Yep, used to catch loads on the arena at Cudmore. Kept them coming with a kinder full of chop and caster every put in.

Where have you been catching them Ant?

Yep, caught them several times up in the water at Cudmore. You can normally catch them up in the water on Milo and on Arena as Johnny says. If you fish the fare bank around by the brick out fall on Milo. You can normally catch them 2/3ft deep in 12ft of water. Strange how they fight when hooked high in the water. They just sit there and do nothing if you dont attempt to put much pressure on them. Also caught them at Orcheton on pellet waggler 1ft deep. That was a bit of a shock the first time i had this happen.

Yep, i’ve had 135lb of them fishing shallow at Monks fishing 8m out in front on pellet or meat, as soon as the hookbait was hitting the surface the elastic was just shotting out from the pole tip no need to strike that day ~clap ~clap

i have had 1 on floating bread at hayfield b4

I’ve also had a few off the surface on bread.

Summertime at loxley fisheries!!!! barbel shallow on the pole or waggler inc pellet waggler… maggot, meat or pellets pegs 2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,15,16 and the list goes on… fantastic sport i would rather catch barbel than carp any day..

Caught my first ever barbel fishing shallow, on Two Island lake at Dents in Hilgay. Not a patch on catching proper ones from a river though!

they do!! if you have seen them feed in rivers the turn and take the bait thats why its such a savage take !!!

@MrFoxman wrote:

I’ve also had a few off the surface on bread.

With the shape of their under slung mouths, they must have been swimming along with their bellies up~think

If you get the chance to go to the River Severn at Bridge North. Have a look at the river just below the bridge. You get a great chance to see the way barble sometimes feed. Barble dont always just feed on the bottom as many believe. You can often see the barble spinning and sometime turning up side down as they feed on food items that are flowing down the river in those particular swims.

I accept what you guys are telling me of course. I suppose that it demonstrates that individual fish will adapt to their environment and that there are no fixed rules in fishing. I have caught plenty of rudd from the bottom!

However it does prove that there are exceptions to every rule, in this case of natural selection, evolution and how nature detests a vacuum and always fills niches. Even worse, it makes me look a bit of a fraud every time I cup my fingers and demonstrate how the upturned mouth of a rudd demonstrates that it is a surface and upper layers feeder. Then turning my hand over and demonstrating the down-turned mouth of roach and barbel and how that demonstrates that they are bottom feeders!

@hookpulledagain wrote:

Summertime at loxley fisheries!!!! barbel shallow on the pole or waggler inc pellet waggler… maggot, meat or pellets pegs 2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,15,16 and the list goes on… fantastic sport i would rather catch barbel than carp any day..

Yeah me too….see either April or May’s Improve Your Coarse Fishing for a full article at Loxley Fisheries, 8mm hard banded pellets on Pellet Waggler 1ft deep!

PS How ya doin Brett?

Jon

Ive had em at Bron Eiffion on the pellet waggler, couldnt believe it. Shocked and stunned to say the least. ~think

A few Barble caught shallow at loxley in the open today, on the maggot / pellet wag.