R
Ron 'The Hat' Clay
Guest
Very interesting article Mark.
The worst colour is that greenish tinge that seems to come with melting snow waters. Had this on the River Leam and the fishing went dead for about 2 weeks.
Then it rained - warm rain from a south wester and after that the fishing was superb although the fish were all a pasty colour.
As we all now the best conditions for barbel fishing is when the river gets a good flush with warm rain and it colours up with a bit of suspended silt.
However some rivers and stillwaters can colour up due to increased levels of organic material. Organics can severly reduce the oxygen levels giving a low BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) figure.
Watch out for this in springtime when the water warms up. This often happens on large deep reservoirs when the epilimnion and the hyperlimnion swop over. The BOD increases due to nutrients washed in from fertilisers and you can get blue green algae.
The worst colour is that greenish tinge that seems to come with melting snow waters. Had this on the River Leam and the fishing went dead for about 2 weeks.
Then it rained - warm rain from a south wester and after that the fishing was superb although the fish were all a pasty colour.
As we all now the best conditions for barbel fishing is when the river gets a good flush with warm rain and it colours up with a bit of suspended silt.
However some rivers and stillwaters can colour up due to increased levels of organic material. Organics can severly reduce the oxygen levels giving a low BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) figure.
Watch out for this in springtime when the water warms up. This often happens on large deep reservoirs when the epilimnion and the hyperlimnion swop over. The BOD increases due to nutrients washed in from fertilisers and you can get blue green algae.