In ideal conditions, when large groups of barbel were well on the feed and showing no fear of approaching the swimfeeder, switching to feeders on both rods and introducing more feed  to keep the fish interested and hopefully hold them in the swim, would probably be a better option. Each season we will be trying new spots, and visiting old favourite's. Both rods were set up using long banksticks with bite alarms at the front, to help keep the rod tips pointed well up in the air. Comment. A study of Trent barbel had shown me that doubles can be caught anywhere on the river, usually peaking at around 13lbs, with a 14lber an outstanding fish. Contact: Ivel Protection Association, 01234 823959. However, the Trent in the lower reaches is a big river and with plenty of water pushing through, a lighter feeder simply wouldn’t hold bottom properly in the powerful current. The idea of using the feeder on the upstream rod, with the straight lead on the downstream rod was to hopefully introduce the bulk of the feed and attraction via the swimfeeder on the upstream rod, but with a slightly more less obvious set-up fishing downstream of it to try and fool the barbel that might be attracted upstream to the scents and smaller particles of feed being washed downstream, but weary of approaching the potentially dangerous area immediately adjacent to the source of the attraction. Night fishing (sunset-sunrise) at Fiskerton is Syndicated, so unless you are a syndicate member, no night fishing is permitted. How much does it cost: £5 per day or £10 for 24h. As its popularity grows, so the thirst for knowledge becomes insatiable, particularly for information about who controls the fishing. Welcome to Barbel Adventures. Bobs Island is a Private Coarse Fishery on a prolific stretch of the River Trent at Newark Fishery Info: Bobs Island, also known as Pelham Island, The Scrapyard or simply The Island, is one of the most prolific stretches of the River Trent for fishing and is renowned for producing huge Barbel, Carp, Chub and Pike. Again, a long 3 to 4ft hooklength; but for this rod I opted to tie up a lighter mono hooklink to see if a slightly less conspicuous hooklength might make a difference. for people who love barbel fishing http://www.futurefishing.co.uk/barbel-fishing-391-c.asp Posted in Angling Diary, tagged river fishing blog, Barbel fishing on the Trent, Hinder Elips Pellets, Andy Witham Cage Feeders on September 21, 2012| 2 Comments » The lure of the Trent drew Geoff, Kevin and I back to the Midlands for another sortie on the mighty Trent. This may seem like overly heavy gear for barbel fishing, but the nature of the river and the weight of the feeders and leads required to effectively fish in the conditions presented mean that heavier gear is sometimes needed… and it’s always better to go ‘over gunned’ than to discover yourself compromised with too light a set-up and not able to fish properly or safely from a fishes welfare perspective. Sometimes, August can be a strange time & good on you for trying so hard to try & swing things in your favour. Both hookbaits can be trimmed for the downstream rod and left as they are for the upstream ‘more positive’ rod. Once I was ready to cast out, the swimfeeder rod was lobbed out upstream, between approximately a quarter and a third of the way out, with the lead rod cast out at approximately the same distance, but 5 or 6 yards further downstream. This guide is an attempt to put that information at your fingertips and provide clarity. This meant that there was less mainline going through the water and therefore less pressure on the line making it easier to hold either the feeder or lead in position. However, hanging on until later in the afternoon saw the barbel turn up once again and I enjoyed catching another handful of fish, including the best of the day weighing in at 8lb 4oz, before I ran out of time and I had to reluctantly bring my session to a close. Once it was passed breakfast time and through the day I experimented going smaller with the hookbaits, which did prompt a few more bites, but mainly from roach and the occasional bream and not the intended target species. Trying to fish closer in meant that there was a danger of the end tackle ending snagged in the rocks, while trying to fish further out would have required heavier leads and feeders to effectively hold bottom in the flow. 307 likes. How busy is it: Can be busy specially the start of season. Thank you so much for watching and please subscribe to my channel. Hookbait on the feeder rod was either the boilie style “Buster” hookbait, or the “Durable Hookers” in the “Meat-furter” flavour. 1 August, 2019 | For the downstream lead rod I experimented with a smaller hookbait in an attempt to fool more cautious fish that may be shying off the main feed and/or a larger hookbait, so here I used one of the “Durable Hookers”, but trimmed down a little with a pair of sharp scissors to make it smaller, or one of the “Buster” hookbaits, with about a third of one end cut away before mounting on the hair. After the first barbel the frequency of bites increased over the next few hours, with barbel bites occurring approximately once an hour, with a good smattering of bream and even the occasional quality roach making an appearance. The car park gate is … I have spent some time in search of Trent barbel, mainly on the tidal reaches which in my opinion offer the best chance of all for success, not only with numbers but size. When using swimfeeders in such a deep, powerful river such as the tidal Trent, it’s important that the feed stays inside the feeder until it has reached and settled on the bottom. I decided my barbel PB was an embarrassment so I took a couple of trips down to the mighty river trent. new addition to the Big Fish River range. Pick of the bunch was an estimated 350lb of fish made up of 22 barbel, including three doubles to 10lb 12oz, at least 36 bream, six zander, 12 eels, half a dozen chub and eight 1lb roach. My belief is that the really big fish will seek out deeper, slower water, and may remain undetected for many years. Autumn coming round very soon & … A nice pungent groundbait mixed a bit stodgy is used to plug both ends of the feeder. The downstream rod was set up similarly, but with a 4oz flat-pear shaped lead rather than a feeder. Your email address will not be published. Therefore, the groundbait can be mixed quite stodgy and squeezed hard into both ends of the feeder prior to the cast. A long hooklength helps to fool any wary barbel that might be attracted to the flow of feed from the feeder but might be cautious of getting too close to the feeder itself. It’s important to try and keep a regular supply of fresh feed going into the swim to try and attract the fish to you. Please refer to the instructions on the ‘ Register’ page for details of how to join the new incarnation of BFW... Home. My rods for the trip were what would likely be classed as medium, through-action carp rods. Sew Kowalski and the new Trent record barbel of 20lb 6oz . When the Division One National record was smashed in 2004 with more than 160lb of barbel and bream, it was all the encouragement Total-Fishing.com needed to check out the stretch of the River Trent that produced it. My last purposeful Barbel stint was on the Dove 2009-2011 and I'm debating where to focus on this season. Previous. A strong Razor size 8 hook, tied knotless knot style, completes the rig, with a hair long enough to present a hair-rigged boilie or pellet with a few mm between the hook and the bottom of the hookbait. None of the barbel were any great size, with the majority being in the 3 to 7lb category. Fiskerton offers a fantastic range of coarse fishing, be it barbel, chub, bream, pike, zander and even the occasional river carp, you’ll find them all. Some of the forums are hidden from non-members. Berkshire based angler, Steven Birt (49), was the captor of the recent giant - a fish that shattered his personal best of 16lb 12oz. It was still raining heavily when I arrived at the river early afternoon (and continued to do so frequently for the next few hours), but as I was walking the stretch, trying to decide where to start, I saw a guy suddenly grab a rod as a barbel took off with one of his hookbait. chris little. This was fished with a long 3 to 4ft hooklength constructed from 15lb Carp Spirit Kameleon coated braid, with the coating stripped off on the bottom third of the rig. The fish are getting bigger and the populations of this species are well established. I’d really enjoyed only my second barbel session on the Trent; my first ever on “the tidal”. Eventually, just after 6pm, the downstream rod signalled a more positive bite and the first barbel of the session was hooked; a fish of around 4lb. Following the theme of a less conspicuous end-rig, I tied this hooklength up with a smaller sized 12 hook and aimed to fish slightly smaller baits on this rod.