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THE ULTIMATE BARBEL EXPERIENCE
(A PERSONAL APPROACH TO SNAG FISHING BY STEVE STAYNER)

These days most of my fishing involves the "hit and hold" approach with the bend of the rod being all that a hooked barbel is allowed to have. This kind of angling offers the most exciting sport that the barbel enthusiast could ever wish for, and if you haven't yet experienced it yourself then I seriously recommend that you try it. It's heart-stopping, lip-smacking, gut-busting, knee-trembling, arm-aching action. It is quite simply The Ultimate Barbel Experience!

Anyone who fishes for these truly amazing creatures will be aware of just how much they love the security that the snag swim offers to them. Often, the largest of the specimens will spend every hour of daylight in the safety of such areas and if the angler is to be successful in promoting a bite during such times, then he must first be willing to present his bait within inches of the snag, and secondly (and most importantly) he must be totally prepared for the consequences when that bite arrives.

The first step towards this total preparation is the use of appropriate tackle, but I believe there is too much misguided information available to the less experienced angler who fancies having a go at that virtually impossible swim. For instance, I find it hard to believe that many of the angling tabloid writers are still recommending the use of six pound Bs mono as being ideal for most aspects of barbel fishing. Only rarely (while fishing near snags) do they need to increase to eight pound Bs and I believe that this is only the beginning of a whole minefield of potential problems for those in need of sound advice.

In certain circumstances (such as fishing in fairly open water where we can afford to let the fish run) we have a margin for error. While snag fishing we cannot afford the slightest weakness in our set-up, and as this is the year 2000 my recommendation is that you dispense with the idea of using eight pound line as a maximum and replace it with ten pound as a minimum. In some instances this will need to be increased to twelve pounds or above. Using 8.Lb line may well cost you the fish of a lifetime - and what price would you put on that? I fish the Derbyshire Dove and even a 6 or 7.Lb barbel in here is capable of breaking 8.Lb line with the utmost ease. So please be warned!

A challenging swim!

Mono or braided mainline?

After listening to all of the claimed advantages that braided lines are supposed to have over mono's I was tempted into giving one of them a try. I quickly came to the conclusion that, had I continued to use my particular choice of dynema based braid for more than half a dozen sessions, I may well have had a heart attack. The virtual zero stretch factor in this type of line gave me a strangely uneasy feeling that I would lose everything that I hooked. I dare not lean into the fish with the confidence that a little stretch has to offer for fear that the hook would tear out. To counter this manufacturers tell us to set the clutch accordingly, but doesn't this defeat the object of not giving them any line? What is the point of using 30.Lb line if we have to let the fish run to keep the hook in? Each to their own; and if you are a braid fan that's fine. Personally I'll be sticking to mono as a mainline and the braid for hook-links.

Which monofillament?

Having established the importance of having a certain amount of stretch in our mainline now leaves us to make a choice from the vast array of monos that are available to us. To do this we need to take certain factors into account; the most important of these being abrasion resistance, strength to diameter, stretch and, to a certain extent, suppleness. When daytime fishing colour of the line must also be considered, for obviously we want it to be as low in visibility as possible.

Many of the so-called fourth-generation co-polymer monos of today offer most of these qualities, and I am sure that during the last four or five seasons that I must have tried the bulk of them. I have now settled on the new high performance carp mono made by ESP. For two seasons I have been using this in breaking strains of 10.Lb and 12.Lb; it is highly abrasion resistant with just enough stretch to avoid undue pressure on the hook, which helps maintain its diameter when under stress. It also has a low visibility weed green colour, extremely high knot strength and is fairly supple for possessing these qualities. In my opinion ESP high performance carp mono is the best of the lot. It comes on 1000-meter spools and is priced at around £15.00. Great value! 

Braids for hook-links

Because there are two types of snag swim (those which contain highly abrasive snags such as boulders, concrete objects, etc and those containing less abrasive tree trunks and such like) I prefer to use two types of braided hook-link. For concrete I will use a dynema-based braid called Quick Silver, which has a breaking strain of 25.Lbs and for wooden snags I will use the more supple Super-Nova, with a breaking strain of 15.Lbs. Both of these braids are manufactured by Kryston and are both excellent products. The recommendation of using braided hook-lengths, which are of higher breaking strain than the mainline has always been a subject for confusion and rarely understood. The reason that I use these braids is for their extra thick diameter and not, as may be thought, their high breaking strain. It is also for this very same reason that I will, if circumstances demand it, increase the strength of the mainline. I have yet to encounter a barbel that is capable of breaking 10.Lb ESP, but the extra thickness of 12.Lb increases my comfort zone when fishing near concrete.

