Cheburashka, rubbers and offset barbell hooks? The style of Peter Sztahovits
It's been more than six years since I hooked my first barbel, willfully, on purpose, on an artificial lure. It was happening on the Garam River. It took a while for the preferences to crystallize and in the end I stuck to the small creatures, the silicone nymph and the crayfish.
Jigging versus cheburaska and offset barbell hooks?
On the other hand, when using soft lures, there were two problems: the stretches of river where barbel are accustomed to feeding have a lot of submerged obstructions and, moreover, an extremely fast current. The combo of snag jig and fast current honestly doesn't work. I mean, it works, but only if you get to know the river inside out. And even so, a river is constantly evolving, sediments pass from one side to another and my knowledge was not enough for more comfortable fishing without frequent breaks. I always focus on finding the right recovery route, and obviously it's important to line up where they, the barbells, sit. And so the second big problem arises: identifying the stationary areas, where the barbells are stuck for several square meters, not infrequently I accidentally poke them. For those who know me, I really do experience drama when this happens and I try to keep situations like this to a minimum.
Cheburaska ball sizes and barbell offset hooks
And so I come to the first solution to the problems: the offset hook, quick-mounting on the Russian ballast, cheburashka. Not that this solution would not have been at hand earlier, but I had a small brain that the barbell does not stick well with such a thing. Nothing more fake! I started with five centimeter tires, convinced that larger sizes would be too big. Size four offset hooks, the smallest you can find in fishing shops, are perfectly embroidered on this size. Of course, I was also looking at the thickness, that it has to withstand the battle with a barbell. I chose small cheburaska balls, 3-4g. Sometimes lighter, sometimes a little heavier, how are they more effective. The Garam River has depths of 1.5-2m and this beach of weights is perfect. Of course, I also take into account the speed of the current.
How is the attack of the barbell in cheburaska and offset hooks
The thing is, cheburashka balls and offset hooks solved my problems. I prop myself in the stone and in the branch with the offset, but with a short snap I save the lure. Until the moment I have a barbell attack (hammer). Which, attack, by the way is not always similar. The idea is that I go through all the stones on the substrate with the gum. The creature rolls, flips, and I animate it with short jerks, being in full control at all times. All the while, if I have a fish in the area, it follows the lure and jumps in to suck it up. This is the short barbell attack. On other occasions, if the suction is in levitation, it simply takes off without any suction noise or head shake.
How to hook with cheburaska and offset barbell hooks
The most important thing is that the offset provides an excellent, unequivocal sting without damaging the nose of the forks. And as I came to have a kit dedicated to offsets, I also got brave about the size of the tires. Basically, I ended up using more rugged gear. I forgot about the initial finesse, with 0.08mm textile and 0.18mm leader. In fact, the leader should be a maximum of 0.18mm, because a thicker wire prevents me from doing the animation as I described above. But the main line I increased, precisely because I ended up throwing bigger rubbers.
How to adjust the barbell reel brake
As for the drill, the reel setting is holy, that is, soft. If I squeeze the butterfly too hard, the leader snaps. I hold the rod up most of the time, because I don't want permanent contact of the line with the stones. The typical behavior of the barbel after being stung is to climb upstream and during the climb it tends to shake its head furiously. There are also sudden escapes, at speed, but I counteract these with the soft brake, possibly slightly tightened.
Big Lure, Big Barbell?
Big change can pay off. More than once I've changed to 7cm rubber and had five fat barbels in the first hour of fishing. It should be understood that by "fat barbell" I mean a specimen over 70 centimeters. The above article is an accumulation of experience gathered in many fishing parties. If you have this fish in the area you live/fish, it's worth a try. I call it the five star method. It's safe, spectacular and much simpler to implement than many of you would imagine.
Text and photo: Peter Sztahovits
Equipment for cheburaska and offset barbell hooks
Ghosts: Daiwa Steez Hog, Daiwa Dfin
Rods: Daiwa Tournament AGS Jigger, Daiwa Airity Light Spin
Reel: Daiwa Certate 2500 D
Textile thread: Daiwa Prorex UL Finesse Braid
Fluorocarbon Forward: Daiwa Tournament FC
Offset Hooks: Daiwa Bassers Worm
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