker the better even if it possibly results in less bites,instead of tubing would leadcore be an alternative, having never used it im not in the know

Paul C · Jul 21, 2011

Fished the ribble for best part of 20 years and never used anything over 12lb mainline and a lower bs hooklength. Most of my float fishing is on 4lb mainline with 3lb bottom and it's rare to lose barbel on that.

Fact, you will snag and lose end tackle and feeders. You will get occasional snagging whilst playing fish as the feeder can snag and bust hooklengths, but if you have to contemplate fishing sea gear, then personally I'd move to another peg that's not got bed-rock like razor blades in it.

There are loads of pegs on the river that produce good numbers of fish and allow you to do so using rods, lines and hooklegths that are fair game without resorting to washing lines.

Using 40lb line is simply ridiculous for 3 to 5lb chub. That's fishing gone mad in my view.

It's a snaggy river and there will be times it will bite you, but you really don't want to be tethering fish to snags with tow rope just to increase your chance of success.

richiekelly · Jul 21, 2011

darren rosie said:
i tried that and still lost one.so is thicker the better even if it possibly results in less bites,instead of tubing would leadcore be an alternative, having never used it im not in the know

i would be very careful using lead core it can be very dangerous if not used correctly, i dont think it has a place in barbel fishing at all. if you are being cut off above the swivel a long length of tubing may be the answer.

dannytaylor · Jul 21, 2011

sam vimes said:
Both braid and fluoro don't mix very well with rocks. There are ways round it without fishing very heavy braid and fluro.

spot on.

I know some who fish this river that use "strong" paperclips as a link for there ledgers. When the weight becomes snagged amongst boulders and snags the paperclip dumps the lead quickly keeping you in contact with the fish. A good tip for pikers ledgering in rocky terrain.

darren rosie · Jul 21, 2011

I agree with you completely paul the last thing i want to do is cause any injury to the fish. Being new to the swim i wanted to make the best of the situation and seeing the anglers either side of me not get a bite all day then both trying to dive in upon me packing up it was clear where the barbel were.

mark brailsford 2 · Jul 21, 2011

to fish for course fish such as barbel and chub on 40lb line is stupid in the least, and very none sporting!!
On the trent there are so called anglers fishing with 60lb braid because they want to land those big barbel at whatever the cost, even if it means leaving a poor fish tethered!
people that advise on using heavy gear do not know what they are talking about and they are not proper anglers.

mark

Ric Elwin · Jul 21, 2011

There is an easy solution to this one: don't use braided lines where there are rocks/ other abrasive snags! 12lb mono will see you land pretty well everything, save for some hook pulls. 40lb braid will see plenty of Barbel swimming around with hooks or worse in their mouths.

When I fished the Ganges for Mahseer I used 45lb braid and I'm very sorry to say; I left several Rapalas in the mouths of these fish; snapages due to abrasion on the rocks. The addition of a 20ft 20lb Daiwa Sensor 'rubbing leader' attached to the braid solved the problem.

I really don't understand why people use braid for Barbel (or average Carp fishing for that matter). I suspect fashion is a factor, and the promotion of it by angling celebrities, who do so for money.

tigger · Jul 21, 2011

I use 12lb mono when ledgerring on the ribble with a 10lb bottom and can say in all honesty I've never been snapped and left hooks in fish. I use 6lb mono when trotting for barbel and chub and have also never been snapped.
To have it happen once or twice could be bad luck but four times on the trott strongly suggests bad angling practice !

darren rosie · Jul 21, 2011

just unlucky

gonebreaming · Jul 22, 2011

HI Darren
I use 15 lb mainline ,cheapish mono. Various barided hook lenghs and fluro. In snaggy swims I have found coated braid to be best upto 25 lb . Mantis ,snakeskin etc . The main requirement being that the feeder ,weight must be free running .Forget leadcore ,tubing its not necccesary . If you snag up ,walk up/down the river ,pointing the rod directly at snag and give sharp pulls on rod ,this works very well . If snagged by a fish leave bail arm open and let the fish have a chance of freeing itself . I have waited upto a hour . Hope this helps
Ian

darren rosie · Jul 22, 2011

After several conversations with two well respected barbel anglers today, who have also encountered difficulty in this swim previously, its clearly unsafe to fish so ill move upstream and try and pull them up there. Any one got any real good tips for that?

Ribble problems

darren rosie

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Stuthebroo

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Lord Paul of Sheffield

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sam vimes

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darren rosie

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Paul C

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richiekelly

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dannytaylor

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darren rosie

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mark brailsford 2

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Ric Elwin

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tigger

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gonebreaming

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darren rosie

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