I have heard a rumour...

[108831]

A friend told me yesterday that he had been told the barbel record had been broken from the Thames a fish over 21lbs(the rumour)and also the H.Avon barbel record had been broken by Pete Reading with a fish of 19.11,I have a picture of this fish and it's ginormous(which I can't post)for several reasons...

 

[john step]

I look forward to hearing about it when and if it gets published. Were there any mountains in the background by the way.:wh

 

[tigger]

That's a huge barbel!
I am always dissapointed in the seriously larger barbel that i've seen in pic's though as they look to have soft bellies and look more like a carp.
The fish i'm used to seeing all appear to be torpedo shaped and solid, with no soft belly, even the larger ones.
The only reason I can think of for this difference is the conditions in which they live?
Don't get me wrong, i'd very much like to catch one of those huge fatties .

 

[108831]

The 19.11 H.Avon fish has a belly,but the Avon is no slouch flow wise,summer or winter,I think sometimes it's what they are fed versus how many fish are there to compete for it. On the Thames these days flow rates are poor during the summer(pretty poor through winter recently),but in years gone by there were decent flows all year round,all the barbel ive had off the Thames have been perfect,but I haven't had gooduns...

 

[S-Kippy]

I also heard a rumour about a 21lb Thames fish and two different 19lb +. Dunno about the 21 but at least one of the 19lb fish is kosher.

 

[peter crabtree]

An acquaintance of mine had a 19lb+ barbel from the Kennet in Berkshire 2 weeks ago.
Almost all the big Thames barbel I've seen pictures of are sleek and muscular, not pot bellies.

 

[seth49]

The Thames barbel is in today’s AT, at 20lb 12oz it’s a new Thames record, and is just 5 oz short of being a British record.
View attachment 6506

 

[103841]

Can’t even begin to imagine what sort of fight that beast would put up.

Was the article about Martin Bowlers haul of huge roach also in this magazine? Seven roach caught, four over three pounds!

 

[seth49]

Yes it was, fantastic catch of roach for Martin there.

 

[flightliner]

"the Thames have been perfect,but I haven't had gooduns"
So what is your biggest Alan ???

 

[108831]

Low doubles Mick,very low...

If the fish pictured from the Thames is the fish i was told about it goes to show how dodgy rumours are and how quickly a national record can allegedly be broken.

 

[The bad one]

Alan I saw the photos of this fish (Thames) about a week ago on a website I visit. It clearly stated on this site the fish was a Thames record and a few ounces short of a national record. This is probably where the confusion has come from.
Confusion or not it's still one hell of fish and come the same time next year it's likely to be a national record. Well done to the captor!

 

[108831]

Without a doubt a brilliant fish Phil.

 

[Neil Maidment]

Pete Reading's Hampshire Avon 19lbs 11oz barbel was widely and quickly reported on the web via Facebook and Forums including an open post on the Barbel Society's public FB page. Shame, as I understood Pete wanted to keep it private for a while.

At 19:11 it is indeed a new Hampshire Avon record.

The River Wye has a new record as well, at 16lbs.

 

[Philip]

I am not very up to date with the UK Specialist scene anymore but I see lots of people complaining about a lack of Barbel generally and now we are seeing a number of rivers throwing up river records.

At least from the outside it seems like a familar circle of old stock dying off and less mouths means the remaining fish grow to whopper proportions. However I would say any would be monster chasers best get your skates on because its a temporary state of affairs & once those big ones are gone that it till the net generation comes through...assuming there is a next generation of course..

 

[Neil Maidment]

.assuming there is a next generation of course..

Plenty of year classes in the Hampshire Avon. Certainly between Christchurch and Ringwood which is where I normally fish. Certain areas seem to be "nurseries" with good numbers of young barbel from ounces to a couple of pounds. In some of those areas you can have a bit of fun by almost hand feeding them a few pellets.

In the Dorset Stour that sort of area is not so easy to find but each year sees more and more reports of tiny, small and medium sized barbel.

Of course many believe both rivers are totally devoid of fish and won't entertain any other thoughts mg:

 

[Philip]

Its good to hear about the young ones coming through on rivers such as the Avon. I suspect at least in some cases the reports about lack of Barbel may be due to people being somewhat spoilt in recent years when it seemed to me that there was a glut of them everywhere.

One other thing that I think the UK Barbel anglers are spoilt with is the size of the fish. The Barbel being caught in the UK are in my opinion quite simply enormous compared to their European counterparts (and I am talking Barbus Barbus not other variations such as Cozimo or Meridionalis). The UK fish are giants , probably as a result of the bait going in.

It may surprise some people but to give some perspective here - the unofficial record in France is 7.2kg which is about 15 and a half pound although I am aware of larger fish that for obvious reasons don’t go reported (& no I won’t elaborate further )

I imagine a fish of that size would struggle to even make the weekly papers in the UK nowadays.

Now consider that France is 5 times the size of the UK with allot more water and you can perhaps begin to realize just how jumbo the UK fish really are on a global stage.