It wasn’t many seasons ago when the first frosts of autumn signalled the end of Barbel fishing for the season and a switch to other species for the anglers concerned. But Barbel fishing has come along way in the last few years and now sees the sort of attention that carp fishing did 15 or so years ago.

Plenty of Barbel anglers these days tend not to bother too much with summer conditions and wait for the tell tale signs that autumn has arrived before they venture to the river in the pursuit of Barbel.

Winter Barbel fishing isn’t just about flooded rivers, and it is more than possible to catch Barbel at any time during the darker months as long as conditions are favourable. So what are these favourable conditions, ideally low pressure with south westerly wind and unsettled weather, with these normally comes mild air and plenty of rain, which in turn brings coloured and flooded rivers with rising water temperatures That said providing the water temperature isn’t falling and the air pressure is steady or falling, then a Barbel is always possible. A simple thermometer and a check on the barometer pressure are all that are needed to be able to predict when the window of opportunity will arrive. I am often asked what I consider to be the lowest water temperature that a Barbel will feed, well I am not sure there is an answer as I have known Barbel to be caught  with a water temperature of only 38f but it was a rising temperature with the water only being 36 a few hours before. I have also known temperatures as high as 60f or more when fish refuse to feed as the temperature has taken a sudden drop.

In this first article I will look at the toughest of winter conditions for Barbel, low clear rivers. In the second article I will look at the Barbel anglers favourite conditions that of flooded rivers.

Low Clear River

These conditions can be the most difficult in which to catch your winter Barbel but with the correct approach it is more than possible. For the best chance though don’t bother if these conditions are coupled with cold frosty weather and falling temperatures.

 Generally Barbel in these conditions will only feed for short spells during the day which more than likely will fall during late afternoon and into darkness. This will most likely coincide with a small rise in water temperature as the sun has managed to warm the water for a few hours, its worth remembering at this point smaller rivers warm up quicker than the bigger rivers like the Trent and Severn.

With the fishes appetite suppressed care must be taken not to over feed and because of this I prefer two methods, the first being a maggot/castor approach and the second a small pellet or boilie in conjunction with a PVA bag.

Maggot/Castor

Often these days the forgotten bait when targeting Barbel but on its day still very effective, I like to fish it in conjunction with a small block end feeder cast at 15 to 20 minute intervals, hemp can also be introduced at a 50.50 mix with the maggot or castor. A longish hook link of around 3 or 4 feet of 0.19 or 0.21 Preston Reflo Power Line and a strong hook between size 12 and 16 will complete the rig. For a change of presentation use PVA funnel web and bag up small amounts of maggots or castors using some curry powder to dry the castors and prevent the early melting of the PVA. Curry or chilli powder in fact anything spicy make a great dusting powder for maggots, and Barbel just love the spicy taste.

Pellet or Boilie

Its very important if using this method that the minimum if any free offerings are fed into the swim, I prefer to use a strongly flavoured ground bait mix that has a high oil content so can be used without fair of melting the PVA, Sonu Hemp and Hali Crush is the perfect answer. The idea being to attract the Barbel into the swim but not feed them, the only solid food item in the swim should be your hook bait. I use a good quality funnel web and a ramrod to force the ground bait into the PVA, by using a PVA friendly flavour it is also possible to add even more punch to the bag by glugging it before casting.

The trick again is a very long hook link, as long as 5ft in day light, this in my opinion negates the need to reduce the breaking strain of the hook length to an unacceptable level. I don’t go for fluoro carbon in a big way and much prefer a good clear mono in 12lb, I will go as low as 8 and as high as 15lb if conditions require it.

Drilling pellets can be a pain at the best of times but try drilling an 8mm halibut by hand and I will lay money you will struggle to do 1 in 10 without cracking them.  Treat yourself to Some Sonu Pellet “0”s available in 8 or 12mm in either Halibut or Crab, the Crab flavour is very effective as the water temperature drops.

Small boilies can also be very effective, don’t fall into the trap a boilie has to be round with a bit of work it is possible to cut into cubes or cylinders which will release more flavour and less of a chance of spooking fish. Try Sonu baits Pellet shaped Boilies with white fish good in clear water and the white chocolate very effective in flood water.

One of the problems with fishing in very clear water is that fish can be spooked by a tight line running through the water, so if this can be disguised in any way it might help. I prefer to use a small back lead fixed around 3 ft above the lead to pin the last few feet of line to the river bed. A simple drilled bullet fixed either end with a rubber float stop will do the job on our smaller rivers, a much heavier inline lead may be needed on the bigger rivers, I may use as much as 2 ounces sometimes.

Follow a few simple rules during these low clear river conditions and your chances of a Barbel will increase

1: Fish later in day and into darkness
2: Keep free offerings to a minimum
3: Long hook links and small baits
4: Small rivers cool quickly but warm faster as well
5: Big rivers will take longer to cool but will also take longer to warm
6: Fish deep water areas close to known summer swims
Keep an eye out for my other winter Barbel tips for fishing flooded rivers coming soon.