The Big Fish Column by Ian Welch

Once in a while during the course of the winter there comes a golden spell of river angling when everything falls into place and catching barbel becomes so easy it might be likened to the ‘Duffer’s Fortnight’ beloved of the game anglers.

The trout boys coined the phrase because the height of the mayfly hatch is so prolific and the trout feed so hard on them that it is thought harder not to catch than to catch.

Well, for barbel anglers last weekend was definitely Duffer’s Weekend and I’m willing to bet that almost every barbel in the country fed hard last Friday and Saturday and that the greater percentage of them were caught.

The reason behind the extraordinary conditions was as simple as a rise in temperature but it was more than the usual winter lift of a degree or two, it was a blast of warm weather which sent the rivers shooting up some 5of in the space of a few hours.

Following a prolonged cold snap during which the barbel had not fed for the best part of a fortnight it triggered a major reaction.

While the barbel fed for the whole weekend the best of the action appeared to be Friday and Saturday with numerous big fish falling throughout the country and the local rivers were well up there with giant fish from the Loddon, Kennet and St Patrick’s Stream.

Local anglers were quick to take advantage of the conditions with Big Fish Column regular Dave McManus one of the first to weigh in a beast with a Kennet fish of 15lb 4oz.

Although nowhere near the largest barbel to come off the river last weekend it was the largest weighed in by a local angler after it took Dave’s paste bait, which he fished on a size 6 hook to 10lb line on a Reading and District beat of the middle river.

Holyport-based Dave took the fish in the middle of the day from a deep swim between bends and went on to take a further four fish during the course of his session including doubles of 10lb 11oz and 12lb 1oz, not a bad hat-
trick of doubles.
Also netting more than one double in a sitting was Taplow’s Alan Sinnatt who also spent a session on the Kennet.

Alan fished a drilled pellet hookbait on a size 8 hook to 15lb braid, 10lb line and free running 2oz lead to snare barbel of 10lb 8oz and 11lb 4oz.