River Dane around congleton? Caught a fair few there many moons ago when I lived in Mow Cop which isn't that far from Stoke. Back then, in a whole season, I doubt I ever saw more that a couple of regulars targeting them.
I only realised there were barbel in there when I was forced to go shopping with my wife and, on spotting some running water in a park, I had nipped away to have a look. I was genuinely shocked to spot two smallish barbel drift into view. A couple of years later a stretch near a brilliant pub - whose name annoyingly escapes me - gained a reputation for holding barbel. I moved away shortly after so I've no personal experience of how it fishes these days.
As an aside, this pub was at the end of a track and had chickens running free around it. Can anyone remind me what it's called?
Please, it's really bugging me