December Barbel Quest - Ade Kiddell

This entry was posted on 11th January, 2018

This time last year we were wrapped up against the cold wind, the river was low and clear and on a few occasions we struggled to fish as the line was freezing in the rod rings. At the lowest point the temperature hit minus 13, so its crazy to think at times in the last few days the temperature high has been 12 degrees, thats a difference of 25 degrees which is amazing to think about. The weather although mild the last few days has been very wet and windy, low pressure from the Atlantic bringing in lots of Storms,  these conditions often bring some great fishing.

Other than January of 2017 I had managed to catch a barbel in every month so far with only December to go, I managed to complete a few DIY tasks that needed sorting which left me with a few days to catch that barbel. The river was clearing out after a few days being high and coloured, I wasn't sure if it was maggot or pellet that would catch, so with one rod on each I would hopefully find out. Within a few minutes of casting the maggot rod was soon signalling the attention of some smaller silver fish. I had chewed maggots on the first two casts but cast number 3 and the little tip taps stopped, often the sign something bigger is feeding and so it was as a decent barbel picked up the bunch of maggots and Decembers barbel was soon in the net. The next couple of days I managed a few more barbel and chub, all on maggot, even the smallest pellet or boilie fished in the same swim never produced. Had I have had both rods on the same bait I may not have even caught, I think its always worth trying different baits when the fishing is more difficult?



I have been involved in bait development for a good few years now and have fished with some very good baits and some very bad. When I start to test a bait I will very rarely use it in a session until I have had a fish or 2 from a swim on a known bait first, it would be too easy to loose confidence in a bait by using it when the fish are not there or not feeding. The best bait I have ever been involved with developing is Sonubaits Code Red, right from the start I caught on it and have had many fish on it since. In the last year alone I have had big carp, barbel and chub,  it's my favourite boilie flavour of all time thats for sure, Another bait which I wont name didn't impress me so much, testing baits is not just about if you can catch or not,  but also does the bait look good, smell good, does it keep well, is it easy to use and the bait I was asked to evaluate didn't look good, was not so easy to use. I have to say I wasn't impressed and said something like I don't think I will catch on this as long as a certain part of my anatomy has a hole in it. A few weeks later I was having a particular poor session, a bite less few hours in a good swim, nothing I tried produced a bite. In the bottom of my bait bag I found a tub of the nameless bait, worth a try I suppose and it certainly was as it produced when no other bait would, I have to admit to phoning up and apologising and to this day that bait has been a blank saver on more than one occasion but in general I have to admit I don't use it.

After getting the December barbel the weather changed again and we had heavy covering of snow which within hours had melted and filled the river with cold water, I fancied the chub might feed and thought a float fished maggot held back hard would produce, but the flow and wind combined made presentation impossible, I then had a flash back to my old match fishing days and remembered a method that worked well when wind and flow made the float difficult, the pole feeder came to mind. The method involves fishing the pole with a heavy elastic and instead of a float rig, a simple feeder rig is used. I elected to fish at around 8 metres. Shipping out 8 metres with a feeder rig attached is difficult so to make it easier a cut down cable tie is used to hang the feeder rig on. Its then possible to ship out the pole and once in position the pole can simply be twisted to release the rig and then lower into the swim.



The result of being able to lower the feeder into the swim means the swim is fed more accurately and if the flow is strong the feed is deposited on the deck and helps to attract and hold the fish, it's a bit like fishing a feeder but more precise.

Two red maggots on a 14 hook, a feeder full of a nice dark heavy river groundbait laced with maggot and out it goes, swing it out lower into position and hold the pole with the line tight to the feeder, I use a soft 10 elastic and immediately felt a couple of small plucks then a better pull and first cast a nice roach about 4 ozs. Follow the procedure and try to be accurate as you lower the feeder and its possible to get the fish queuing to feed. Second cast today and it wasn't a bite, more a run and a nice chub tested the elastic at well over 4lb a real bonus and the fish just kept coming, a bite a cast.



I had to stop in the end, it became very cold and I got a bad attack of cramp in my thigh and came close to falling in while attempting to get off my chair holding the pole in complete agony, trying to keep my leg straight to avoid the agonising pain. I ended the session with a cramped up leg but a lovely mixed bag, 2 decent chub 3 proper bream a few skimmers along with a good mix of roach and dace. A great result given the conditions, the pole feeder is a method I used a lot in my match fishing days but had never considered as a specialist method, but I certainly will in future. I wish it was a bit easier to get worms out here at a decent price as the method is deadly for big perch with a mole hill and chopped worm mix in the feeder.

As I write this the river is now in major flood we are on a yellow flood alert so I am more worried about preparing to move as much upstairs as possible rather than fish, however I fancy I might get a few hours in before it turns cold again, as it looks like the river level has peaked, fingers crossed.

Don't forget if any of you fancy a trip out to France to fish the River Meuse close to our house, we offer full board and accommodation in our guest house by the river, we have over 400 metres of river frontage and unlimited free fishing close by. The river holds some huge fish and suits all sorts of methods, contact me via my Facebook page Kingfisher Maison for more details.