R
Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)
Guest
BeforeI go any further, let me say that I like barbel, I really do. I caught my first one from the River Ouse in Yorkshire in 1960 and have been catching them, including some of their African cousinsever since.
The barbel in the UK is native to the Yorkshire Ouse system, The Trent and the Thames and tributaries. However from about 1890, man started spreading them throughout other English rivers, starting I beleive with the Dorset Stour.
Was this really a good idea? About 50 years ago, Angling Times stocked several hundred barbel into the River Severn. WhenI fished the Severn a lot from 1994 to 1998, I met quite a few Severn old timerswho told me what the river was like before the barbel. They told me of the superb chub, roach and dace fishing, of the wild brown trout and grayling fishingand of the excellent runs of salmon the river had.
In their opinion, the barbel put pay to that.
One thing that is for sure, barbel are a very invasive species and once established, are very difficult to remove.
But what do you think?
Have barbel become a menace?
The barbel in the UK is native to the Yorkshire Ouse system, The Trent and the Thames and tributaries. However from about 1890, man started spreading them throughout other English rivers, starting I beleive with the Dorset Stour.
Was this really a good idea? About 50 years ago, Angling Times stocked several hundred barbel into the River Severn. WhenI fished the Severn a lot from 1994 to 1998, I met quite a few Severn old timerswho told me what the river was like before the barbel. They told me of the superb chub, roach and dace fishing, of the wild brown trout and grayling fishingand of the excellent runs of salmon the river had.
In their opinion, the barbel put pay to that.
One thing that is for sure, barbel are a very invasive species and once established, are very difficult to remove.
But what do you think?
Have barbel become a menace?