Dicky (Angling Trust PAC)
Senior Member
It?s been an amazing year for barbel records. So far we?ve had the Warwickshire Avon, Hampshire Avon, Great Ouse, Ivel, Wharfe in Yorkshire and now the Ribble.
Although I have no record chasing/ circus-training ambitions myself, all of this 'Roy Castle' action got me thinking. What do you reckon is actually the hardest barbel record to break?
A cursory glance at the BS official list reveals that most records have been set within the last 15 years but a few stand out? notably the Yorkshire rivers Nidd (1977) and Ouse (1958) and Lincs river Welland (1966).
Why have these records proved so difficult to beat? Are there environmental factors that have inhibited fish growth? Or are there simply fewer barbellers? Does this make them the toughest nuts to crack? I have to admit that when I look past my rod tips across the vast expanse of the Lower Severn, I can?t help thinking that maybe finding a record in the bigger river systems such as the Severn, Trent and Thames may prove more difficult than on more intimate rivers.
What do you reckon?
Although I have no record chasing/ circus-training ambitions myself, all of this 'Roy Castle' action got me thinking. What do you reckon is actually the hardest barbel record to break?
A cursory glance at the BS official list reveals that most records have been set within the last 15 years but a few stand out? notably the Yorkshire rivers Nidd (1977) and Ouse (1958) and Lincs river Welland (1966).
Why have these records proved so difficult to beat? Are there environmental factors that have inhibited fish growth? Or are there simply fewer barbellers? Does this make them the toughest nuts to crack? I have to admit that when I look past my rod tips across the vast expanse of the Lower Severn, I can?t help thinking that maybe finding a record in the bigger river systems such as the Severn, Trent and Thames may prove more difficult than on more intimate rivers.
What do you reckon?