Spotlight on species...Barbel
Ask any group of coarse anglers which species they would most like to catch, and barbel would be the choice of many. This bronzed fish is prized for its beauty and for its impressive resistance once hooked.
Where to fish for barbel
Barbel are a bottom-dwelling species, preferring cleaner rivers with stretches of gravel, riffles, pools and deeper glides.
Appearance
Barbel are stunning. They’re usually golden bronze, fading to a creamy white on the belly. The fins are reddish brown, sometimes with an orange tinge.
This fish gets its name from its two pairs of fleshy barbels – the smaller of which is underneath the snout with two longer ones at the rear corners of the mouth. The large mouth is underslung and leathery to touch.
Did you know...?
The barbel's bronze colouring is highly effective for camouflage purposes. Torpedo-shaped like a gudgeon, barbel are long, muscular fish with large triangular pectoral fins that have the power to cope with periods of high flow and to take off at extremely fast bursts of speed.
According to folklore, barbel used to be called pigfish - an unflattering reference to the way they root and grub on the riverbed while foraging for food.
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