Jens: Hi Rinko, please tell us where you come from and what rivers are your barbel grounds?
Rinko: I was born and raised in Zwolle,this is a city on the ijssel in the province of Overijssel.I confine my barbel activities to the river ijssel.
Jens: When started the barbel population go bigger in your river?
Rinko: In the Netherlands the barbel population decreased enormously between 1945 and 1980 but is on the increase again since the early 1990s and in recent years it is also possible to target barbel in many of the larger dutch rivers.
Jens: Do you see a difference in barbelfishing-techniques for Germany and Dutch?
Rinko: In the main they are very comparable but a significant difference is the choice of baits.Here in the Netherlands cheese and pellets take first place while in germany maggots are favourite.
Jens: We had no success with catching barbells on pellets. Please tell us about your first sessions and tactics with this bait.
Rinko: I have been fishing now for about 6 months with pellets and I use Sonu baits pellets from the Halihookers serie. These pellets contain about 50% more oil than in the standard pellet and so creates a good scent trail in the water that attracts the barbel from a good distance.I use the 4 and 6 mm pellets for the feeder and the 11mm pellets on a hair,this works perfect for me.
nice Barbel from the river the Waal
Jens: Had you ever used the Korda Maggot clips?
Rinko: No I have not yet fished with the Korda maggot clip,but I am considering giving it a try,who knows?
Jens: Do you need the big baits to avoid the other kinds of fish for example bream?
Rinko:Yes, if you use maggots you will mostly catch other species of coarse fish.If I target barbel then I would rather catch 1 barbel than 20 bream.
Jens: What kind of chesse do you use and in which size?
Rinko:In the summertime I prefer to use the older sorts of cheese.These give off a better scent than the younger cheeses and sit better on a hair.In the winter I use a young cheese on a hook. I use diced cheese between the 1cm and 2cm in size.
Jens: How big is your pellet size and do you prebait with it?
Rinko: I use Sonubaits pellets from the halihookers range size 11 and size 4 and 6 in the feeder. Sometimes I use a halihooker pellet size 11 in combination with about 0.5 cm on a hair.
Jens: I know that you are prefer flus. Can you explain where`s the barbel in this area?
Rinko: I will try it with the help of the following drawing.
Rinko`s treasure map
Jens: What is your favourite place in the map?
Rinko: My favourite barbel swims are usually off the head of a breakwater into the stream.You can also find barbel off the side of the breakwater but don’t expect to find barbel between every breakwater.In Holland you must search for a swim with a hard clean bedding preferably with a hard sandy or pebbley bottom with a good current.If there is mud there are no barbel.
Jens: Do you only catch in the white cloud you sign in?
Rinko: No, quite often but there are enough big barbel caught in a full current.
Jens: What kind of equipment do you use?
Rinko: My fishing gear is:12 ft Korum Neoteric barbel rod and,using 0.25 to 0.28 Preston direct mono line for a mainline a what suppler braided leader and razor sharp Korum S-3 hooks size 8 or 10.
Jens: Do you use the same feeder`s like us?
Rinko: I think that the feeder rods are probably the same as yours but recently special designed barbel rods are becoming quite popular. I use the Korum Neoteric 12ft quiver rod, and it is a great rod to catch a Barbel with it.
Jens: What are the big fishing brand`s in Dutch?
Rinko: There are a lot of big brands in Holland. My favourite is Korum. This brand is introduced from England where they also enjoy a Nr 1 place. Also is Preston innovations, actually there are quite a lot but I have mentioned the best.
Jens: Is it popular in Dutch compared with predator fishing?
Rinko: No not really,there is very little known about the barbel .It is becoming better known and angling magazines are beginning to give the barbel more attention which can only be a good thing for the angler.
Jens: When did you started the barbelfishing and your page www.barbeel.com?
Rinko: I have only been seriously barbel fishing since last year.Previously it was coarse fishing with a feeder and a barbel was only a possibility. 29-09-07 was the birthday of barbeel.com.
Jens: Why did you started the site and how many site`s exists in Dutch?
Rinko: I started barbeel.com to aquaint anglers with this branch of the sport and to exchange information and experiences with fellow anglers.Because there is still a lot to be learned about the barbel in the Netherlands. At the moment I am only aware of two other dutch barbel sites
Jens: With how many person`s do you go fishing normaly?
Rinko:I fish mostly alone,with my wife Wendy or with other Barbel anglers,but never with more than two persons at the same place.The dutch breakwaters are not really roomy enough for many anglers,so two anglers is really the maximum.
Dutch record barbel from Rinko: 85 cm, 6.340 gram!!!
Jens: Is the fisherman on the last place downstream in a big advantage?
Rinko: t does not really matter if you are the last man on a breakwater.If you are fishing with the two of you the one time you have success in the instream current and another time in the outstream.
Jens: What are your target`s for the future?
Rinko: My goals for this year?I would like to try float fishing for barbel in the Yssel using a special drift technique that I have learned from Hollands best known barbel angler Leon Haenen.Also to try my luck in other rivers for barbel,including the border Maas,the Waal in the Belgian Ardenna and the Rhine in Germany.
Jens: Thank you for your time and share your experience.