Dave Harrell
takes us through his maggot feeder approach for winter
WITH the river season fast coming to an end, I’m planning some days out in pursuit of barbel.
At the time of writing that’s not an easy task, as overnight temperatures have been as low as -4ºC in many parts of the country.
The long-range forecast doesn’t look too bad, though and I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to do battle with a few ‘whiskers’ on big rivers like the Severn or the Wye before the curtain comes down on the 2017/18 season. Hopefully, it will be the last closed season we have to endure!
So, how do we go about catching barbel in clear rivers that have just come out of their winter slumber?
For me, the key is to ignore pellets and pin all my faith in maggots. Barbel of all sizes love them and I’ve lost count of the number of good catches I’ve had on them.
This week, I’ll take you through my end-of-season tactics, which will hopefully see your rod top banging over a good few times.
LOCATION
The fast, shallow swims that we started the season on won’t be places to fish at this late point in proceedings.
You’ll still need some decent flow in front of you, but much deeper water will be required. I’ve found that swims from 8ft to 12ft deep are the most reliable.
RODS AND REELS
With water temperatures well down, the float rods will be staying in the holdall unless things warm up dramatically.
I catch loads of barbel on float gear over a season but the last few sessions will more than likely see me adopting a feeder approach.
I use 13ft and 14ft feeder rods with plenty of power and a good through action. My current favourite for this type of fishing is a Daiwa Tournament Long Distance. For a lighter action it’s Tournament RS 12-13 feeder rods. All these rods are matches to TDR4012 reels.
LINES AND HOOKS
For the past 12 months, I’ve been using some brand new feeder line that will be hitting the shops soon in time for the 2018/19 season.
It’s called Pro Feeder, and it will be available in strains from 3lb (0.16mm) all the way up to 14lb (0.30mm).
In tests I’ve been delighted with it – it’s got just the right degree of stretch for feeder fishing and it’s ideal for barbel and chub. For most barbel situations I’d recommend mainlines of 10lb (0.26mm) or 12lb (0.28mm). If you’re using really big feeders, or the swim is snaggy, use 14lb (0.30mm).
For hooklengths I use Pro Rig line in 0.21mm (9.8lb), 0.23mm (11.1lb) or 0.26mm (13.8lb) breaking strains. I tie these to strong wire size 14, 12 or 10 hooks.
FEEDERS
I only carry two designs of feeder for barbel. For open-end groundbait work it’s a big Nisa feeder with up to 8oz of weight strapped on the side.
For blockend work with maggots, which is what we are looking at this week, I use a Kamasan Black Cap with additional anchor leads added so it holds bottom. The biggest feeder as it comes weighs 50g (1.75oz)
and the anchor leads go up to 5oz, hence the need for strong rods!
LONG TAIL
Always experiment with tail length when you’re feeder fishing for barbel. I generally start at around 3ft, but it’s not uncommon to go up to 4ft or even 5ft when the river is clear.
It can make a big difference on days when barbel are reluctant to come right up to the feeder.
BE PATIENT!
As with most styles of fishing when the water temperature is low, you will rarely start catching barbel straight away.
It’s much more likely that bites will start to come after two or three hours, and it can take even longer than that on very cold days.
My advice is to wrap up warm and keep at it, as the bites can come at any time!
“I ignore pellets and pin all my faith in maggots. Barbel of all sizes love them”