I didn't question the angler's competence or experience - but I'd maintain the point that fishing for chub and barbel with a novelty item rod is a decadent business _ ie a sign of luxury taken for granted - which works because the water is prolific. There are plenty of competent and experienced anglers round here who can only get a barbel bite on a night-time stake-out, plenty of river stretches where you'll fish for them in vain or with scant success, and I can't think where you can walk about in the margins and expect to find the target species swimming around between your rod rest and tripod. I watched a video with, I think, Dean Macey, catching barbel after barbel after barbel on a similar-looking water, and the video consisted more or less entirely of him and friend reeling barbel in, since the only challenge seemed to be getting a bait in the water. It reminded me of the kind of angler who, faced with a water full of easily catchable fish, shows off by catching them on preposterous baits or silly methods. I won't be subscribing.