Season totals

I've greatly enjoyed reading the Team Barbel series they have been well written, funny and informative. I was just wondering if the boys could give us an idea of the number of hours fishing put in to achieve their catches.
Tom

Tom i am not sure at minute but will do some quick sums tomorrow with the boys and give you an idea of number of sessions on each river and average length of session.

Yep it is good reading, but it sounds like you are putting yourselves under some pressure to try and beat last years records.
More from the carpbeleroes this coming season hopefully.

Yes mate another cracking read by far the best yet.
I had the pleasure of reading these articles before they were submited cheers hope the rest of you have enjoyed them as much as i have...

Tom sorry for the delay but work commitments and so on you know what its like.

assuming an average session on
The Wensum would be 4 hours
Severn would be 7 hours
Trent would be 24 hours

then sessions were as follows
Tommy Severn 18 Trent 5 Wensum 5
Ginger Severn 10 Trent 20 Wensum 15
Ade Severn 38 Trent 8 Wensum 6

This includes blanks

we need to do some maths now

Hours then as follows
Tom Severn 126 (32) Trent 120 (3) Wensum 20 (2)
Ginger Severn 70 (13) Trent 480 (44) Wensum 60 (4)
Ade Severn 266 (172) Trent 192 (21) Wensum 24 (4)

number of fish in brackets not sure what alll this means at minute but will do some more sums

all what is certain is i loved every minute of it

Baz in reply to putting your self under pressure no mate no pressure what so ever> I think its the matchman in me that i like to set my self targets. this season i would love to catch a barbel in every month of the season not as easy as it sounds believe me

Most important of all thou is get out there and enjoy it

If swordsy is reading this would be interested in his thoughts reference hours fishing to number of fish and how many come on the trent in daylight.

Thanks Ade interesting stuff.

Being a barbel nut myself I find it useful to compare results from water to water.

I reckon most people would consider the Wensum to be considerably harder than the Trent but I see your collective catch rate doesn't reflect that. I guess that's down to local knowledge and being able to pick the best times to fish on the Wensum, while having to commit to long sessions on the Trent.

Tom

Yes Tom interesting stuff The Wensum figures look good but are really down to only fishing when you know you got a good chance. Ginger helps here taking the temperature most days and letting us know when its worth going. most fishing is after dark. I get annoyed reading some posts on other sites moaning about the Wensum saying its all Private and not many fish to be caught. yes lots is private but there are 1 or 2 bits well worth a look with some big fish to be caught which can be fished for free or day ticket. But you got to put a bit of work in and your chance will come.

Also worth a note is that The Trent figures could almost be altered to a session being 12 hours not 24 although we fish 24 very few fish are caught during daylight.

I would hope some of the trent experts would come on and give thier views on it. This is in direct contrast to the Severn when 75%+ of fish are caught in daylight.

Well good to hear i aint the only Barbel nut out there. with Grahams permission over the next few weeks i have some more articles in the pipeline. including what i think could be the first ever Barbel recipe book. with some great money saving ideas and bait recipes all which are tried and tested. watch this space

Adrian.
Why do 75% of the Severn barbel come out in daylight, while the Trent barbel mostly come out at night?
Is it anything to do with angling pressure or depth of water, or maybe something else?
I'm possibly giveing the Severn a go myself this season.

Baz I am not sure about that but i still struggle to get many fish from trent in daylight. It could be the clarity of the river but that has little effect on the Severn. It could be the cormerant problem and the fish just lay up out of the way to avoid getting eaten.I wish i knew really.When fishing the severn i very really start before lunch, around 2 to 3 in summer until dark works best for me.

I have got a couple of ideas up my sleeve to try on the Trent that work well on the Severn. I will keep them quiet at the minute but will let you know if they work.

When you are ready to give the Severn a go let me know I can help you with the whole package. Bait tatics venues even accommidation i can recommend.

Aim for the middle severn when you look at the map somewhere between Bridgenorth and Bewdley. A BAA ticket will buy you many many miles of unspoilt fishing for about ?25.

Ade,

Interesting what you say about the Severn. Living in Bewdley I've got the same advantages on the Middle river as you have in relation to the Wensum and fish short sessions when I think conditions are best. I have found that the period after it has been dark for a few hours is actually the most productive. My equivalent figures are 374 barbel in 337 hours or a barbel every 54 minutes to be precise. On the other hand on the very rare occasions when I can commit myself to longer sessions they tend to be further afield on the Lower Severn, but not necessarily in the best conditions, and as a result the catch rate drops to 8 from 26 hours or one every 3 hours 15 minutes.

For what its worth my mates who fish the Trent all report the same night feeding pattern as you identified.

My guess is that this issue of the day/night feeding ratio is related to the barbel population density.

Let me give an example. The Teme in summer is very prolific. The barbel will feed all day long on a much more regular basis than on the Middle Severn. I think the catch rates are so high because many barbel move in from the Lower Severn to spawn and stay all summer because of the better oxygenated water and the cover. Come winter the Teme tumbles down from Wales at a greater velocity than the Severn and it becomes a moody and difficult river. Catch rates plummet as the shoals drop downstream and spread out into the Severn down to Tewksbury if not beyond.

Though the Trent is a prolific venue it is, unlike the Severn and Teme, a natural barbel habitat in which the species has co-existed with others for millions of years and the barbel population is more 'in balance' with the rest of nature.

Dusk and night feeding are natural patterns in barbel, day time feeding less so. To my mind day time barbel feeding is angler induced behaviour which it is easier to stimulate when you have more fish per square metre.

Tom

Yep tom interesting stuff. so you got any recommendations worth a try on the lower river Severn would love to find a bit i could bivvy up know the car is safe and give it a real bash Trent style. i understand if you want to keep your swims and areas quiet, an idea of area would be a help send me an E mail if you don,t want to broadcast it.

I will be starting the season on The Severn lets hope its better than last years first week 1 fish in 4 sessions not good. have they spawned yet?

Hi Ade,
Went for a look at the main spawning areas north of Bewdley yesterday evening and didn't see anything. This time last week there was a bit of pre-spawning activity in both the Bewdley and Bridgnorth areas, but I don't think the main event has happened yet. So I would bet on a slow start on the Severn, hope I'm wrong though.

Tom

An excelent bit of reading thanks to you lads.

This is the main reason the close season does my head in, been like a horse chomping on bit since March come the 16th away we go and oh blast the fish are spawning.....

Agree. But you could always try the Teme like us locals do. Smaller river therefore heats up quicker and spawning is over earlier. Last year had 2 fish in 15 hours off the Severn at the start then 18 from the Teme in 3 hours on the 18th.