YOU’VE spent all week looking forward to a session on the river but, on arrival, you see it’s up, the colour of weak gravy, and absolutely hammering through. There are few more deflating sights in fishing. But, where barbel are concerned, there’s always the chance of a few bites.
As long as the water temperature is above around 44ºF, the species will feed. In fact, over winter, an influx of warm water is one of the few things that will stir dormant barbel into action, and you need to jump at such conditions!
However, you must go about things a little differently than you would on a river that’s at low summer levels.
FIND SOME SLACK WATER
Early in the season you want to target the pacey, oxygenated water, but…