Should I still be fishing meat when I’m after river barbel?

DOES meat still work for river barbel or should I be fishing pellets and boilies?

Colin McFadden, Reading

PELLETS and boilies have rightly grabbed the headlines in the last 20 years, but many barbel anglers still fish exclusively with meat.

The reasoning is that it has more appeal and is more flexible than a boilie. Meat is very light, and so can be trundled down the river with the current, allowing the bait to act very naturally.

This works brilliantly when manoeuvred in between rafts of streamer weed or across gravel, using a minimal amount of weight on the line. A good tip is to tear off meat instead of cutting it into neat cubes, as these will look unnatural to a feeding fish.