By Paul Hiom

A slack area on the Warwickshire Avon

I thinks its fair to say that floodwater barbel fishing has really taken off in the last few years as more and more anglers venture onto the banks to take advantage of the benefits that a few extra feet or more bring in terms of relatively consistent sport. In fact, many barbel anglers have come to rely on the first floodwaters of the autumn to give the stale summer river a flush through and bring it back to life. Some lowland rivers that fish very slowly through the summer often only start to produce after the first floods. On the other hand, late autumn floods on some rivers can often give only a short window of opportunity before the cold weather sets in. In some ways this can be seen with this years (2005) pattern of floods, followed by a period of cold weather and high barometric pressure. It is clear that to get the most out of flood conditions it is best to be able to get to the river at the drop of a hat, when the right conditions present themselves and this is one of the most difficult aspects of floodwater barbel fishing.

It doesn't matter who you talk to for advice about floodwater barbel fishing, you will nearly always get different opinions on whether it is best to fish a rising river or one that is at its peak or fining down. I have caught barbel in all three circumstances and I truly believe that there are no hard and fast rules other than some rivers fish better at certain times of a flood than others and some even fish well throughout. If you wait to fish only one aspect of the flood on the wrong river, you will seriously limit yourself and your results. If you have a few rivers to fish that all respond differently to floodwater at different times, then you could potentially have some real red letter days, however, there is only one way to find out the optimum time at first and that is to get out and fish your rivers throughout the flood period and start your process of elimination. This can take time, but at least this information is hard won by you and therefore you can rely upon it and make valuable judgments in the future. The only time to avoid flood conditions, are after periods of extreme cold weather when snow melt or ice and salt from the roads often find their way into the river.

So having established the basic requirements for floodwater fishing, what is it that we should look for in these conditions and where will our barbel be. First of all, it goes without saying that there is little point starting your floodwater campaign on a river that you have never fished before unless you have managed a few recce trips in the summer and feel that you know enough about the rivers make up to take advantage of the features, plateau, snags and depth variations. Chances are however, that you will have only found out this information by fishing the river in the summer. Some areas of river will remain constant throughout the barbel year because the features that attract barbel in the summer remain attractive in flood.

Snags for example can offer a respite to barbel in conditions of heavy flow, whereas in summer they offer a secure place to hide up, especially in daylight. Areas of river that offer slower pace are obvious places to fish, but sometimes these are not always visible. Depressions in the riverbed, sluices and areas behind trees, large bushes and bridge supports are all worth investigating as the flow is either diverted around, over or past them. Areas of slower diverted current (and sharp bends are another example) not only offer easier grazing for a barbel, but they naturally slow down the movement of any dislodged food items coming downstream such as water snails, worms and small fry.

Barbel will also take advantage of their new submerged feeding grounds and can be found right under your feet grubbing around for lobworms and slugs. Creases are well known areas to try in flood where the flow on the outside of the river is slower than that of the main current. Barbel will move in and out of and along the crease searching for food. One of my favorite flood areas is the plateau that usually sits under as little as six inches of water in summer. These can be a few square metres in size or much bigger. On occasions in floodwater, the barbel will graze over these areas like a rash as the water moving over them is often even paced and is relatively easy to identify as a result. Cattle drinks that slowly slope into shallower water are another area worth trying.

You may have to do a bit of walking to cover all these areas on a given stretch and I can think of a couple of swims on the Lower Severn that are twenty minutes walking distance apart. Roving is therefore usually the best option; in fact it is often a necessity and in most instances when touch ledgering, gives a better understanding of bites and differentiating between fish and knocks on the line from rubbish (leaves, sweet wrappers, branches etc) usually associated with autumn floods. If you do prefer to fish static, then it is advisable to keep as much line as possible out of the river by utilizing a rods high rod rest approach. Alternatively you could try upstream ledgering and pay out extra line to create a bow in front of you. The concept with this method is that due to the constant pressure the river has on the line, all bites will be registered on the rod top as usual and oddly enough, line doesn't tend to get fouled quite as much by rubbish as most of it is submerged. Well that's the concept!!

This twelve pounder was caught in flood conditions from the slack area shown at the top of the page

Tackling up for floodwater fishing can have its pitfalls. It is pointless using a soft Avon style rod and 8lb line when you could be casting 4,5 or even 8 ounces of lead into heavy flowing water. Conversely however, floodwater fishing doesn't always have to involve the use of heavy gear and leads. It really depends on how you fish your flooded river. The Upper Thames for example can be fished in the middle with as little as an ounce of flattened lead even when the banks have burst. The same can almost be said of the Lower Severn (okay, sometimes two to three ounces) if you are fishing at close range, which is how I fish it most of the time in a flood.

However, there are times when the barbel will be in mid river with the full extent and power of the flood overhead. This is when things can get a bit hairy and suitable tackle is required. I usually up the lead to between 3 and 6 ounces, resort to specimen rods with say 2 -2.5lb test curve and 12lb mono or 30lb braid. Casting heavy leads will soon reduce the strength and reliability of your mainline if you use 8lb or even 10lb mono. Purpose built floodwater rods are available or can be built to order through a few rod builders such as Dave Lumb Specialist Tackle, Bob Gill at Barbel Fishing World, Mark Tunley or Peregrine Rods, but it really depends on your wallet and how concerned you are about the feel of the rods you are using in these conditions. Floodwater barbel fishing is really often about getting your hands dirty and finding your fish and not necessarily the finesse of your tackle.

In flood conditions, barbel will be feeding almost entirely by smell and so it goes without saying that you should be sending strong food signals downstream to where your barbel hopefully will be. Over-flavoured boilies, high leakage pastes and flavoured meat baits are usually best fished on their own or with a few freebies. We are not talking big baiting campaigns in these conditions, as you don't want to be creating a feeding area 50 yards downstream of where you are fishing. If you have chosen your swim carefully and barbel are present, you will usually get some action within a few minutes. Give the swim 30 minutes at most before moving on. You can always come back at a later stage if you feel strongly that barbel will be present later on. Strike off your hook bait or leave a few freebies and come back later.

Finally, one of the main benefits of floodwater fishing is that it often encourages barbel to feed in the daytime, so late night sessions are not always necessary. Having said that, I often fish well into dark partly out of habit and due to work and time restrictions.