catching barbel in daylight

[The Flying Tench]

Is the reason most barbel are caught at dusk or at night because that's when they feed, or is it because they can see the line etc in the day and are harder to catch?

 

At a local stretch of the Kennet recently in the day no-one had caught anything except one guy had 11! They must have been feeding, so what were the rest of us doing wrong?

 

What are the commonest mistakes anglers make when fishing for barbel in teh day?

[zedhead]

depending on the size fo the river stealth can be a big factor in catching or not. If the water is shallow and clear, id head for snag swims like over hanging trees and try to draw the fish out. Also try using smaller baits and hooks in daytime, with mono better than braid for main line.

Stef horak feeds several pints of hemp, casters and maggots for hours before he wets a line (on small shallow waters where barbel are spooky).

[Guest Rabbit]

I suppose I am no exception that I catch the majority of my barbel in the last hour before dark. Don't beat youself up over the fact that you are not catching in the day, it happens to the majority of anglers that fish for these mysterious creatures. Even when the river is coloured a dark brown, the barbel prefer to feed at dusk. The theory is they leave their daytime safe havens at dusk to move onto the food rich gravel runs, these runs are shallow, so under low light conditions they are more confident.

 

This can be a huge factor such as the Kennet, or any other chalk stream rivers, certainly the Teme is a good example of such behaviour. Of course the fish cannot completely not feed in the day, the trick is to find these daytime areas and when you do you will catch. When you have located such areas do not disturb the fish by casting at them, better to lure them away from their haven by trickling particles, so they move away and then you can pick them off. This way the fish will not spook en mass and retain their position.

 

The fun is finding such daytime holding area, which means that 90% of the time on the bank will be not fishing .

 

BTW John the Teme is flooded again But Anthony had a pb barbel @ nearly 12lb from Pershore last Sunday

[Steve Walker]

Is the reason most barbel are caught at dusk or at night because that's when they feed, or is it because they can see the line etc in the day and are harder to catch?

 

I can only speak for my local small river barbel, and from observing them in shallow, clear water they will feed at any time of day. They are easily spooked, though, tend not to stray far from cover and will disappear back under it if they see anything suspicious. I have found that the harder the fishing, the more likely that bites won't come until dusk. Unless you are stalking individual fish, I would look for a bit of depth and some cover, and I'd tread carefully. They are often under your feet, literally if the bank is undercut!

 

At a local stretch of the Kennet recently in the day no-one had caught anything except one guy had 11! They must have been feeding, so what were the rest of us doing wrong?

 

Quite likely, not fishing in his peg!

[seph]

On low and clear rivers the daytime can be appauling, unless you can find where they are holed up. Most the time they just lie in the weed beds out of sight. Rolloing meat is a good way of winkling out a few fish. I have sat there all day with static baits and not a touch, then as soon as the light starts to go they come out to play. I very rarely fish the daylight hours these days except when the river is coloured and I know of swims that will produce in the day, consistently too.

 

Stef Horak does catch a lot of fish from low and clear rivers with his hemp, caster and maggot approach. It is a well used method for these conditions and does work well. The groundbait method also works, using a darker coloured groundbait. Feed the swim and then leave it for at least a hour before you cast a line. The only downfall with this is......... Bream.

[Chris Plumb]

There are some swims on the Kennet where I can have a high degree of confidence getting a barbel or two (or even half a dozen!) during the day. The tactics usually involve trotting and copious amounts of maggot (ala Steve Horak) - my only venture out so far this summer like this resulted in a nice brace of 6+ & 7+ fish (quite big enough on float tackle!).

 

C.

[The Flying Tench]

Thanks. Some very informative replies. I've certainly learnt from them, but have a sense that there's a way to go! I'm interested that several people have meantioned the stealth thing, which I must admit I haven't taken seriously enough.

 

Chris, when you go trotting for barbel do you often wade?

[The Flying Tench]

I've just thought of 3 more questions! I recently watched a good dvd on barbel fishing on the Teme in daylight hours. The guy recommended

 

a) fluorocarbon trace (Not a good idea at night, I'd guess, as it's quite stiff?)

 

lead core just upstream of the feeder to keep the line down to avoid spooking them when they hit the line (or when they see it?)

 

c) and elsewhere I've heard of people putting small shot on the trace to keep it down.

 

When you hear this stuff as a barbel novice it's hard to distinguish between what's the stuff for experts out for a specimen, and what's the stuff that beginners need to take note of. Do barbel beginners need to worry about a ), b ) or c )?

[Chris Plumb]

Chris, when you go trotting for barbel do you often wade?

 

Yes - nearly always!

 

C.

[Peter Sharpe]

Theoretically, I can see the sense in pinning the line down, but in practise, I doubt if it is hardly ever possible to do it - certainly not if you need to hold your rod high. I have never even seen the Teme, but visible line doesn't seem to have too much of an adverse effect on the Trent, where leadcore would only add further complications. If the situation enables you to do it then it can't do any harm, but I don't think it's something to get fanatical about.