Diwrnach

Well I have the Shakespeare 035 reel for now, but as said above I have a Middy IQ twin tip on order for Barbel, the chap in the shop said it should be OK for pellet feeder as well, is he right? Thanks in advance, oh and yeah he had the Drennan reels in as well, look nice, but already got the Shakespeare now, which is also very nice and has the twin handle which I prefer to a single handle the Drennan has.

Thanks alot for the help and advice guys, after lots of reading, and visiting a couple of tackle shops I finaly decided to order the Shakespeare reel, the 035 size, and also ended up ordering this rod ,its got an avon and a normal quiver tip, both shops told me it would be fine for pellet feeder fishing for carp as well as barbel (obviously being a barbel rod ) bonus is the rod comes with a baitrunner reel and rucksack, doubt the reel is going to be that good though, so will the shakespeare be OK? I was advised to get a baitrunner style reel, but figure I could set the shakespeares drag as low as it will go and just use my finger on the spool and tighten the drag up while playing the fish? Any advice on this idea? If needed I will buy a small baitrunner. Once again thanks alot for the help so far, I actualy tried as you suggested with the hook thickness a couple of days ago and only had one hook pull, it always seems to be on the larger fish, this one was probably a double, not much pressure and out came the hook. What I did notice though is that pretty much every fish I caught the hook was only just in, maybe I have the hair too long? I have an 8mm pellet set maybe 3-4mm off the hook, so I cant see it being this but thats what I would think if I was specimen hunting and thats where the fish were hooked. Maybe I strike too soon? should you wait a little when the float goes under? Sorry for the long post, and once again thanks for the help.

Thanks alot for the reply. Guess I will go for the smaller reel then, load one spool with 4-6lb line for pellet waggler, and another spool with maybe 8lb for Barbel. The Avon by Stratford is quite slow moving and not a long chuck, so smaller will be better as you say. Any advice on the rod, will this do for Barbel on the Avon? it says pellet waggler and pellet feeder, but I'm guessing still be OK in the river for Barbel, or should I go for a dedicated Barbel rod? Once again many thanks for the help guys, very much appreciated.

Thats a good point, would a smaller reel still be viable for feeder fishing for barbel as well? If so I will step down to a smaller reel, I always err on the larger side for most things to be honest. Thanks alot for the reply.

Hi there, first time poster, long time lurker Currently fishing pellet waggler with a cheap rod and reel, which is OK, but I keep losing larger carp close in due to hook pulls, and the rear drag on the reel I have cant seem to get it set right, its either too stiff and wont give line when needed, or just one click over and its to loose and I cant reel in without the clutch giving line. So I have decided to shell out on new rod and reel. Now the fun begins, I am hoping to do some pellet waggler fishing on comercial puddles, but I am also interested in pellet feeder also on comercial puddles, but I would also REALLY like to try my hand at some Barbel fishing on the River Avon near me in Stratford upon Avon. My knowlege of Barbel fishing is extremely limeted as is river fishing, so finding it very difficult to choose a rod/reel combo. Idealy a single rod/reel combo would be ideal due to limeted funding, but two rods isnt out of the question either. So far reel wise I have narrowed things down to either the SHAKESPEARE MACH 3 FRONT DRAG 040 or the Shimano Exage 4000 FB Reel. The Shakespeare looking more likely due to the spools and case you get, plus I can find lots of good reviews on it but little on the Shimano. Rod wise the Shakespeare Mach 3 power waggler rod looks nice, but I have also found GARBOLINO 12FT PELLET WAGGLER COMBO which has a waggler top end and a feeder top end, and is only sixty pounds, would the pellet feeder top end be fine for Barbel work on the Avon? If so this solves a big problem for me as it covers all three types of fishing I wish to do, waggler top for pellet waggler, feeder top for pellet feeder and Barbel on the Avon. Any help and/or advice is more than welcome, I am open to suggestions on any rod/reel combo that might meet my requirements. Oh also if anyone has any tips for fishing the Avon in Stratford upon Avon for Barbel please feel free to tip away Thanks alot in advance for any responses.