The advantage that super-nova has over quick silver is that it allows a better presentation of the hook-bait. I would be most interested to hear if anyone knows of a braid with the same diameter as "nova" but with the same, or better, abrasive resistant qualities as quick silver. Please let me know!

Hook patterns

Only rarely while fishing near snags is it appropriate to use a hair rig for, more often than we would like, we would end up hooking some immovable object on the bottom. Sometimes however, we are lucky enough to be able to tempt the fish out from their cover and can take full advantage of this by using the best presentation available to us. 

This is, without doubt, the hair rig and my favourite pattern of hook while using this method is the Kevin Nash Fang. As far as I am concerned, for baits fished hard on the bottom, no other hook exists. They are simply awesome and totally reliable in sizes 8, 6 and 4. The recommended retail price for these hooks is around £3.00 for a pack of 10.

Most often we will be faced with the reality of having to place our bait right up against the snag, and are left with little choice other than to forget the hair and employ the potentially less troublesome method of straight hooking.

Unfortunately there is also a likelihood that we may still frequently hook up with the bottom if we straight hook our bait and leave the point out. This leaves us with the only sensible option of burying the hook completely within the bait. However, if we are to hit bites with consistency when our point is totally buried, then it follows that our hook has to be something a little bit special. Not only must it possess the capability to tear through a large meat bait and penetrate well into the barbel's rubbery mouth, it must also have the necessary tensile strength to deal with the awesome power of the fish until it is safely landed.

My favourite pattern for this method is the T-6 Raptor, manufactured by ESP. I also use this pattern for popped-up baits on a hair, for this is what the hook was originally designed for. I use them in sizes 6 to 2 and cannot praise them highly enough. I rate them as the technically perfect barbel hook - who cares if they are actually designed for carp? RRP is around £2.90 for a pack of 10 hooks.

Get knotted!

I have no hesitation in telling you to get knotted - properly! To do this, please ensure that you pass the line through the eye of the hook or swivel TWICE - not once! There is absolutely no sense in using ten-pound line as a minimum if you are tying weak knots. My own experience tells me that the "once through the eye" blood-knot is possibly the weakest of them all. Knots of this kind need the protection of a lightly set clutch and should play no part at all in barbel fishing. If you use the blood-knot, or anything resembling it, you will lose fish. And that is guaranteed!

The knots that I use are the palomar-knot (hook/swivel to hook-link) and the mahseer-knot for tying the hook-link to the mainline. When using a hair-rig with a braided hook-link I attach the hook with a knotless knot and the swivel with a palomar. All of these knots are totally reliable with the lines, hooks and swivels that I use. My favourite type of swivel is a size 8 high performance carp swivel, made by ESP. RRP is around £2.00 for 25swivels.

Which reel?

From purely a one reel for the job point of view, I find the Shimano 5010 GT bait-runner to be ideal. This reel is extremely versatile and offers the option to engage the free-spool mechanism at the flick of a switch. Although (for obvious reasons) I prefer not to use this facility while snag-swim fishing, in more open water the free-spool aids presentation by offering less resistance to a biting fish and is particularly useful when hair-rigging.

The Japanese engineering ensures ultra reliability, and the all-important smooth clutch and precision rear drag make playing large barbel an absolute joy. The 5010 GT comes with a double handle, 4 ball bearings and two spools, and is priced around £70.00. There is also a cheaper standard version of the 5010, which comes with a single handle, one spool and two ball bearings. This retails for around £60.00 and, to be honest, there isn't much to choose between them performance wise. Both come highly recommended. Shop around for best price deals. You could try Angling Centre Derby, Stapeley Angling Centre, Fosters of Birmingham or West Midlands Angling Centre.

Rods

It's very easy to get carried away with the task of choosing what is arguably the most important item of tackle that you are likely to buy, and because it is also likely to be the most expensive, then it is also important to get it right to begin with. To help you make the right choice we must once again return to the minefield of potential miss-recommendation that is likely to both confuse and hinder your final choice. 

Do we listen to the experts who recommend six-pound line and 1lb.4oz test curve rods, or to those who recommend that we go to the opposite extreme by employing the use of a distance 3lb.TC carp rod with a stiff "poker-like" action?

Do we choose to believe those who tell us that, if our total barbel fishing armoury is to be complete, we will need a whole host of rods for every conceivable situation that we are likely to encounter. According to these guys we need one for snag fishing, one for raging flood-water, one for low-water, One for this type of legering, one for that type of legering - and so it goes expensively on! 

