So what is the Magic Marker ?

[Tee-Cee]

chub on the block: I know exactly what you mean. I had a 9lb 14oz common a week or two back and such was the condition that I think my gob fell open! Stunning in every way it was a fish to remember and even better in the weak sunlight....
Next day a 17lb+ mirror and although in good condition, it just could not match that common.....



Sort of Ms M Monroe versus Ms D French (thats the old model and not the new slimline job!!)

 

[dezza]

But getting back to the thread, if a 21lb Barbel is caught from a section of river, then going on the 3/4 of the Biggest weight ever caught from that water is a Specimen to be aimed at (15.4) ?

But what happens if those fish Die !!

Do we start again ?

Does the section of river now hold even a 10lb Barbel ?

If it does then a 71/2lb Barbel mush be considered the specimen weight !!

I don't mean any disrespect here but aren't you getting awfully bogged down with numbers Bob?

 

[cg74]

Bloody good post Iain. I hope lots of people read it.

Big fish are relative and angling should be fun.

Oh the irony of that highlighted line Ron.:wh




Was it deliberate?

---------- Post added at 11:44 ---------- Previous post was at 11:25 ----------

The nicest carp i have seen was a 7iber - it was absolutely immaculate, lean, deeply coloured and scale perfect. Appeared like it had never been caught. Pristine and fit. Also seen 20Ibers built like pot-bellied pigs with atrocious mouth damage. I know what i would rather catch.

While I can understand your sentiments regards fish aethetics, excluding stalking, which certainly isn't possible all year round. Apart from fishery selection, which is especially pertinent when considering hook damaged mouths. How is it possible to purposely target the best looking fish, of any species?

 

[dezza]

How is it possible to purposely target the best looking fish, of any species

Come with me down the bits of the Trent that I fish. The fish are absolutely pristine and I doubt if they have ever seen a hook before.

When I fish these bits of the Trent, I hardly ever see a soul. It's great.

 

[cg74]

Come with me down the bits of the Trent that I fish. The fish are absolutely pristine and I doubt if they have ever seen a hook before.

When I fish these bits of the Trent, I hardly ever see a soul. It's great.

What every fish you catch from your quieter stretches of the Trent are "absolutely pristine"?
No chub with damaged flanks from flood debris or roach with tatty fins?


And I did say: "Apart from fishery selection"


You must've missed the question I posed for you; was the irony about "angling should be fun" deliberate??

 

[Simon K]

With respect (and no disrespect) to some of you lads, I wonder where you go to catch your fish?

When was the last time you saw a "lean" 30lb+ carp?

Of course they're going to look better when they're smaller /younger without the scarring of age, rough knocks of existence, spawning damage. So what?

Sheer size is no guarantee of fighting quality (or not). the longest, hardest fights I've had with carp have been the bigger ones, especially river fish, rarely caught. Same goes for hard lakes, rarely caught, bags of fight, especially with size and age.

If you get to complain about mouth damage, you probably shouldn't be fishing those types of venue in the first place?

Going back to something Ron said earlier, why would I specifically want to catch a smaller Swale barbel if I have bigger ones available to me on my "local" tickets? (E.g. the Trent.)

It's only relative in locality. If that's the stamp of what you can access, then all well and good for the local angler, but it's not something that someone would feel a need to do just for the sake of it?

A 3lb chub would be big for the River Roding about 2 miles from my house, but why would I even think about them when I have the Lea's 8lb-ers within 10 miles?

Angling should be fun, but it isn't always. It was fun the previous session when I caught a good river carp. It wasn't fun last night when all I had was a 6lb bream, but I don't expect fun from every session, I expect to catch or figure out why maybe I didn't to make the following session a "fun", successful outing.

 

[stooby]

ever see the joy in a kids face when they catch fish,
its somethink a lot of older anglers have forgotten,
to some its about the prestige of being well known , catching bigger than average fish,and about being a top dog...
all **** in my book, this is a hobby
not life and death, enjoy it for what it is.

 

[cg74]

When was the last time you saw a "lean" 30lb+ carp?

Angling should be fun, but it isn't always. It was fun the previous session when I caught a good river carp. It wasn't fun last night when all I had was a 6lb bream, but I don't expect fun from every session, I expect to catch or figure out why maybe I didn't to make the following session a "fun", successful outing.

