Transferable Experience

[Julian Peacock]

How much knowledge and experience gained from one stretch of river (assuming you have been catching a few), do you think is transferable to other rivers or in fact any barbel river in the country?

Cheers,
Jules

 

[Gavin Hoe-Richardson]

I speak from experience this season as I have regularly fished on two relatively hard rivers, on one I have had my best season for many years on the other I have hardly had a bite despite fish being in my swim at times.

I am yet to find the best method on the latter.

 

[Jon Frisby]

if you are fishing hard venues this will be fantastic experience gained for other hard to medium venues, as long as you are catching above average.
Myself i struggle on hard venues as i dont have the experience to winkle a few out.

 

[Martyn Lloyd]

I`ve been using a quite ridiculous method on the severn for 16 years now and have used it on both the Lower Avon and Teme with success. It shouldn`t work on a small clear river like the Teme but I think if something works, it`ll work everywhere.

Confidence catches and if you`ve got confidence in a method then use it regardless.

 

[Chris Jones]

Many of the basics are perfectly transferable and depending upon the rivers concerned pretty much everything could be transferable. I'd definitely not use the same bait quantities on the Swale as I'd use on the Trent.

 

[Craig Wood]

Water craft knowledge is the same for any river..Some rivers are clear so rig concealment is very important..I think its far better to walk around having a look at new river venues rather than just plumping yourself in a good looking swim and hoping fish are there. My approach is to try and spot them first before even attempting to cast a line, but of course that only works if the river has any clarity. If i cant see the bottom then i would generaly fish likely looking swims for about an hour or so and keep moving between my chosen swims. when it comes to applying bait you have to take into account how many fish are there as to how much to put in..The only difference between different rivers is water clarity and fish stocks imo.

 

[Jerry Gleeson]

your basic knowledge of rivers can be used anywhere, how much bait you use would be dictated by the size of the river and population, i,d agree with craig, water craft knowledge would be the same on any river.
rig wise would depend on how much it needs to be disguised, how clear the water is, how spooky the fish are, again as craig says if possible its better to walk a stretch and have a good look rather than just go for it
cheers
jerry

 

[Colin Bridger]

Craig and Jerry are right, knowledge is transferable. One thing though that can make a big difference from one river to another is angling pressure. On a heavily fished water your aproach will need to be different.

 

[Julian Peacock]

Thank you for the replies. I see a couple of posters mention 'rig concealment'. This isn't something i have given a lot of thought to, possibly because it is almost second nature from my carp (cough, cough), fishing days. This seems to be an element of barbel fishing that is OTT from my limited experience. Do you think that 'rig concealment' really is the difference between a whack-round or a blank?

Cheers,
Jules

 

[Craig Wood]

Hi Julian, The answer to your question is DEFINATELY..especially in clear water..Ive been lucky to have caught some big barbel this season by stalking and watching them take the bait..The bigger ones on pressured rivers really are spooked easily especially in clear water..