"No one in their right mind uses meat for barbel these days do they?"
"Oh yes they do," says Paul Hiom

This old Yorks Ouse double took a quarter of a 340g tin of garlic spam in daylight

The reality is that in recent years, only anglers aware of the consistency of a good meat bait plus beginners to barbel fishing have tended to use 'meat' or luncheon meat. It kind of went out of fashion as a general barbel bait on most rivers and I think this is partly due to anglers not fishing the bait effectively or at the right time, plus the onset of specialist baits, which were perhaps easier to fish. My own experience fishing with meat started in the 80's fishing small cubes of Plumrose or Celebrity on the Upper Thames Weirs. However, I would have to confess that my results with meat were not exceptional in those days and cant say that meat was near the top of my list as far as barbel baits go back then, but I probably didn't fish it well. I dabbled with meat, but to be honest, like many of us, I got a little caught up in the development of high protein baits and flavors.

I think the turning point for me was seeing the impressive results of others using meat and I became convinced that I needed to understand what those others were doing to generate such good results. Andy Humphries and John Costello were the curried meat men at the time that I joined the Barbel Catchers back in December 1999. I learnt a lot from Andy, again I played around with curried meat and curried meatballs and caught one or two good fish, but still felt that something was lacking and that I could get better results on boilies and paste baits. Enter barbel catcher Martin Cullen, meat angler extraordinaire and purveyor of extremely fine large meat baits to the quintessential barbel of the Teme and Lower Severn. I hope he doesn't mind me mentioning it, but twenty eight doubles in a season (2004-5) is pretty good going (I think Martin started to lose count) and most if not all falling to large meat baits either fresh from the tin or home made tennis ball sized belly floppers. 'Splodoosh,' I think is the term Martin uses when referring to his baits hitting the surface of the river. Big meat baits have been around for a good few years now and I'm told that it was Lawrence Brakespeare, who was known for pioneering or popularizing the method many years ago on the Lower Severn. However, It was Martin Cullen who showed me the way with big meat baits and how to fish them effectively.

Martin fishes with a centre-pin reel. Nothing flash, just a simple reel used for a simple method of fishing. This is typical of his approach of keeping things very simple and direct and probably the reason why Martin is such an exceptional angler. Running ledger, three feet hook length with size 6 hook buried into the meat, underarm cast to favored spot. However, the true essence of this style in normal conditions is to minimize resistance. With large meat baits, say a sixth or quarter of a 340g tin, you quite often have to allow the barbel to pick up, drop, move a bit and stop, all the time gaining the barbel's confidence. There are times of course when they just 'ave it,' and pull your arms off. When fished with the pin, the thumb is held out to the side with the line hooked around it, so that any line taken, easily comes off the side of the pin without any resistance. Eventually, the barbel will bolt until the fish is moving so fast, the ratchet will start to click. Cup hand around centre-pin and tighten up. The momentum will draw the hook through the meat and into the barbel's lip 99.9% of the time.

Now for those of you like me who fish with a fixed spool reel, the method needs a bit of adjusting. I adapted Martins method to suit my own preference for fishing with a fixed spool reel. Or should I say to make up for my ineptitude or fear of fishing with a centre-pin. Basically, the method involves touch ledgering with an open bail arm. The line has to be held with the minimal amount of pressure, so that the initial interest or pull of line from a barbel is not detected. As the bite develops, the barbel will be pulling line through your fingers from the spool; sometimes a few inches, but often up to twelve inches or more. Eventually, the barbel will bolt off and line will be stripping through your fingers at a very fast pace. This is similar to pike fishing after the pike has pulled line out of the clip of your drop arm indicator and is bolting. The timing takes a bit of getting used to and it is important not to tighten up too quickly. It is the speed at which the barbel is moving which usually dictates the timing of the strike. You tend to learn after a while exactly the right moment to cup your hand over the line, turn the bail arm over and tighten up. This method is not for the faint hearted and I cant think of any other method that generates so much excitement.

If I'm fishing a new river and I'm sure the barbel haven't been hammered on big meat baits, I tend to start off with a long lightweight bobbin of about two or three feet. If the barbel can feel the bobbin and fail to pull it up to the rod butt, I simply revert back to open bail. In flood conditions, the sensitivity of the open bail method is a little less important and sometimes just a large loop of line is enough. However, I tend to wait for the first knock, pick the rod up from the rests, open the bail arm just in case line is needed and repeat the process mentioned above. In these conditions, barbel have tendency to play around with the meat far less and quite often will rip the rod tip around hard and not let go of the meat; a bit like tug of war. In these circumstances of confident feeding you may have to wind down a bit and strike the meat very hard rather than wait for the fish to move off with it, especially if you are using a heavy lead to hold bottom. Like any method, it's worth playing around with it until you get comfortable.

I've discussed the big meat and open bail method with a few people now, who have gone on to adopt this approach and like myself they are getting good results. My own feeling is that this method fished at the right time can out fish other methods on certain rivers. It has certainly given me some excellent results on the Teme, Severn, Warwickshire Avon and the Yorkshire Ouse and I'm sure it will provide excellent sport on most other barbel rivers. It's certainly a bit different and that in itself can often give you an edge. Big meat baits clearly come into their own on a flooded river.

Tips:

1. Scrape the edges and smooth sides off tinned meat with a serated edged penknife.
2. Use a rod with a stiffer action. Soft action rods build up pressure too slowly on tightening up and occasionally cause the barbel to drop the meat before the hook has pulled through it.
3. Use flavored meat (garlic & black pepper spam are both good) in flood and winter to help attract your barbel.
4. In times of heavy flood, I find it is best to use a strong mono or copolymer hook length as the action of a big bait waving around can cause fine braids to catch on debris and roots, which can pull fibres and weaken braid, especially when fishing weedy margins. I personally find a mono hooklength far more abrasion resistant in these circumstances.