Hello,well after a 20 odd year break due to work ,i returned to fishing 2 years ago. I joined a local club in Littleborough but got very dissalusioned with the fishing. The waters are stocked to the brim with fish and there is no sense of achievement with the fishing.
Over the last month i have decided to concentrate on fishing the river ribble,i hope to target the barbel and will probably start on the day permit stretches,Bonsai,Ribchester etc. Just reading through this forum as already given me some great tips,thanks everybody. Dave.

Welcome to the barbel hunters fishing forum Dave

Tight lines

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Originally Posted by Dave Reed

Hello,well after a 20 odd year break due to work ,i returned to fishing 2 years ago. I joined a local club in Littleborough but got very dissalusioned with the fishing. The waters are stocked to the brim with fish and there is no sense of achievement with the fishing.

I did more or less the same, albeit with a longer break. Couldn't agree with you more. It was a hell of a culture shock coming back in. Sometimes I think angling has been dumbed down more than the GCE. (I bet that gets a few hackles raised!!). The rivers have far more good fish too, although ( maybe) not to the same extent.

And welcome to the forum.

Hi Jay, Well i have fished the river twice now and managed a few eels,ha ha. I lost a decent fish on my first visit and suspect it was a barbel, although there is a chance it might have been a carp having done a bit of research on the area i was fishing.Anyway it was a decent fish.
I fished last night until 11pm,but only managed a few eels. I dont think i am doing much wrong,fishing with large cage feeder,size 10 hook,10lb line and last night i varied the hook bait using,worm,spiced meat,halibut pellets/paste.
In a weird sort of way i quite enjoy blanking (Thats blanking),eventually i will land a barbel and the harder the task the greater the satisfaction. Doing all this homework also makes the end result very worthwhile. The river ribble is a great place to spend a few hours,even if you are not catching !!

In my previous reply, I almost said that it is sometimes a relief to get the odd blanks. Not fished the Ribble yet, but it won't be long before I do. Mind you I said that last season and never got there. Fishing like that it should not be long before you see a barbel in the net.

Had a friend lived up at Littleborough. He seemed to live on a sort of oddball wildlife trail/migration route, and used to get newts and frogs crawling and hopping through the house if he left the doors open.

Hi ,that sounds like Littleborough,its a nice place, but you know how every village needs a idiot,well we have one on every street. Lucky for me i have a old school pal who also likes to work for his fish, so i have a bit of company when we go to the river, he is one of these lads who has to have all the latest gear and in all fairness he is pretty clued up with modern techniques. He also travels up to N Yorkshire near boro bridge to do his river fishing,so i will be hoping to nick some tactics off him and utilise them on the Ribble.

Nice one.Its all time and effort.Thats what makes a top angler!!!!

Hi Dave,thanks for your comments.

welcome dave i have been fishing the day ticket stretches myself and there are some good fish to be had wether it be barbel or any other species,got my name down for paas and radac cant wait to either card very limited at the moment .tight lines

Hi Korum, i am just concentrating on the usual day ticket stretches at the moment but have been toying with the idea of joining a club next season ,i was wondering about the Wigan anglers stretch,it seems good value for money. Before that i am hoping to catch my first barbel next week.