Yuku free message boards

Hi Steve,

Welcome to BFW - are you sure you want to do this - you could get badly addicted
Rigs - believe me there is absolutly no need to get complicated, Mono or braid hooklengths, really are a personal choice, as is their use for mainline, and you'll just have to try both to see which you prefer, i would recomend that you start with mono as it's far more forgiving. Hooklengths well i've used both mono & braid and i still can't make up my mind if either one has put more on the bank than the other, i suppose braid being more supple than mono allows the hook to move more freely and possibly better hooking potential. If the river bed is full of sharp stones etc, a coated braid will offer far greater protection than mono, remember to strip back the coating from the eye of the hook if you want to keep a supple hinge , even just a millimetre or 2 will suffice, but some would say leave it stiff, again a matter of preference, that you'll need to work out for yourself by experimenting. Hooks are largley dependant on size of bait and whether you are hair rigged or not. As you know sizes can vary from maker to maker, but if you use drennan as a rule of thumb i prefer size 4 or 6 for hair rigging, but i know anglers who use 8s & 10s with no problem, if using paste on the hook or meat etc, on the hook i wouldn't go smaller than size 4, or even up to a 2. As for the rig itself in my opinion there is no need to use anything other than a straightforward hooklenghth, the only thing i change, largely dependant on the weight i'm useing is the length normally between 12" & 24" , i try and keep my lead as small as i can get away with for the conditions or where i'm placing my bait which is normally between 1/2 to 1oz, but i know of many who use heavier as the norm quite succsessfully again a matter of preference, and you will find your own by experimenting. If you are upstreaming you will need a bare minimum of what it takes to hold in the flow, and some prefer enough to put a healthy bend in the rod tip. If you are hair rigging i would recomend you use a knotless knot at the hook end, your choice at the swivel, i use a palomar it's never let me down nor has the knotless. Hooks - there are so many i use Drennan or ESP again never ever let me down, whatever you use they need to be sharp and strong. Bait - you could go on forever, the traditional baits still work, the last week of the season i saw a guy using plain meat neatly cubed up, and had blanked all day, i told him to try ripping it of the block and frying it lightly in a curry paste, - he had a 15lber the following day.
Boilies - all the top brands will catch on their day, or you can make your own it's a massive subject, and one thats always stirs up a healthy debate !! I make my own, but here are some brands that i know for sure catch well , Ritchworth bioplex, CC Moore Odessey, Teme Severn Lamprey, but really the list is endless, if you've got a decent bait in the right place at the right time you will catch, if any of those 3 are missing you wont .
Many use the pellet approach, and Elips pellets seem to work really well, i know quite a few that wont use anything else. again it's a preference thing and if you experiment with a few of the above for starters you should catch a few. Maggots and casters im sure you know Barbel love em', to avoid hooking small fish i hair rig a size 14 to to a size 4 or 6, and cram as many maggots onto the 14 as i can get if you're patient you can get 25 on , 20 is about as many as you can get on before it becomes difficult - Deadly !!! as long as you have Barbel in the swim, i use a feeder and replace the maize with fismeal and sometimes pour a little fish oil into the feeder, you can also loose feed or bait drop though. you will need a fair amount of maggots, i go with at least 3 pints. but it gets expensive if your not on fish, which is why i use the fishmeal and oil to pull them in from a distance.
Small fish will get straight on and bang hell out of your bait but can't get the bait in their mouth, rarely do you ever find one sucked, but if you've got a frenzy going with small fish the Barbel won't be far behind if they're there. Well i hope thats given you some food for thought Steve, there are some really good barbel anglers on here and no doubt, you'll be getting more excellent advice, have fun trying it all out

All the best
Ian.