Durham’s Simon Ashton visited the River Wye in Herefordshire earlier this Summer, and found the river low and quite stale.  As a consequence, he found the bulk of the fish in shallow, turbulent and rocky swims – which are often attractive to Barbel in such conditions.  This meant a strong hook pattern with a beaked point was advantageous in trying to avoid burring points on snags.  He’s pictured below with one of many typically handsome fish caught on the day.

Drennan Specimen Plus hooks are the ideal tool for the job – a very strong barbed hook with a beaked point, available from sizes 4 to 16.  

Simon super-glued 4 x small pellets to the hair, on a braided hooklink knotless knotted to the hook – and caught a load of Barbel!

For full details on the Drennan Specimen Plus hook, click here.