Anglers from the San and Wista banks are waiting for it, from Przemyśl to Tczew. They are waiting patiently. Every few days, they go away from their bream appetizers, from ground cores with heavy lead and grope with flows along the edge of the current. He has a barbell a few times a year by coastal whims. They last for several days, sometimes a week, two… On land, they leave behind a slightly elongated scales and topics for chatter for the coming months.
July, August, September – these are months of waiting for slippers, shulawy, mullets, because there are many regional names for the barbel.
This shows respect for the strength of this fish, about that, that the time spent searching for it, waiting for it will be more than rewarded. Fight, during which the sticks will crackle, your forearm muscles faint.
At the end of September, the wait for the barbel ends. Only from time to time some long-range groundblaster will wrestle with this extraordinary fish, maybe some zander hunter would hook her by the side with a jig hook. The slipper itself will remind you of itself until late autumn, ba, even in winter, it will disturb the apparent deadness of the river with a spring.
Fish all year round
It was not discovered by the supporters of the yellow cheese on the hook, nor the rosemakers. The dendroben did not help, thawed shrimp, shrimps brought from the sea – barbel lures extraordinary in summer and early fall. Spinningists who whipped San with spinners had a feeling for years. A well-weighted "two" with a dark wing could bring color even in December… The barbell never shuns the meat diet, but few anglers remember, that a grown up fish, carried with the flow, will never let go. These are not predator gestures in the full sense of the word – the slick does not chase small items, it does not lurk under the shoals of horses, he does not search the bottom for sausages. Anatomy doesn't allow that, A fleshy face surrounded by a feisty mustache lies so far down the head, that dyeing is difficult to hunt quite consciously. Her eyes, in turn, are set on the top of the skull, they are used for a very cursory, approximate location of the food. Then the touch must turn on – that mustache, very sensitive "nose", and extensive mouth area. Fish, then, liked very much by the barbel, are caught by it blindly, as it were. The poor thing does not always hit – The Vistula spinningists who specialize in barbell know about it, who are constantly fighting this fish that hooks its chin, behind the gill covers, or even a pectoral fin. They are by no means vulgarly hooked fish – these are the, which did not target well…
The barbell is a grandmaster of catching bites carried with the flow. After all, it lives in the full-flow zone, which it only descends in very cold winters. Her brain is like a perfectly programmed computer – something is running down, she sees, "Counts" and takes it. Mostly flawless. It also sets flawlessly in the streak of groundbait – the flow-bankers take advantage of this without mercy. But spinning enthusiasts also know the law of streaking, and taking the correction for sliding rib-eating, they can find places, where the current every now and then snatches some fishy little thing from the still water and carries it towards the barbel face.
Already in October, the mount is looking for a winter refuge. So the coloring escapes from the table. Only the gudgeon is lifted from the sandy tops by the current. But just in the fall, in winter and early spring, barbel will not let any fish caught by the current. After all, it is the most calorific, energy-efficient diet.
Wobbler – nothing more.
Spinningists, who discovered barbel for their method, fortress, that only in the colder months there are situations, when the barbell misses the bait – if he is not troubled – he can attack again. When it finally hit the imagination of the Polish spinning enthusiast, that the wobbler does not necessarily have to be the size of a police baton, that the spinning line may have a diameter smaller than 0,20 Mm, turned out, that the slick has become a regular and not at all difficult prey. Small ones are best for fishing barbels, from 3 into 5 Cm, deep wobblers, although there are beats of "sevens". The depth is, of course, relative - it's about the lures, of course, which will "knock" on the seabed in the swift current of the river. The barbel hunter is interested in rapids, over which approx. one and a half meters of wobbler, which the barbel won't eat – as long as it stays near the rocky one, or a coarse gravel bottom. In the fall and early winter, I was fishing for barbels, e.g.. on sinking juggles, for the tiniest mouth (so floating). For two seasons, however, I have preferred the sinking M + A + K models, with which it is not difficult to tap the bottom, and their price is not apoplexy. Barbells are eager to attack the smallest models, the so-called. long sandals 4 i 4,5 Cm. However, when the current is faster, it is better to use longitudinal wobblers 5 Cm. If we come across a herd of barbel, the color of the lure will be completely irrelevant…
I can not imagine the hunt for so-called barbel. dry foot from the shore. To tell you the truth, I cannot imagine fishing in the river without pants. Even in the middle of winter. Because if you take care of warm pants, well insulated pants and real socks, this wading can be a real pleasure.
In October it is still a wild pleasure – river, the sun is already low, furious bursts of yellow and red on the shore, and in all this, an angler with a three-meter stick, with a decent reel and line with eighteen. There are plans for a fish, which can provide sea trout impressions.
In plans – not in dreams…
In early fall, the barbell stands in the same places, what high season. However, it is usually more difficult to reach with the bait, for the first rainfall brings a lot of water. An angler with a good memory and a bit of brains will look for it on the shores of rocky reefs, which a month ago protruded well from the water. Although the slick does not avoid the full flow, this, however, prefers places, where large boulders create current shadows, behind which you can take a break from the constant wagging of your tail.
Don't twist, angler
Although the start to the flowing bite is incredibly fast, even slowly turning the reel's crank can completely rule out bites. This fish has an instinct set that way, that to the flowing bait, to a wobbler resembling a fish caught by the current, it will pop out without fail. But to something, which is against nature, it won't even get up. We throw the wobbler across the river. Even a slight slant against the flow is advisable, so that in front of the angler the bait reaches the bottom. If you stubbornly use floating models, you should put them under the water and stop spinning. In both cases, let the lure run down with its wide tuck and observe the tip. We take this into account, for the wobbler to work the entire time of rafting – when the tip of the rod stops shaking, We "revive" it with one, two rotations of the rotor. Once the bait has drained, we let her work in place for a moment and pull two jumps, three meters. Barbell bites often happen at this point… If nothing sits on the wobbler, then we download it as soon as possible; it is best to remove it after the lining. If there is no take for twenty minutes, we change position – it is not about walking kilometers, a few meters into the fishery, moving up or down the river. Only a careful search of the rapids entitles you to look for a new reef.
I do not use the term "battery" in this text, for the barbell sits on the rod. It just pops up on the hook. There is no fish and there is a fish, suddenly it gets tough. It's hard and interesting.