Barbel

[Dave Williams]

Hi

Fished The Oaks at Sessay on Sunday took a work colleague who had never fished before and good day had by all. However we fished the specimen lake for the first time and lo and behold I caught a Barbel about 6 inches long but defo a barbel. On talking to the bailiff they have added a couple of hundred to this lake I thought Barbel were a river fish if this is not true then forgive me but I am still newish to the coarse game.

Dave

 

[Mark Morton]

they are a river fish but a number of commercial fisheries have introduced them, sometimes they can enter a lake via a river close by being in flood. Not sure how well they will do in a lake tho'

 

[DAVE COOPER]

Hmmm, the purists are getting all hot under the collar as I write.....

The barbel is viewed by many as purely a river fish that should not be stocked into stillwaters. This hasn't stopped commercial owners doing it though and only time will tell how well they do.

It is a a widely held view that barbel can't spawn in stillwater, but I haven't seen scientific evidence to back this up and nature normally confounds humanity anyway.

 

[Dave Slater]

There were four barbel in one of the pits I fish. Somebody must have put them in there as the pit is not near the river. Despite the pit being a good big fish water with plenty of food the barbel are now all dead. I have a feeling that barbel, unlike chub, will not do well in stillwaters. This is just a feeling so it would be good to know the views of those with some scientific knowledge.

 

[Dave Williams]

The reason I mention it is I feel cheated I haven't got much river experience and was looking forward to trying for Barbel this Summer on one of the Southern Rivers (Middlesborough is South for me) I was going to do my research and then go for it. But now I have caught a Barbel ok I can still catch a wild Barbel but now it won't be the first bit like finding your Virgin Bride is a slapper.

Dave

 

[Stuart Bullard]

......oh yes it will Dave. You are still a virgin barbel man in my eyes. I have caught them from lakes (unintentionally) and there is NOTHING to compare it with a river fish.

They are stronger, sleeker, and with the current, go like the clappers.

Get on that river.....

 

[Birds Nest]

Just to put the cat amongst the whatsits.... I wonder what would happen if a stillwater Barbel broke the record?

 

[Ron Clay]

As one who has caught many large Barbus species from stillwater in the past, I can tell you that they thrive and grow big in such a habitat.

However they require fast running water over gravel to spawn successfully.

Some of the biggest Barbus kimberleyensis we caught in South Africa came from very large impoundments that were connected to fast flowing rivers.

Both records for B. kimberleyensis and B. holubi came from stillwaters.

 

[russ case]

Dave S
I have kept many different types of cold water, tropical and marine fish in the past 20 years and from my experience different fish types require very different conditions such as ph, hardness and oxygen. For example a discus which lives in the amazon in very soft water with a low ph will quickly succumb to disease and die if it where put into a rift valley lake where the water is hard and alkaline. Maybe this would be the case with barbel, as they naturally occur in fast well oxygenated water i can't see how they could survive HAPPILY in a lake which has far less oxygen especially in summer and can also get much hotter than a river. Maybe barbel could survive in some lakes but probably not for long and they certainly wouldn?t spawn. leave fish where they are happy is MY opinion.
thank's
russ

 

[albert watkinson]

said it before about the barbel.should not be in stillwater.hook one in a fast severn and you wont fish for them in pits again.

 

[daren heslop]

I cant see why barbel shouldnt be stocked into still waters.I wouldnt want to catch them but cant see what harm it does.

 

[Richard Drayson]

I take an opposing view to Daren.
Why should barbel be stocked into stillwaters? Certainly not for the benefit of the fish, more the fishery owner.

Another example of man, once again, interfering with nature when nature knows best.

If you want to catch barbel, find a river that contains them.

 

[Dave Johnson]

Q. Would the circus move on to Makins if a 19Lb 'er came out........



lights paper.....

 

[Dave Johnson]

gets coat and retires to the Lake District for a weekend of mad mountainbiking and Stella rehydration.......

 

[russ case]

Does anyone know of a lake that has held our native barble for any considerable amount of time, say a few seasons?

 

[Birds Nest]

Lets have a Barbel fish in at Makins...

 

[Chris Bishop]

I think the first was Ham Pool, at South Cerney in the Cotswold Water Park.

They stuck around 50 of them in, circa 1978.

Not sure why they did it at the time or if they're still in there.

 

[Tony Farmer]

I havent posted for a while but here goes:
Why stock barbel into a stillwater that contains virtually every other species available in the uk?
Apart from people in Devon and Cornwall and Cumbria I wouldn't think there is another part of the country that is more than an hours drive from a river that holds barbel.
So again I ask why stock them in stillwaters?
Could it be that with barbel fishing one of the fastest growing areas in angling that commercial fishery owners are worried that anglers may move away from muddy holes back to the rivers?
Could it be that they are responding to demand from their customers who want to catch barbel without having to take a trip to a river where they may - horror of horrors end up blank?
Could it be that fishery owners are raking in that much that it really doesn't matter if the barbel can't spawn and eventually die as they make enough to simply restock with more?
I'll let you form your own opinions but one thing I am sure of is that it is not because it is of benefit to the fish!
In days of fish friendly landing and keep nets (is there such a thing as a fish friendly keep net? - but thats another question for another time) why stock fish into an environment that they should not be in - doesn't make sense to me!!
Please leave barbel in the rivers where they belong.

 

[steve flook]

Too Right. Well said Tony

 

[Chris Bishop]

Why not just be pragmatic about it.

While it might not be some of the river guys' cup of tea, a lot of anglers fish these places and get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

Let's face it if they didn't they'd all go bust.

If you own a lake, who's to tell you you can't put more or less what you like in it if the demand's there for it.

I can't understand what people find so exciting about fishing mud-holes for anything full-stop let alone barbel, but if it floats someone else's boat and lets someone make a living by providing anglers with enjoyment good luck to them.