If there is one piece of advice I would give on the location of barbel, it would be to look for features on the river. And by that I would include those beneath the surface of the water and those above it. The angler who chooses a swim based on the shortest walk from the car park will never fully unlock the potential of a venue.

In fact I would go as far as to say that in an ideal world (of course it’s not always possible for a number of reasons) it would be to the angler’s advantage to walk the section of water without even considering fishing. Armed with a notebook -particularly if the river is low and clear and the sun is out - the information gleaned will definitely keep you one step ahead of the pack.

A lot depends on the actual river though as to the detail of the information that can be harvested. I fish small rivers such as the Sow in Staffordshire whereby you can literally count the pebbles on the bottom during the dry summer periods. But the other extreme is that no matter what drought period we find ourselves in, you will never be able to view the bed of the Lower Severn below Worcester.

But if your river can be penetrated with the help of polaroid sunglasses then take full advantage. Look for gravel runs, deeper holes or clear patches between streamer weed – in fact anything that could possibly attract fish. For example a few years back, fishing the Great Ouse, some preparation time revealed a clear patch of riverbed in an otherwise impenetrable underwater jungle. Although I didn’t catch a barbel, that night I ended up with a 20lb+ common carp.

Then there are the features above the water’s surface. In the main we are talking about overhanging trees, and obviously the shallower the water the more effect they will have on the fish. A clump of willows alongside three feet of water on the Sow will be different as far as fish cover is concerned to the same hanging over twelve feet on the Lower Severn.

These features are excellent barbel holding areas and bait presented close to, or even underneath the branches, will prove productive when fishing open water will often be a struggle. Of course though, trees have roots and that’s where a hooked fish will head for. These are natural snags and one of the reasons why I have previously recommended minimum line strength of 10lb. It’s not fun for either the angler or the fish to get broken because the tackle wasn’t up to the job.

Obviously on some venues you won’t be able to spend time scouting. Perhaps it’s busy at the times you get to fish or maybe you’re only going to visit there once. But personally I would recommend to the beginner to target a stretch of river and get to know it well rather than fish here, there and everywhere. It does far more for your confidence - not to mention your catch rate - to know exactly what you are casting into as opposed to a chuck-it-and-chance-it approach.