From Carbology to Zangling – Lee Swords
I love fishing the Trent; it is a passion of mine that has never waned but often wandered, sometimes far off the beaten track of accepted wisdom and common practice. For as long as I can remember I have always kept an open mind in regards to the species of fish I am supposed to [...]
Back End Barbel
As we neared the end of a recent season I sat down with three of my fellow Don Valley Specimen Group (DVSG) mates and discussed prospects and tactics for the final onslaught. These are the musings of Matt Brown, Lee Swords and Adam Roberts… Bob: Hi guys, only a couple of weeks to go before the season [...]
Float Fishing For Barbel
For a number of seasons my Trent barbel fishing was pretty much one dimensional. Okay, I may have experimented with rigs, with baits and tactical approaches but if you boil it down to basics, I would turn up, chuck in some bait and fish over it with two rods pointing skywards. Now come on guys, where’s [...]
Refining Barbel Tactics
This is the article that nearly got away. Written for and submitted to Coarse Fisherman magazine, it would have been in the next issue had the magazine not ceased trading. Some things are not meant to be, and although I’m sure it would have been snapped up by another publication I’ve decided to let it [...]
The One That Got Away…
Settle down, make yourself comfortable and prepare to be filled with disbelief, for the tale I am about to tell will be doubted far and wide but I swear to you, every word is true. I haven’t been taking mind altering drugs or even hitting the whisky bottle, this is simply an account of the [...]
Unleash The Dogs…
The entire concept of the closed season is nothing short of insanity if you ask me!
Effective Barbel Rigs – Part Two
After reading Part One I’m sure that some of you were left thinking, “Is that it? Surely there’s more to it than that! It’s not fair! You must be keeping a secret up your sleeve…” But the plain truth is, no, I’m not holding anything back. There is no Holy Grail out there; there is no [...]
Effective Barbel Rigs – Part One
Since appearing on Sky TV’s Tight Lines programme with Keith Arthur a few weeks ago I’ve received a huge number of enquiries asking me to explain in detail my barbel rigs and bait presentations. It certainly appears the programme made a lot of barbel anglers sit up and think. During the programme some footage [...]
Carbology Explained (Part Two) by Lee Swords
Making sense of it all… In Part One I said that I would talk about triggers and by that I mean the events that trigger a reaction from our quarry, the magnificent Barbel. Triggers are stimuli that are picked up and reacted upon in either a positive or negative way. Triggers are many and varied, [...]
Carbology Explained – by Lee Swords
Carbology Explained – by Lee Swords. Part 1… (of several…) Carbelling: The fusing of barbel fishing and carp fishing Carbology: The science of catching barbel using techniques evolved from those used in the carp fishing fraternity. Carbologist: One who involves themselves in the science concerned in catching the aforementioned fish using the aforementioned tactics yet [...]
