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Barbel in slacks.

G

Gwyn Jeffs

No Longer a Member
Bear with me here.
I always fish with my old man because I don't drive.
We're currently barbel fishing a new stretch of the Wye, and he's always been content with one decent fish over numbers. I'm more of an opportunist and just want to catch fish, regardless of size.
With that in mind, I've been doing the ' accepted ' thing, fishing to cover, baiting up, looking for flow on a low river, all the usual barbel stuff. I'm certainly no barbel novice and have fished for them for 15 years at least.

However, on our new stretch we've done 4 trips. While my old man got chubbed out or blanked on 2 visits, in the other 2 visits he had a 9-11 and last night a fabulous 10-10. Both are good weights for the Wye.
Both of these were from slacks just off the flow, not even eddies, just pure slacks.

To me, that goes against everything I've ever read, but the fish obviously think differently. I have never had a barbel from a slack, but I suppose I can say I've never put a bait there for them at summer levels.
In a flood I could understand it, but these fish came from where I'd be more inclined to fish for carp, and on a low river at that.
Am I missing something?

Any and all thoughts welcome.
 
Gwyn. On the river Loddon where I fish - I've had plenty of barbel from the slacks. My fishing buddy had 3 x 13lb barbel within a month all from the same "slack" around 10 inches from the bank.

I've tried to fish to the usual "rules" when it comes to barbel fishing (fish in the flow, long hooklengths, find this feature etc.), and I can honestly say that there are no rules...... the most surprising results come when you try something "different".
 
barbel feed everywhere and had some big fish from right under the bank in slacks.
Andy
 
When I saw the title, i was expecting some kind of leisure-wear article ;)

Low water, warm conditions and low oxygen levels....if I were a fish, I'd be resting up somewhere. Could it be as simple as that?
 
I had a double from the Wye last summer in a slack, and a deep one too, right next to an overhanging willow. Seems that the bigger solitary fish take up residence in such places.
 
Anthony Pearson said:
When I saw the title, i was expecting some kind of leisure-wear article ;)

Low water, warm conditions and low oxygen levels....if I were a fish, I'd be resting up somewhere. Could it be as simple as that?
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In other words Anthony , as they say in Yorkshire they would be' slacking 'i.e. doing little or nothing , bit like the Swale barbel at present , or so they tell me , I have been tenching .Now there's a fish that likes warm conditions , the ones I have been trying to tempt spend ages blowing clouds of bubbles all around my float as they ignore my bait and feed on bloodworm larvae . Garlic spam may have to be employed
 
I agree with Anthony - the less work they have to do the better for them.

Having said that, I also agree with Luke - no rules. I gave up targeting the "standard" areas for their specific relevant species years ago and went down the John Wilson line of thinking - find any feature and cast to it. Overhanging trees, sunken tree routes, undercut banks, slacks in large runs of fast flow, a pacey area in a large run of slow moving water, etc etc etc. If there's something there and it's hungry, it will soon let itself be known. And it could, in theory, be anything.

I've watched fish of several species over the years happily occupying and feeding in areas, and in conditions and at times of the year, that typical angling education disputes. The thing is fish often don't subscribe to the rules that we've applied to them...
 
The bigger the fish the lazier it often is. It also has the ability to take first choice of swims.

Near where I am on the Wye you could catch 10 + fish from the shallow faster runs but unlikely to get a 8lber in those numbers with quite a few in the 5lb class.

A mile away the slower water in 10 fish the average would be 7-8lb and a double every 60 or so in the winter.

Less exercise more weight. Less effort to get food.

Your Dads sussed that!!
 
The vast majority of my bigger fish come from the slack water close to the edge. Lower the bait in, a few freebies and wait for the reel to scream off!
 
The good thing with slacks, just off the main flow, is that you can really concentrate your particle feed as it doesn't get washed away. Eventually the barbel find it and have a good munch.

I used to catch a lot of Barbel from the Severn on the pole, in such swims, by filling it in with hemp and caster.
 
Some of the best/most enjoyable, Barbel and Chub fishing I have had, has been from slack water. Most of it was a few years ago on the River Wharfe, nice times though and maybe the fish have not read the Rules.:)

Stephen
 
One of my club waters on the upper Lea has a backwater attached to the river, the Barbel love it in there and are far bigger than those in the river, as a rule.
Fantastic floatfishing maggots, corn, pellet or whatever and catching Tench, Roach, Carp, chub or Barbel. You never know what's going to turn up.
It's never been stocked.
 
I find much the same thing, but in my little river slacks are a double edged sword. Our stretch is paved with signal crays...and they too prefer the slacks :mad: Not only do they eat your bait, but they manage to tangle your hook link in the mess of twigs, branches and other debris that come to rest on the bottom in slacks, much as the food the barbel are lying in wait for does.

You sit on your hands trying not to react to the constant little taps and rattles that frequently start almost as soon as you cast out, as the crays nibble away and fight over your bait (As an aside, I know some smart ass will now claim that most of 'their fish' come to bites that are just like that, that not all barbel bites are 4' twitches, and so on ad nauseam :rolleyes: All I can say is, if you wish to spend more time striking at nothing and winding in partially whittled away baits than you do fishing, and scaring away the huge barbel you have been waiting for in the process, then be my guest...'enjoy' as they say :D)

Anyway, back on track, I do believe that slacks on the side of the strong flow are where big fish often live, but it can be a frustrating waiting game. Where masses of crays are involved, that frustration is even worse. Can we not set up some kind of appeal to raise cash to fund research into wiping these damned things out :D:D If that cure happens to make otters teeth fall out too, so much the better :).

Cheers, Dave.
 
David Gauntlett said:
I find much the same thing, but in my little river slacks are a double edged sword. Our stretch is paved with signal crays...and they too prefer the slacks :mad: Not only do they eat your bait, but they manage to tangle your hook link in the mess of twigs, branches and other debris that come to rest on the bottom in slacks, much as the food the barbel are lying in wait for does.

You sit on your hands trying not to react to the constant little taps and rattles that frequently start almost as soon as you cast out, as the crays nibble away and fight over your bait (As an aside, I know some smart ass will now claim that most of 'their fish' come to bites that are just like that, that not all barbel bites are 4' twitches, and so on ad nauseam :rolleyes: All I can say is, if you wish to spend more time striking at nothing and winding in partially whittled away baits than you do fishing, and scaring away the huge barbel you have been waiting for in the process, then be my guest...'enjoy' as they say :D)

Anyway, back on track, I do believe that slacks on the side of the strong flow are where big fish often live, but it can be a frustrating waiting game. Where masses of crays are involved, that frustration is even worse. Can we not set up some kind of appeal to raise cash to fund research into wiping these damned things out :D:D If that cure happens to make otters teeth fall out too, so much the better :).

Cheers, Dave.
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Hi David, Cray's are something I have never had trouble with so far(fingers crossed) but I can imagine it to be very,very frustrating if the did show up and not even considering the damage they do:)

Stephen
 
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