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splosh!!

E

Ed Laing

Member
Im guessing that when I hear fish sploshing in my swim or close to it ,its more likely to be chub (or trout) than barbel .Do barbel roll on the suface? Or do they stick to the bottom as i would imagine ?Some of these sploshes are definately big fish probably large chub
 
What river you on Ed?
Barbel do roll on the top quite often but if your river has a salmon or sea trout run it could well be one of them.
 
Salmon on the Loddon. Wouldn't that be nice ;). Could be chub or pike Ed. Had a similar conversion the other night with a mate.
 
Barbel frequently roll and also tail slap the surface. A large splash or wallow in a known barbel swim is usually a barbel and it's often a prelude to feeding. If close enough, a stream of air bubbles can sometimes be seen following a roll as the fish moves upstream. Not totally sure but I have read that this is the fish adjusting it's swim bladder. But whatever, rolling barbel is usually a good sign.
 
If you're fishing the Loddon you might be hearing big trout, for the river is stiff with them in its middle and upper reaches; a few get down to barbel and chub territory and grow very big - I saw a man have a seven-pounder in the lower reaches many years ago whilst spinning for perch and pike.
 
I've seen barbel roll, porpoise and occasionally jump totally clear of the water on the rivers that I've fished. On the Swale it is often a prelude to a bite. If I see it happen within ten yards of a baited area I'll be hovering over my rod more intently. If it occurs more than once more than ten to fifteen yards away, but not in my swim, I may well look to reposition baits or move swims.
 
Colin Gordon said:
As said by Alex, barbel like tench and bream sometimes roll as a prelude to feeding.
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After many years of watching the fish in my koi pond I have come to the conclusion that some fish are surface breachers and the vast majority are not.

I have one large koi who provides us with hours of entertainment on summer evenings leaving the water and tail walking while chasing black gnats. The other fish totally ignore him, sometimes he puts on a better display than the dolphins at sea world.

I used to think that when you find a swim where fish tend to roll or breach that it was different fish breaching and was in response to some peculiarity of the swim. However; over many years of fishing a couple of local swims where fish used to show themselves on a regular basis I have recently noticed that this behaviour has ceased, I can only conclude that the individual fish who was responsible for showing itself, in both swims, has gone to the great river in the sky.

I could of course be completely wrong.
 
Adrian Williams said:
After many years of watching the fish in my koi pond I have come to the conclusion that some fish are surface breachers and the vast majority are not.

I have one large koi who provides us with hours of entertainment on summer evenings leaving the water and tail walking while chasing black gnats. The other fish totally ignore him, sometimes he puts on a better display than the dolphins at sea world.

I used to think that when you find a swim where fish tend to roll or breach that it was different fish breaching and was in response to some peculiarity of the swim. However; over many years of fishing a couple of local swims where fish used to show themselves on a regular basis I have recently noticed that this behaviour has ceased, I can only conclude that the individual fish who was responsible for showing itself, in both swims, has gone to the great river in the sky.

I could of course be completely wrong.
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This is a very interesting theory Adrian. It is often a (apparrently) single fish rolling/swirling repetetively in a swim that should, logicaly, contain several barbel. If they all indulged in surfacing the disturbance (and anticipation!) would be far greater.
 
Paul Boote said:
If you're fishing the Loddon you might be hearing big trout, for the river is stiff with them in its middle and upper reaches; a few get down to barbel and chub territory and grow very big - I saw a man have a seven-pounder in the lower reaches many years ago whilst spinning for perch and pike.
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yep, my guess, i've have had a few browns out.
 
On the tidal Trent it is not unusual early and late in the day to see barbel jumping right out of the water just like carp do.
 
In the 70's I remember seeing three barbel on my local river swimming just below the surface in a swim that I now know to be eight feet deep. It was a hot summer day and broad daylight. I can only assume that they were trying to locate more oxygenated water. Anglers all around came along to watch them as they remained for about five minutes.
 
They certainly do! Seen them come right out, momentarily "stand on" their tail, then fairly crash back in. A little later, even caught them....
 
Fished the Lower Severn Tuesday and in the last light there was an almighty splash next peg , it was as if a cow had been dropped in from fifty foot up...all the anglers heard it and as far as a 100 yards away.
Very Odd
 
Neil Smart said:
Fished the Lower Severn Tuesday and in the last light there was an almighty splash next peg , it was as if a cow had been dropped in from fifty foot up...all the anglers heard it and as far as a 100 yards away.
Very Odd
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:eek: Not the sort of statement to be making on an open forum Neil ;) :D

Probably a River Carper falling in
 
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Neil Smart said:
Fished the Lower Severn Tuesday and in the last light there was an almighty splash next peg , it was as if a cow had been dropped in from fifty foot up...all the anglers heard it and as far as a 100 yards away.
Very Odd
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Should have nipped along to the next swim Neil, might have been a whole set of tackle recently made homeless :D:D

Cheers, Dave.
 
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