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Here's a great anglers tale from Charles Binns of Derby...
I have been a pleasure Angler for over
20 years now, over this time I have caught just about every species
I can think of. However it wasn’t until this summer that I caught
my first Barbel, it was around 5lb from the river Derwent in Derby.
Nothing special there you may say but taken me until I was 30 years
old to get. Since then I have been fanatical about Barbel. Contrary
to much opinion I don’t believe they’re the smartest of
fish, just very particular about when, what and where they feed. Together we have found a lovely quiet stretch of the Derwent which is only usually fished by youngsters and the odd rover like ourselves. In fact it was such a rover (a very helpful and friendly chap called Steve, who recently caught an 18lb Salmon from this very same stretch) who regularly offers me new bait to try and advice. Anyway after years of struggling for the double figure Barbel, I took the advice of my fishing buddy Paul Minall, to try ¼ tin SPAM to a size 4 hook ! – sounded like madness to me but I was the pupil and he was certainly the master. I had previously tried everything, from weird Sauce Boilies, to Huge Pellets, hair rigs & worms, Method style, drifting a quill down, to legering, all with little results. Lots of lost gear, tangles, missed bites which even Stevie Wonder would have seen, some of them I even had to retrieve my rod from the river after the vicious takes which I have learnt since only the Barbel give. I still haven’t landed a double Barbel though. The rig Paul set me up with was 15lb Braid with 3 swan shots then to a swivel which lead to a 24” 10Lb mono trace which held the huge lump of American meat engulfing the size 4 hook, which was also secured in with a piece of grass. Such a simple rig but wow, gives great results! My first cast with this new setup was at 9pm, 16th September (a very dull humid and warm evening, with a little color in the river from the previous days rain), at 5 past my rather unorthodox but faithful 10ft 1.5Lb test curve rod was doubled over and the clutch screaming as the 11lb 8oz barbel took off down stream. Once again Paul came to my rescue and took the role as gillie, guiding me through the retrieve. Not a big fish by the standards set by many anglers, but for me it was a fish of a lifetime. Paul took the pictures of myself and the Barbel before helping me carefully nurse the fish back to 100% in the flow before it was off. After that fish I was ready to pack-up and give up fishing a very happy man. By 10:30 I had run out of Spam (which Paul gave me) and landed four Barbel, a couple of smaller fish 7 and 8lb respectively and 2 doubles, 10lb 60z and 11lb 80z. What a night!!. Sadly Paul blanked the very same evening using the very same method sitting a meter to my left. I have never once written to an angling publication, probably because I have always felt rather inadequate when comparing the size of catches. However my shear joy of achieving my goal and PB far overcomes such chivalry. Best regards Charles Binns
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Here's
a great anglers tale from Charles Binns of Derby...