One last cast

Can anyone help with identification of this fish? What fish?.
I caught it on the pleasure lake at Lingmere in Wirral, having sat there in the rain all day catching small roach (as a beginner it still represents endless entertainment to me). It was getting dark so I threw my remaining half-pint of maggots/casters into the lake. Out of curiosity, I replaced the double maggot on my hook with a triple maggot for one last cast. I dropped my float into the water to stop the wind blowing it about and set about putting my landing net away (I?d had it for two weeks and still not caught anything big enough to use it with). When I turned round the float had disappeared, the tip of the rod was bending. I assumed I had snagged the line but when I picked the rod up I realised there was something a bit bigger than a small roach on the other end. It eventually tired and I bought it to the bank, held the rod in one hand whilst I unpacked the landing net with the other. I ended up landing the thing without the net handle. Fortunately, everyone else had gone home so there was no one rolling around laughing on the bank. I was stunned at how small it was, just over a foot long. It had felt as though it was glued to the bottom, I was expecting Moby ****. My first instinct was I had caught a small catfish. When I checked various web sites at home, they said catfish are scale-less with obvious barbells. So what is it? For scale, the boot in the picture is my wife?s size five (she turned up just too late to help with the landing net).
Also I have been following Dave Cooper?s advise about feeding little and often, to good effect with roach. Does feeding larger quantities (much larger in this case) attract larger fish?

It looks like a barbel (Barbus barbus), but I've never seen a green one before.

Is that the only pic you've got?

Agree with JP looks to be a Barbel.

Don't put to much feed at this time of year as the weather is getting colder..

it does have a barbelesk look about it,and its not uncommon these days to have still
water barbel and its greenish tint will be down to its envioment as quite a few fish
have the ability to take on differing shades of colour depending on their suroundings and i surpose a barbel in any
still waters that have a lot of bottom weed and a silty bed will no dout turn a
light greenish whare as a barbel that live
over gravely beds tend to be a nice golden
colour and others seem to be a bit more of silverish tint to them simerly tench can be
from a lightish green through to a realy
dark almost dirty brown colour depending on the water it came out off.

I only said it looks like a barbel Bryan, I'm not sure that it actually is. )

What about a Sterlet?

Is it really green or is that my eyes playing up?

it's definitely not a sterlet, the fact that it doesn't look anything like one is the main indicator on that point.
plus it's got no plates on it's back.

it's some sort of barbel by the look of it but the photo's a bit of a funny colour.

It's similar to a barbel, but smaller!..

only joking, i certainly looks like a barbel, but not like one iv'e caught!...

Yan, Theres not too many species in the uk that are harmfull.... next time, pick it up for the picture!.. ;-)

Having had a look at it in photoshop, I'll go along with the other comments of It's a barbel. Agree with Chavender about its colour. Was this a commercial fishery you were fishing?
If so, that would explain things, as many commercial fisheries are stocking barbel in their waters these days.

The ethics of which I have my doubts. Had you caught it in its natural environment (river) it would have pulled harder than it did Yan. That said you have now christened you landing net. May be the next one that grace?s your net will come from a river! There is barbel in the river Dee BTW. Farndon area and above.

Thanks for the comments. It is the only photo I have as the batteries were running low on my camera. From memory i'd say the fish was grey/brown with pink fins.

Barbel for me too.