How catch barbel: essential advice
Barbels are a true angling classic, with their catching practices being developed since the earliest of time.
According to professional fishermen, in order to master the art of catching barbel, one does not need to overcomplicate things as even the simplest of tactics work well enough.
In this article, we will discuss the essentials of barbel catching, touching upon everything from choosing the right location, a good rig to start out with and of course, the best barbel bait.
If going for barbel is your thing or you simply want to expand your angling skills even further, this article is just for you.
So, without further adieu, let’s begin.
Choosing the appropriate location
Barbels are certainly a smart type of fish as they know perfectly well how to utilize they’re environment in order to find a place to inhabit and hide in the appropriate places.
The first step of course would be to do your homework properly before you head out. You might do a bit of searching in the area in terms of what places are the most likely to spawn you a lucky catch.
Some additional advice would be chatting up your local tackle shop or perhaps local fishermen in your area who might give you some basic directions. This at least will give you a basic idea of where to set up camp.
The most popular spots are likely to be crowded especially if angling is popular in your part of the country, so your best bet would be to settle for a more open area nearby where most are fishing.
Look for either river bends and areas deeper from the shore itself since that’s where fish look for natural sources of food.
The right rig setup
Professionals advise going for a heftier setup when trying to catch barbel with a mainline weighing at least 10lbs and a rod of up to 2lbs of curve rod. In this way, you give yourself some flexibility and minimize the chances of a fish getting away.
Typically, you should expect the bites to be very sensitive, so giving yourself extra room in terms of fishing line can allow you to better anticipate the upcoming maneuvers from the fish, plus the setup is fairly simple in itself.
Professionals also advise to consider a free-running type of rig which will allow your hookbait to move more freely and will create a more convincing bait for the fish to go with.
Don’t forget to look out for your bite from time to time and ensure that there aren’t any weeds attached to your hooklink as this might ruin your fishing trip in general.
Best bait choices for barbel
In terms of barbel bait choices, one does have a fair amount to choose from. If you want to go with groundbait, it's best to make sure that you have a variety of flavours to try and experiment with and also make sure that the bait isn’t too big in terms of particle size.
For more natural alternatives, one shouldn’t ignore pellets, hemps or even snails in terms of hookbait choices. Some rivers are trickier to fish in than others, so a more natural choice of bites can certainly work better.
Additional flavour enhancers like liquids in order to improve groundbait should also be kept in mind, but we suggest talking with your local tackle shop on what to go with.
If you’re a true night person and prefer to try your luck when it’s dark outside, you might even consider going with boilies as your main choice of bait.
All in all
In this article, we’ve talked about the very basics of catching barbel. Be open to the suggestions of others, equip yourself with plenty of alternatives and we’re sure that your trip will be a success.