I like nothing more than the weather forecast predicting a few days of wet wild and blustery weather, for me that means the river level will be up and the water coloured, but most importantly the Barbel will be on the feed.

A little bit of time needs to taken to find the right areas to fish, some swims become impossible to fish, with the extra flow on the river creating turbulent unfishable swims. Barbel aren’t lovers of these boiling ever changing areas, much preferring areas of steady flow. Look for areas where the surface is flat and smooth and remains that way without boils constantly coming to the surface, sometimes these areas are table top size, but can be as big as a tennis court in size. The crease between some fast flowing water and an area of slower flowing water can also be very productive.

Presentation becomes less of a problem with the coloured water helping to disguise even the worst presented terminal tackle. Long hook links can create problems with tangles and suspended debris and are best avoided. A much larger bait can be used and in fact helps to leave a flavour trail in the current, which will serve to attract the Barbel in the swim. With lots of colour and debris in the river the fish is now almost blind in its search for food and its sense of taste and smell take over.

With all the extra flow comes the problem of suspended debris, to avoid this building up around the lead and lifting it prematurely from the river bed I use a power gum stop knot some 3 or 4 foot above the lead, this will act as an effective collector of the debris. Another method that helps is to clip on a running back lead immediately after casting, this will pin the line to the river bed and help avoid the worst of the suspended debris. The strong flow will also require the use of heavier leads to hold in the current, I have in the past had to use up to 12 ounces to hold on the Trent when it was in major flood, but most importantly still had plenty of Barbel.

Flood water fishing can be dangerous with the risk of slipping on muddy banks and falling into the river a real possibility, so please be careful. River levels can also rise at an alarming rate, rivers like the Trent and Severn can easily rise at over a foot an hour and I like to mark the river level with a bank stick and keep a constant eye on the level, be prepared to move in minutes if needed.

When fishing flooded rivers I try to adopt a more mobile approach and usually if a swim hasn’t produced within an hour I will move on. I have lost count of the times when the first cast in a new swim has produced a fish within minutes of casting in.

Baits

Pellet, boilies, worm and flavoured paste all work well but the most effective bait can be a piece of luncheon meat to which a flavour can be added for even more attraction. My favourite of all is to break a couple of tins of luncheon meat into a bag and add a whole diced bulb of garlic within a few minutes the meat will take on the strong garlic flavour which Barbel find irresistible. The size of meat can vary from roughly 1 inch cubes right up to a bait the size of half of a tin, but I always avoid cutting into cubes preferring to rip it roughly into the shape and size I want.

Match hook size to the bait with size 10 through to a 4 for pellets and boilies and up to a size 2 for a large piece of meat. For hook link I like to use a stiff mono or a coated braid with only the last few inches stripped back, in flooded conditions soft and supple hook links will create tangles and are best avoided

I hope you have enjoyed this basic look at winter Barbel fishing and can get out soon and put some of my ideas into use.