Shortening days act as a catalyst for barbel to begin their big annual feed-up. They’ll be packing on weight to give them the reserves to thrive over the coming winter, and this can see the fish putting on as much as 10 per cent of their body mass in just a few weeks. Not only are the fish much more catchable right now, but they will also be in superb condition.
With water temperatures still good, there won’t be a day that passes when barbel won’t be feeding, especially through dusk and into the first few hours of darkness. Handily, these feeding spells fall perfectly for short after- work sessions, enabling some great sport, even if you only have limited amounts of time.
Hungry barbel can be caught on a wide range of baits and tactics, but I tend to adopt a boilie approach at this time of the year. These baits are convenient, and extremely effective, and adopting carp-style tactics make this a very simple way to fish.
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Why boilies?
Barbel are willing to feed on boilies and other big baits right now, so why make life difficult for yourself by using small or delicate baits that can be decimated by other species. Large pellets and meat chunks can also work well, and the rigs and tactics will be very similar but, for ease of use, nothing comes close to boilies. That said, I still prefer to make my own baits, rather than rely on shop-bought boilies, but I know this perhaps gives me only a marginal advantage.
Boilies like The Source, The Krill, Odyssey XXX, and Atlantic Heat have a track record of accounting for a great many barbel, and I would be happy to use any one of these straight from the bag if time were short.
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Size matters
My preference is for one or two 12mm boilies on the hair – these smaller baits tend to be favoured over larger ones, especially when I am feeding hemp alongside them. Often, however, a larger bait may be required if small fish prove a nuisance. Switching to 15mm, 18mm, or larger boilies will limit you to sizeable chub, bream and barbel.
You can tweak the size of the hookbait again by wrapping mini boilies, and even the hook, in paste. This is easier and cheaper than carrying around various sizes of boilies, and the paste creates much more attraction too. A stiff paste that breaks down slowly is ideal for this job. If you would prefer to sit it out in search of a specimen, then using a really big paste bait can swing the odds in your favour. A walnut-sized bait is a good starting point.
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Hemp and boilies
I tend not to rely solely on boilies, preferring to also feed hemp, a great attractor that stimulates barbel to feed. In smaller rivers I loosefeed hemp via a catapult, but in larger rivers a bait dropper or ‘Spopper’ can be used to bait up accurately.
All baits are quickly dispersed in rivers, so it’s important to keep the bait going in regularly. A dozen mini boilies every five minutes is about right, along with a pouchful of hemp. As hemp sinks slower than boilies, fire it further upstream to ensure it gets to the bottom close to your hookbait.
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To prebait or not to prebait
If you’re confident that you’ve found the barbel, and are planning on fishing a swim or a particular stretch regularly, light prebaiting can definitely pay dividends – but you need to find the fish first.
One factor to take into account is that swims which hold numbers of barbel in the summer may not be so productive from now on. Often, barbel will move away from faster-flowing, shallower areas and move downstream into deeper, slower-moving haunts that are more comfortable over the coming months. No amount of bait will change this behaviour, so be sure that you are targeting the right areas.
I tend to bait up at the end of every evening session with any leftover bait. Ideally, I will be fishing two evenings a week minimum, which is about right for prebaiting to have a noticeable effect. Apart from adding to the expense, prebaiting can be tricky on busy stretches where I don’t want to interfere with other anglers’ efforts.
If lots of bait is already going in, then the benefits of this tactic are reduced anyway. I tend to save prebaiting for quiet stretches, especially where fish numbers are low. Barbel fishing isn’t rocket science, and especially at this time of the year it can be very productive even when using only simple baits and tactics.
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