River Fishing Tips | How to avoid small fish to catch barbel on the float - Hadrian Whittle

If small fish are a nuisance on the float when barbel fishing, I have two bigger bait options. My first choice is an 8mm piece of meat hooked on a size 12 Gamakatsu 2210 Blue or a Kamasan Animal hook. If this fails, then I’ll try an 8mm or 10mm pellet.

Barbel can be great fun on the float in the summer months

I like to carry some halibut, Red Krill and natural carp pellets to give me a colour variation to try throughout the day. These are put in a band on a short hair rig. As for feed, lots of hemp and caster is key. I will feed a few 4mm and 6mm halibut pellets and a few cubes of meat in this as well.

Feed a mix of 4mm and 6mm pellets with the some cubed meat thrown in.

If small fish are a real nuisance, then try not adding any casters to your feed.