Built for life in fast-flowing water, streamlined design, flat bottom, and a solid muscle mass: The barbel, a very cool fish to target in Dutch rivers. In this blog, we outline some tips so you can successfully fish for this strong sport fish too!
Spot Selection
The barbel is a fan of fast-flowing water, and a river like the Gelderse IJssel is ideal for this rugged fishing. Especially the IJssel from the Arnhem region to the Zwolle region is a good hunting ground; from Zwolle onwards, the river becomes wider, the current less strong, and the bottom softer/sandier. As mentioned earlier, a barbel prefers a strong current and preferably a hard gravel/stone-like bottom where it feeds on all kinds of larvae, crustaceans, and snails living between the stones. By the way, a small fish now and then is definitely not off the menu for a barbel; they are also regularly caught on artificial lures such as shads or small spinners.
Do some research at home before you actually go fishing, look for potential spots using, for example, Google Maps and visit them. By potential spots, I mean outside bends and narrower stretches of the river (where the current is always stronger). Then take a rod with a heavy weight/feed cage so you can make some casts; this can give you a good insight into the depth and current. Besides that info, you’ll also get a lot of information about the bottom condition. Make several loose casts in all directions and feel how your weight lands; a hard tap on your rod tip indicates a hard bottom (almost always at these kinds of spots). Once your weight has landed, slowly pull your rod back so the weight drags over the ground; this way, you can feel if there are large stones or if you’re dealing with finer gravel. With the latter, you’ll feel your weight rattling or tapping over the bottom. Mussel beds give the same feeling and are always hotspots for fish. Also, with this ‘probing method,’ you’ll discover if there’s a steep ledge, which is often very interesting but also tricky spots that cause gear loss and missed bites. You could tackle this by fishing such a ledge from the other side.
I prefer fishing from the groyne head with the current, so the cage rolls less because there is much less sideways pressure on the line. I place one rod fully in the main current and fish the second rod on or just outside the (clearly) visible seam in the current.
Bait and Feed
From maggots to pellets, hemp to boilies, but also definitely cheese, barbels love it all! If you read this small list, you might have already guessed that it should have a strong smell, to say the least, “it can really stink.” I personally prefer fishing with boilies and pellets, because this (especially) excludes bycatch of smaller whitefish species. A large bream or chub as bycatch is of course no problem at all. And I find it especially easy to fish this way because you have almost 100% certainty that bait is on your hook or, better said, hair rig. With maggots or worms, that’s sometimes questionable because gudgeons, roach, and bleak also love them.
I personally like to use the feeds and pellets from Sonubaits and Mainline; they have a well-thought-out range for the specimen hunter. The following combo flavors, such as Hemp&Hali, Cheesy Garlic from Sonubaits, are indispensable in my barbel fishing. Also, the Big River Barbel from Mainline is highly recommended! Additionally, Sonubaits and Mainline have a very nice line of pellets and hookbaits that I like to combine with the groundbait.
Rods and Reels
Barbel fishing on the IJssel has little finesse; it’s a rough fishery that requires good gear that can take a beating. The rods need to be long because you want to keep as little line in the water as possible; the more line out of the water, the lighter you can fish. Think of rod lengths from 12ft to 14ft, or 360 to 420 cm. The rod should have a casting weight of around 200 to 250 grams to be able to cast heavy cages including feed, though luckily we don’t have to cast far here. I personally prefer a somewhat parabolic/damping action; the barbel is a strong fighter and especially under the tip, they put up a good fight. By fishing with a well-damping rod, you generally get fewer hook pulls during the intense fight.
The reel needs to be strong and tough; in terms of size, you can think of a 7000 to 10000 model. A somewhat higher retrieve speed is a plus because you can quickly get your rig off the bottom, which reduces snags and thus lost gear. Shimano has several suitable models for this fishery. I prefer not to fish on the line clip; a big barbel often makes a strong run shortly after the bite, and fishing on the line clip often means line breakage.
Besides that, the river also holds many large catfish and carp, which also sprint immediately at the bite. If you fish without using the line clip, there’s at least a chance you can still land a carp. Catfish often can be landed as long as they don’t exceed 120 cm; beyond that, it becomes difficult. If you still want to fish on the line clip, you can use the trick with the elastic band around your spool. Fishing on the clip has the big advantage that your cage lands almost exactly in the same spot every time, which makes the feeding trail nicer. If you hook a big fish, it will break the elastic band when it takes line. It’s handy to bring two so-called distance sticks so you can easily reset the distance afterward; marking the line at the right distance with a special marker also works.
Bites are usually very hard, so it’s best to either loosen the drag a bit so the fish can take line or choose a reel with a baitrunner, which can definitely work in your favor because it disengages the free spool with one turn of the handle and switches to your ‘fight drag’ that you have pre-set.
Lines and the Last Meter
The main line must be tough; everything in the river is sharp. The stones have sharp edges and are usually covered with zebra mussels, which are like razors. They quickly cut through your line. Shimano Technium with a thickness of 0.35 mm is a very abrasion-resistant nylon line that has proven itself for years in these extreme conditions.
Then the last meter, we keep it simple: On the main line, we attach a Korum camo running rig kit, which comes with a clip swivel that we tie to the main line and to which we can attach a leader. This running rig kit also acts as a kind of angle holder so you almost never tangle it. The leader consists of about 1 meter of 0.30 mm nylon to which we tie a Korum Specimen hook size 6. This is a very sharp and strong hook with which you can confidently start the fight; they definitely won’t bend out. I equip the hook with a so-called hair rig made from a flexible braided leader material of 10 to 15 lb, to which the hook bait is attached.
To the running kit, I attach the feed cage, which can sometimes be 100 grams but can also go up to around 200 grams, depending on the current at that moment. The general rule is: fish as light as the conditions allow.
Rod Supports/Rodpods
Indispensable for barbel fishing is a sturdy support, preferably a so-called tripod or rodpod where you can set your rods almost vertically. Loose supports won’t go into the ground, so the choice quickly falls on, for example, a tripod, which you can weigh down by hanging a bag with some stones on it. You can often also build it up a bit with stones so it stands super firmly, which is necessary because of the often very hard bites!
Final Points of Attention:
Keep the rod nice and high during the fight, especially in the last phase. This is because a barbel tends to dive its head into the stones, which can cause leader breakage.
Make sure you have a good unhooking mat with you and ensure it is well wet before placing your catch on it so you can safely release this beautiful sport fish unharmed.
If you want to know more about this exciting fishery, come visit us at the barbel day; specialists will also be present who can tell you all about, for example, maggot fishing for barbel!
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