The last "lean 30lb+ carp" I saw was October last year; a 35lb 13oz common carp of the Lenny strain to be exact.
But it wasn't caught because I knew it was a 'looker'
It was caught because it picked up my bait in an area that I believed (rightly) carp moved through.
Could easily have been a mirror but I don't know how to be that discriminative unless stalking.

Simon, angling could always be fun if your aspirations weren't so high, just being there should be enough, surely?mg:

 

[Simon K]

Simon, angling could always be fun if your aspirations weren't so high, just being there should be enough, surely?mg:

Nothing is written in stone for me, Colin. My aspirations are high because that's the approach I take to my leisure time. If I didn't have that, I wouldn't (and sometimes don't) go.

If I were satisfied with "just being there" I would just take a pint of maggots, bash out silvers and gudgeon for a few hours each time and ............vegetate!
Some people do this and that's their way of achieving "down time".
If I do that, it's because the real session begins afterwards with the predators. I enjoy it, but only as a means to an end.

Yes, it's lovely to have a nice nature encounter, a beautiful sunset or whatever may happen on the day, but it's not always like that and we can't order those things up in advance. That's also fine by me, since when they do occur, they're more "special".

 

[sam vimes]

Why are so many folks polarising this quite so much? There are shades in between the catch at all costs, chuck nuisance fish back without care, chuck "small" fish back without care types and the indifferent to catching, just being there types. Why does each side seem to have to paint the other into the extreme.

I'd prefer to catch bigger fish rather than smaller, nothing particularly unusual in that. I'd rather catch a tiddler of any species rather than blank. I'm not kicking bream back into the water and cursing them as a nuisance fish. I'm not whining if a barbel turns out to be six pounds rather than the double I'd prefer. I always want to catch, but not at any cost. I'm not a being there type although I have to settle for being there at times. Please don't try and paint me as some kind of fame hungry fishing hooligan, it's utter, utter garbage.

 

[Steve Pope]

The joys of the Forum, there for all to see on this thread, Sam has summed it up for me with his last post.

 

[Fred Bonney]

Yeh, well said Chris!

 

[redfin123]

Come with me down the bits of the Trent that I fish. The fish are absolutely pristine and I doubt if they have ever seen a hook before.

When I fish these bits of the Trent, I hardly ever see a soul. It's great.

Dont be so sure ron, ive spotted you creeping up the bank with your little trolley thinking that you,ve not been seen. Not seen much action tho.

 

[dezza]

Dont be so sure ron, ive spotted you creeping up the bank with your little trolley thinking that you,ve not been seen. Not seen much action tho.

So you are one of those who hide behind pseudonyms and spy on people.

Why didn't you come over and say hello?

 

[Bob Hornegold]

I don't mean any disrespect here but aren't you getting awfully bogged down with numbers Bob?

Yes Ron, I am, but thats exactly what has happened at Adams Mill ?

Sad, but fish die and target weights change, making a mockery of the Target weight thingy ?

Off Trotting for bits later !!

Bob

 

[dezza]

Those Adams Mill barbel appeared to be all of a brood and may have all died of old age at the same time. They could also have died of too much pressure from anglers, or too much high protein baiting.

Maybe after a few had been caught and re-caught, they should have been left alone for a few years.

 

[Titus]

Those Adams Mill barbel appeared to be all of a brood and may have all died of old age at the same time. They could also have died of too much pressure from anglers, or too much high protein baiting.

Maybe after a few had been caught and re-caught, they should have been left alone for a few years.

Why blame angling pressure? I understood those fish were the result of a stocking of Severn fish in the 70's in which case they probably died of old age.

 

[Fred Bonney]

The only thing you forgot to also add Ron is otter predation as a possible cause! :wh

 

[Bob Hornegold]

Those Adams Mill barbel appeared to be all of a brood and may have all died of old age at the same time. They could also have died of too much pressure from anglers, or too much high protein baiting.

Maybe after a few had been caught and re-caught, they should have been left alone for a few years.

Otter Mate-- as simple as !!



Bob

 

[Fred Bonney]

Cobblers!!:wh

---------- Post added at 10:50 ---------- Previous post was at 10:37 ----------

Called away by the doorbell!
Plenty of barbel down there still
Nobody has spotted an otter down there, the farmers dogs see to that
Too fat and old is their most likely demise!