Hi folks, I’d like to also reply to all the emails we have had asking me and Tom about the methods we use to catch barbel. My rig is based upon the same simple principles as Toms. At the end of the day why make fishing expensive and complicated when a basic rig can land you great barbel !
My rig has some slight differences to Toms. Those being only the lines and hooks we use. These are down to our own thoughts on what we believe is the best set up for hard fighting river barbel ! The main difference between our setupsis that we use different mainlines, tom prefers to stick with his well trusted 12lb Maxima Chameleon Mono mainline and I prefer Power Pro 18lb Braided mainline. The reason I believe that a braided mainline is superior is simply the diameter difference between mono and braid. My Power Pro 18lb Braid is 0.13mm dia and the 12lb Maxima Tom uses is 0.32mm dia ! This means that the braid I am using gives me far less resistance in the current, enabling me to hold bottom with less weight on my feeder. This comes in to its own when the river is up and it is hard work holding bottom in the faster flowing water that barbel love. Using a braided mainline can also help with casting distance, also due to its finer diameter.
For my hook lengths I have two different approaches, depending on the river colour.
If the river is clear I use E.S.P Soft Ghost 10lb (0.30mm dia) fluorocarbon. I use this because it is virtually invisible to the fish even though it has a large diameter. It has a specific gravity of 1.78, which makes it denser than water and ensures that my hook length lies on the bottom and presents my bait as naturally as possible.
When the river is coloured I use 18lb Power Pro braid straight through. I find that when the river is coloured the barbel can’t see the braided line with its fine diameter and the coloured water.
The hooks i use are Kevin Nash Fang X size 10, a really strong hook that is sharp and perfect for baits up to about 12mm. When I am using bigger baits such as pellets and boilies of around 16 and 20 mm I prefer a wider gaped hook. Korum S3 size 10 hooks are great for these bigger baits.
When it comes to swivels I use drennan size 8 along with a drennan swivel rubber bead for my clip swivel to slide up to so it doesn’t damage my knot to my swivel. It is also important to select your clip swivel with the view to casting a heavy feeder or lead across wide sections of river. I have found out the hard way that you need a strong clip swivel, to stop it pulling open, when using heavy feeders and casting along way.
For feeders I use large cage feeders and pack them full of ground bait mixed with pellets and hemp. Fiskys Fantastic Feeders are the bees knees when it comes to large cage feeders tailored for fast flowing rivers. When buying your feeders don’t be shy with the weight of them, at times last season both me and tom used weights of up to 7oz just to hold bottom ! As a rule anything between 4oz and 6oz is plenty for 90% of the time.
If you have any more questions about our rigs don’t be afraid to ask via our “contact us page”!
Get yourself on the river bank next season and remember keep it simple !!!
