Whats happened to all the barbel anglers on site?

[alan whittington]

Thats absolute garbage Stuart,because we are all anglers,but if you fish for barbel AT ALL,then you are a barbel angler,and yes we all fish for other species,when conditions are right/wrong for our preferred target species,also there are days when you chance your arm when there is little chance of success,just on a whim.Some anglers dont choose to fish for species like dace(i for one,they did once but sadly no longer),i certainly wouldnt knowingly target dace,because i dont rate them particularly,even though some conditions suit them,thats me,fair play to any angler that does though,as this heading is 'barbel fishing' i thought i would be finding out why or where everyone had gone from it,thats why i didnt put it under a different heading.Im sorry im so 'ignorant',but there you go.

[MarkTodd]

Well said Alan! To target a species on a given day in my opinion requires more not less skill. I am trying to catch Barbel to the exclusion of other species not just chucking out a worm and seeing what pulls my string.
Yes I do target other speicies but given a choice I'll be down the river after Barbel.

[stuart mitchell]

sorry mate,...brain cells dying at 3000;ooo a day,,,lol....but you know what i mean....sorry for mistake,,,,,no offence meant,xx

---------- Post added at 17:59 ---------- Previous post was at 17:48 ----------

Hi Allen
i fish for barbel too.....i travel the whole country...north to south ...east to west.....from the avon ...to the trent...to the wensum.to severn,to the wye....my point is that surely a true angler can see beyond one species...i am at home trotting a stick float on the yare...as i am on a 200 acre still water....my best ever fish 4 me is 2.9 oz roach,,,caught on a swing tip from a norfolk broad in 1978.....fibre glass rod and 4 lb line ...and an old mitchell match.....was and still is my pride and joy!

---------- Post added at 18:23 ---------- Previous post was at 17:59 ----------

bollox o the lot of ya!

[alan whittington]

Stuart,i fish for many species,same as you,im equally at home on lake,river,canal reservior,sea (beach or boat),fly fishing for trout,whatever,but i REALLY ENJOY barbel,tench and chub fishing,some of my best successes in angling are not within these species(10 rudd over 2.5lb in a session for one),but it matters not,i still love my barbel fishing,i consider a man/woman that decides to dedicate most of their time and effort to one species an equal to myself,even though i havnt the balls to do it,if you dont like that,then thats your priviledge,just leave me to enjoy what is my pleasure,without abnoxious attitude.

[john m h]

Stuart, I don't think that Alan, who started this thread, suggested that anyone was ONLY a single species angler, he was simply asking where all those who would normally have been posting on a thread for Barbel Fishing had disappeared to. As usual Alan's request was met with some good humour.

Some have a preference to particular species of fish above others but I doubt anyone on FM would fish ONLY for one specific species, not even me, although I must admit to being a flowing water man. I did go through a phase going after Scottish bream in the 70's but the wife very soon knocked that out of me AND I did spend a considerable amount of time fishing for dace; living within 2 mile of the Wear I'd be a fool not to Ive even 'stalked' them, watching their migration at various times of day/year, sadly that special dace never came my way, probably never will now.

As for fishing in the North for barbel, (the Trent??) you're only pretending

I do actually know one angler who fishes for chub 99.9999% of the time he spends fishing but I heard that even he had a dabble for carp and tench during the last river close season. Although his 0.0001% would equate to a fair bit of fishing time for most normal anglers.

[stuart mitchell]

I guess i just do not do very well at written dabate....i always seem to upset people....so from now on....i will try a bit harder to express my view with more consideration for other people and try not to cause any ill feeling......and no not joking.....i love the trent....powerful and majestic river.....and some clonking barbel to boot>>>>>roll on october.....the right time to fish for barbel!.hahahahahaha.

[Lee Swords]

What was the original question again?

[Tee-Cee]

I suggest Stuart and Alan are saying exctly the same thing,but just coming from a slightly different direction.....both pasionate and about the sport and thats what it is all about!........good Thread though!

Stuart.....perhaps(and only perhaps!)you should try not to sound so inflexible in your thoughts-sometimes its necessary to add the occasional 'in my opinion' or 'from my point of view' etc etc which stops people thinking you are only interested in what YOU'RE saying!!

Much of what you say(similarly Alans contribution)is sound but as with all 'opinions'very few people actually make every effort to break down the opposite view and be prepared to say'yes,I was wrong or didn't give enough thought to my thread before posting'........

It's only my opinion though!!

[Matthew Nightingale (ACA)]

I was interested to see that Barbel Fishing World have put controls on who can use their forum. You are now required to subscribe a £5 to a charity or something like that. I know that the Ribble forum on BFW was suspended at some point. I only used to look in now and again but I wonder if its a general malaise centred around a particular group of anglers?

[john m h]

I was invited and given FREE access to BFW because I NEVER caused any problems