In recent times, barbel fishing has become synonymous with pellets, big feeders and strong tackle but fly angler James Jennings proved there are more subtle ways to catch the much loved species.
James has beenfly fishing for barbel for a few years now on his local rivers, using flies he ties himself to imitate worms, and recently caught this impressive double-figure barbel that gave him an experience he will never forget!
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"I arrived at the river around 11:30 am. It was an overcast day with drizzle in the air and occasional heavy showers."
"I made my way to the area I had fished earlier that week, knowing there was a good chance the barbel would still be there."
"The chosen setup for the afternoon was a 9ft 7wt rod, with a long 12lb mono leader incorporating an inline strike indicator down to a 10lb fluoro tippet. I would then fish a single squirmy worm on point."
"After several hours without any interest from the fish, despite seeing plenty in the swims, I headed upstream to the top of some rapids to try my luck in a deeper pool."
"Having fished with red worms all afternoon, which is my preferred colour, I decided to switch to a neon pink version."
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"On the first cast into the pool, the worm had only traveled about 5ft before something made positive contact with it and the rod doubled over."
"In an instant, any slack line was taken up, and the reel was in reverse. The initial run upstream stripped all the fly line off the reel down to the backing."
"After several longer runs and breaching several times 20 meters upstream, I got the upper hand, and the fish dropped into the net on the first attempt."
"After weighing her at 12lb 4oz and taking some photos and video footage, I rested the fish for a further 5 minutes before releasing it."
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