72 ELEMENTS OF ANGLING. 



A big barbel is a very powerful fighter and gives 

 great though rather solemn sport. The novice 

 should hold him as hard as he dares, but should be 

 ready to let him have line if necessary, taking care 

 never to let him have it slack. The finest battles 

 with barbel fall to the roach fisher, who often in 

 striking at a supposed roach-bite hooks a barbel 

 foul. A fish of five or six pounds so hooked on fine 

 roach tackle will often take half an hour or more in 

 the landing. Barbel fishing as practised from a 

 Thames punt is an easy form of the art, and so far 

 is to be recommended to the novice. But its 

 expense and uncertainty are not in its favour from 

 the point of view of one who has only a limited 

 amount of time and money to spend on his 

 diversion. 



My own experiences with barbel have not been 

 fortunate and I have never had a red-letter day. 

 The nearest approach to it, so far as excitement 

 went, was an occasion when six barbel were safely 

 landed on roach-tackle, two of them being hooked 

 in the fin. I once found a dead barbel in the 

 Upper Thames which weighed nearly thirteen 

 pounds, and this would represent about the limit of 

 expectation. I have seen fish in the water which 

 probably exceeded this weight, but anything over 

 ten pounds is a valuable trophy. The Trent 



