Barbel

Seasonal behaviour

From 16 June. Warm, coloured water after rain is a gift. Autumn fish are often the biggest. Winter barbel are a specialist game.

Where to look for the fish

River creases, gravel, weed rafts, weir tails, and the inside of a bend where food is funnelled. Lake barbel hug features and the bottom.

Best venue types

• Venue type

  River

  After 16 June

• Venue type

  Commercial fishery

  A few lakes stock them — different fishing

Recommended methods

Ranked from the species–technique graph.

1. 01Bomb / legerPellet or meat on a running leger
2. 02River feederA crease that holds a feeder
3. 03Barbel fishingThe whole approach
4. 04Rolling meatA cube trundled through the crease

Recommended baits

• Bait

  Luncheon meat

  Where allowed

Recommended rigs

• Rig

  Bomb / running leger

  A straight lead on a run ring or inline, a hooklength, and a bait. The quiet alternative to a feeder.

• Rig

  Maggot feeder rig

  A blockend on a link, a medium hooklength, maggots trickling around a maggot hookbait.

• Rig

  Hair rig

  A bait on a hair of line, not on the hook shank. The reason wafers, corn and boilies get sucked in with the hook.

Feeding approach

Hemp and pellets little and often, or a feeder that puts maggots in the same seam as the hookbait. Accuracy of the crease beats a bucket of bait in the slow water.

Where in the swim

They face the flow and take a bait that comes to them. A three-foot twitch is a take. They run hard for weed and snags.

Common mistakes

Fishing a river in the close season. Too light a lead in a heavy crease. Hair-rigging a bait that should be running along the gravel. Poor fish care in a heatwave.

What to change if it isn’t working

No taps: you're not in the seam. Taps, no fish: smaller bait or a longer tail. Weeded: move an inch, or come upstream of the snag with a stronger hooklength.