It is my own belief that the ideal snag-swim rod should possess an equal capacity for fish playing enjoyment no matter where we use it - whether the water is bank high or at normal level. In hit and hold situations we need to stop the barbel from building up momentum and are looking for the rod to absorb the pressure in a powerful, yet deceptively subtle way. Therefore we can dispense with any idea of using a rod with a stiff unyielding action, or the far too forgiving 1lb.4oz TC, in favour of something built totally for the task in hand. 

As this is Steve Harrison's web-site I could hardly recommend the use of any rod that is not built on one of his blanks. But then I wouldn't anyway, because nothing compares to a Harrison blank. Thankfully for us barbel anglers Steve is now beginning to increase his range of specialist rods; the latest additions are the Triptych and the Quorum. Both of these rods are just about as ideal for the task as you will find. See relevant pages for specification details, prices and dealers list.

Snag Tackle: Harrison Rod and Shimano reel

A simple rig

Assuming that you are now geared up appropriately it is worth remembering to keep things as simple as possible whilst fishing. The correct choice of rig is vital to any success when snag fishing and should always be of the type that, should a breakage occur, the fish is not in danger of becoming tethered.

My own preference is a simple running leger rig, which makes use of plasticene in place of a lead weight. The appropriate amount of modelling clay, needed to hold bottom, is moulded around a hairgrip. If it snags up I usually get the fish and an empty hairgrip back instead of pulling for a break. 

Bites

Bites while snag fishing will usually range from strong, confident pulls to rip the rod in wrenches. If this is the case then make hay while the sun shines, because this is a clear sign that the fish are not unduly pressured and may even be tempted from their cover. 

More often than not, however, we may well be faced with the problem of following the kamikaze angler who hooks them all and never sees any of them. In this case bites may be little more than a virtually unhittable short, sharp bang on the rod top. In these situations I use a fluorocarbon hook-length (such as 10.LB Bs ESP Ghost) that is anything from 24 to 48 inches long. I then make sure that the bait is tight up against the snag and, once in position, I resist all temptation to move it. A proper bite will usually follow a long wait of about an hour or so.

A large snag swim barbel makes all the effort worthwhile.

Playing large fish in snags

Once our barbel is hooked it will become extremely angry and, providing that we survive the first thirty seconds, we should have an indication of who will win the battle. And a battle it is!

Hit and hold fishing is not for the faint hearted. It is often one huge adrenaline rush that leaves us either trembling with excitement or shaking (and quite possibly swearing) in disappointment. Much of it depends on how we react after the bite arrives, and whether or not the hook is properly home.

The first fundamental mistake that we can make is not to strike. The times I have heard that, because barbel often bite so fiercely, there is no need to strike. Granted, there is no need to jolt the rod as if setting the hook at distance, but a short and firm pull of the rod against the bite never did a good hook-hold any harm at all.

Another basis for error is to lift the rod tip in a skyward direction. Doing this gives the barbel total control from the moment it is hooked. All it needs to do is open out its pectoral fins, let the force of the water push over its back, and it can then kite in whichever direction it so chooses. There is very little you can do with the rod in this position because you haven't got the leverage to do it with. The harder you pull upwards the harder the barbel will pull downwards, and the steeper the angle of line running through the water to the rod tip, the more chance there is of it being rubbed against the snag until a breakage occurs.

The secret of getting barbel under control is to unbalance them as quickly as possible. To do this I will immediately drop the rod tip towards the water, thereby reducing the angle of the line to the rod top and the fish's mouth. After about 10 or 15 seconds of me hanging on for life while pulling in the opposite direction, the fish will begin to rise in the water. Once their stomach is no longer hugging the bottom they become off balance are far easier to control. 

During these initial stages I always cup my free hand over the reel spool to stop it giving line until the fish is safely away from the snag, where it can then be played out in the normal way. If it begins to head back towards the snag, then side strain with a low rod is once again applied until control is fully re-established. The anti-reverse is also engaged with a stiffly set clutch throughout the whole duration of the fight.

I appreciate that it may all sound a little difficult, but it does come fairly easily with practice. Try it and see!

Summary

Although all aspects of angling will always remain flexible I truly believe that, in the circumstances described here, there is very little margin for error. While there can never be a 100% guarantee that we will land every big barbel that we hook, one thing remains a virtual certainty. Make just one mistake in that seemingly impossible swim and the fish, in all probability, will be lost.

The use of appropriate tackle is only the beginning; that very first step along the pathway to successful snag-swim fishing. Once we are equipped with the right gear for the job, and a little advice on how to correctly apply it, we should be well on the way to enjoying - The Ultimate Barbel Experience.

Tight Lines.

Steve Stayner © 2000

Harrison Chimera Barbel and Chimera Specialist Rods. The 11'6 Chimera Barbel is designed for Snag and Floodwater Fishing.