Barbel Fishing On A Small River (Video 168)

You join me for an evening fishing trip on the banks of a small river in search of the enigmatic and at times elusive barbel that reside below its surface. Centrepin reel and 7 foot quiver tip rod in hand in hope of doing battle with one of those barbus!

Reel used:

[Arfabiscuit]

Introduce Otters and say goodbye to all other species that inhabit the banks of these beautiful small rivers . They eat everything not just fish baby birds small mamals and anything else they can sink their teeth into .Nice video Mark .

[stephenisom]

nice bit of river mark a smashing fish but as you say otters....and otters are destroying large areas, of river, ,,, around our way the small river itchen in Warwickshire has had otters they turned up two years ago all the big chub gone and the roach added to that all the building of housing estates thousands around where we are but the sewer works is the same old works and can not cope so the river is now weeded all the way across its un fishable now, , , , and then there are cormorants plus, we are over populated and its getting worse covid is bad here because we are over populated, its such a shame, , , otters or water weasels as that is what they are, will decimate mile after mile of rivers .and looking at that poor fish he had a close call, but now his tail is smaller the otter will find it again and powered down he may not be so lucky they bite the tail away so they slow the fish then go in for the kill, well mark great video as always lets hope we still have chub and barbel and roach in the future, cheers mark and tight lines, ,

[davidhaddon]

I love these simple one rod and centre pin approach to your barbel fishing Mark, that's how ive always liked to fish myself, keep em coming Mark. All the best David.

[costas_karpi]

The rat story 😅 funny, all the best Mark 👍

[matthewcumming]

Great video! Lovely looking water looks like a place on the blackwater I fish, tight line

[teec]

The very existence of Barbel hangs in the balance, not just the Otter but many other contributing factors, i just wonder how long they do have left.

[FishingwithLukee]

Another fantastic video Mark.
I really enjoy the Barbel ones.
The sound of the center pin screaming off is what it's all about.

As for the Otters 🙄
My local river has been destroyed, it was once one of the best brown trout rivers in Wales.

[czechspy]

Cant understand why you dont have 100k + subs...great content, thankyou...

[harryturner]

Great to see another barbel video of yours Mark, top quality as always. Reading many of the other comments, I think we all feel the same about otters! Love to see the clear Adrenalin rush as you were playing that barbel, great stuff. I have just returned from a few days down the Wye which was as low as I have ever seen it. I did however manage some nice barbel including one which weighed 9.14 lbs and a nice Chub of 6.1 lbs. I look forward to more of your barbel videos during the autumn and winter. You are looking well Mark.

[longnetter]

Great video Mark I really enjoyed it. Very sound advice about not overbaiting small rivers, exactly what I say here although some still ignore it.

[davewalker]

Marvellous stuff chap. I have the same pin as you & unfortunately lost a biggun the other week, I swear there was smoke coming off it when it went on its run!! Love the Barbel vids👍👍

[blondie]

well done Mark.Totaly agree about the otters.General public just think that they are "lovely furry animals" and dont know how much damage they do.Sorry state of afairs

[eric]

It's so interesting to see your region and the river, lac where living the beautiful fish and other animals! otters for exemple! see you soon

[grahamhaynes]

Been watching your vids for a while as ive been trying to get a decent barbel from the middle severn...@ 52 my pb was 7.5lb....after last night it is now 13.5lb!!!! Stiill gobsmacked.

[BUFF]

Finally, I ve have seen the infamous Roland Barbel video as discussed on Instagram, Nice fish apart from the tail Mark, and I agree with everything you said on the video Mark regarding the introduction of Otters into the river systems and there adverse effects on other species.

[mrw]

Another great vlog fella, yeah 100% agree only put in enough to attract the fish not feed them. I do the sane with carp too, on venues that others bait heavy with spods and spombs, I do the opposite and fish with as little as possible. Fish see big beds of bait and are straight away cagey, that's why you catch the bigger ones on the edge of the feed areas, they hang back knowing it's a trap. They are big for a reason, coz they are old, they've seen it thousands of times. Also quick tip for ya make your own weights, drill a hole in really rounded stones with a masonry drill bit and superglue or araldite a swivel in, I've been doing it for years. Cheaper and better for the waters and you can set it to drop the weight on the take on weedier venues, leave you in direct contact with the fish and no weight for the fish to use as leverage to shake the hook and no big weight to catch in weed and snags. Hope you have a great weekend and Best wishes and stay safe and well to you and your family buddy

[fishingwithrick]

Thumbs up before I even watched it! You're a brave man, those rats wouldn't have had me running up out of there!

[warbob]

Hello, Mark. I was wondering what line do you prefer as a hooklength for barbel? My river holds few fish, but big fish. I was using drennan supplex mono at 10lbs that snapped like cotton, now upped to 12lb. I would like to use mono that is quite supple, but strong. Do you have any preference as you've caught countless of big fish. The mainline i have no problems with. Thank you.

[paganoutdoors]

Another cracking video mate, lovely fish apart from the unfortunate tail damage, I love using the the stonze rig, you should try the gamma line, stunning stuff, makes brilliant hooklink material too, and the wide gape gripz hooks, on the trent, wye etc unrivalled in my opinion, do so love it when I see notifications of your videos, really like your style of fishing, the ethos, how you are, completely different from other channels, look forward to many more mark, tight lines and stay safe mate, cheers Craig

[charlieneilson]

Consistently well-presented and good content. I always enjoy your vids, Mark. I’m trying to think if there’s a species that could be introduced to predate on otter 🤔