River Trent Barbel Fishing: Can you Catch a DAYTIME Barbel in the Tidal Trent??

Comprehensive Blog post for barbel fishing: https://fishingdiscoveries.com/barbel...

Join John Pearson and Gary Evans in their challenge to catch a barbel in daylight on the River Trent. Conventional wisdom and standard barbel fishing tactics mean that anglers usually only catch the large barbel of the Tidal River Trent when darkness falls.

That scenario is one that John and Gary had experienced before - and of course the night fishing for barbel on the Trent is a great experience too. However, with a bit of research, it seemed that there are a handful of folks having good success with big barbel in the daytime on the Tidal Trent.

So that seemed like an ideal excuse for a fishing challenge; to catch a big Trent barbel in the daytime.

Some of the reasons that darkness could provide better success may be the fish avoiding the feeder more easily in daylight - so changing the length and setup of your hook-link could be important. Also, when fishing two rods, using one with a feeder and one with a lead lets you be tactical about where you place the lead versus the feeder rod.

Clipping up for accuracy, finding gravel and choosing the right strength of tackle and weight of feeder or lead are also key points. John and Gary talk about the length and test curves of their barbel rods as well as the strength of main reel line and hook-lengths (with discussions about braid and fluorocarbon for different purposes).

Also, underestimating the amount of feed you might need to concentrate the fish in the area of your hookbait in a tidal river - and taking advantage of slack water when placing bait before fishing - are likely to be important factors.

So, as with all fishing, location, the right rigs and tactics to maximise your chances of a fish encountering your hook - with no reason to avoid taking the bait - will always be key factors. A good smelly bait should be really helpful in strongly-flowing, larger river venues to increase the attractiveness of the area to the roving barbel shoals too.

Finally, because barbel give their all in the fight - you can easily see the importance of resting the fish as the FIRST thing you do after getting it in the landing net (not after taking it out of the water to weigh or photograph). See how strongly both Gary's and John's fish swim away in this video of their successful captures. As soon as their heads touch the water, they are bursting off away from the bank. No extended support and recovery period after weighing them was needed - because the resting up and recovery had already been taken care of right after the fight (when they need it most).

So, just having a nice wet mat or weigh sling doesn't automatically mean you'll be practicing good fish welfare; you need to think about the physiology of a fish fight, what it needs and WHEN it needs it. Rest in oxygenated water so that the fish can get rid of its "oxygen debt" from anaerobic exertion is the first thing a hard-fighting fish needs.

Enjoy the tips and the story in John and Gary's successful one-day challenge to catch a barbel each in the hours of daylight.

Paul