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Barbel in Cardiff bay?

A

Adrian Williams

No Longer a Member
Im sat in a cafe overlooking cardiff ay at the moment and wondering if there are barbel in it and if there are would they be classed as still water barbel?
 
I'm surprised at the lack of response to this question. Cardiff bay (once known as tiger bay) was formed by building a causeway across the mouth of the river Taff and turning the old Cardiff docks from a tidal saltwater area which was mud flats at low tide into a non tidal freshwater lake.
The barbel in the Taff are well documented and the river has its own thread in the rivers section on here. It struck me while enjoying a latte that their was no reason why they shouldn't have made it that far down and could anyone confirm or deny it.
Tbh I'm not even sure if fishing is allowed in there.
 
I did the google search before I posted, despite finding plenty of reference to other coarse species I could find no mention to barbel despite them being present in numbers in the Taff.
 
I believe they are as far down as the city itself but as for the bay I am not sure..

Brian
 
Last month we went to a town called Marans near to the Atlantic coast of France. The area around it resembles the Gt. Ouse which is not suprising as it was drained by the Dutch engineers around the same time that our fenlands were. There is a canal running right through the centre of town and this is linked to a tidal river running around the outside of the town. There are posters up advertising guided mullet fishing every afternoon throughout the summer and therefore this must take place in the canal as it is the only part that isn't tidal.

While we were walking along the canal bank in the town centre I saw a few mullet here and there and also lots of roach. The roach were grabbing hold of some small crustaceans on the concrete walls of the banks and then unscrewing them off the walls with a quick flick of their bodies. These roach were far more brightly coloured than the ones I normally encounter in freshwater, the fins in particular. Some of them were of a decent size too. I've had roach from brackish water in the UK while mullet fishing, but nothing with as saturated colours as these fish are.

Anyway, back to the point; while I was watching the mullet and roach a pod of four fish came through the 'swim'. I swear that they were barbel. They couldn't have been anything else the shape, size and colouring of them, but it all happened so quickly I can't honestly be 100% certain.
 
Clive, that's very interesting and I think the presence of barbel in the brackish waters of Pool harbour has been well known for some time. The thing about Cardiff bay though is although it probably does have residual salinity in the silts and mud it is now effectively a freshwater lake cut off completely from the sea.
 
Certainly barbel in the brackish Severn, and as far down as Gloucester Docks, whether Barbel can be found further down not sure.
Interesting subject.
 
Adrian Williams said:
Clive, that's very interesting and I think the presence of barbel in the brackish waters of Pool harbour has been well known for some time.
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Pool harbour? do you mean Poole Harbour? if so, I think you mean Christchurch Harbour...
And where coarse fish species are found in so-called brackish water, I'd be interested to know the salt content of that water. In Christchurch Harbour where coarse fish are found, for example, I suspect it's virtually nil.
 
Ade, their present behind the Arms Park which isn't that far away from the bay. I haven't heard of any in the bay but all other species are present so I see no reason why not.
 
They don't turn up very often but barbel are caught from the 'half tide' (a three mile section between Teddington and Richmond where Richmond lock controls the incoming tide via a series of gates), and occasionally the full tidal Thames below Richmond. This pound has also done huge perch, zander to 13, big pike and obviously big carp.

I guess coming back to the thread....it's entirely possible.

Ian
 
harbour authority
I'm 90% sure there was a photo doing the rounds a season of 2 ago of a small Barbel (around 4lbs if I remember correctly) caught from The Bay. I'd be very suprised if the odd one didn't show up.
If they are in The Taff and reportedly The Ely, then it makes sense !?!
 
If they could be confirmed it would go a long way to answering the still-water barbel debate as they would be wild fish which had chosen to live in a still-water environment.
 
Neil Smart said:
Certainly barbel in the brackish Severn, and as far down as Gloucester Docks, whether Barbel can be found further down not sure.
Interesting subject.
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Neil,

I seem to be referencing books every time I post on here these days. Anyhow, in Nature of Barbel, there is mention of barbel turning up in salmon nets after big floods in the 70's, in the estuary if I remember correctly.

Makes you wonder what they get up to during big floods doesn't it. And what happens when the flood recedes...
 
Darren George said:
Neil, I seem to be referencing books every time I post on here these days. Anyhow, in Nature of Barbel, there is mention of barbel turning up in salmon nets after big floods in the 70's, in the estuary if I remember correctly. Makes you wonder what they get up to during big floods doesn't it. And what happens when the flood recedes...
Click to expand...
To me the Barbel has a certain mystery surrounding it, and all the talk of the Barbel being washed to the sea in the recent floods of '07 seems unfounded.

It seems the Barbel can do OK in brackish water but as most coarse fish cannot tolerate saline water of course, just what the Severn salinity below Gloucester is I don't know, but your information regarding no netted Barbel in the 70's would seem pretty conclusive. However trout make their way into the sea and back again, and they start their lives in fresh water, and of course the Salmon too, but as a rule sea borne fish seem more able to tolerate fresh water rather than the other way around.

As far as Gloucester is concerned, although never fished that area, I did once have a look at a particular stretch that was reported to me as a good Barbel stretch, and I could see why the colour was of tea with a dash of milk, and the flow constant, a guy in the local tackle shop said it was 'paved' with Barbel, but as yet I havn't given it a try.

Just upstream of Gloucester a big barbel was rumoured to be caught just a few weeks ago. But I really prefer the smaller Rivers, however no harm in experimenting.

As I said fascinating stuff.
 
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