Prolonged heat

[Stephen Crowhurst]

Exactly Stephen, it’s just about moving a little further forward and not about trying to find a work around for bad angling practices
I haven’t fished for barbel for weeks now and I’m not going to “Heath Robinson” something up to enable me to do so. However I am, when it’s safe to do so, going to look at Jon’s suggestion a little more seriously. I don’t think you can do enough to provide fish care for barbel and encouraging a speedy recovery at any time of year is only a positive thing.
It’s definitely a proven fact that they recover much quicker in turbulent water and it’s also a fact that we don’t always catch them in turbulent water.
Aerating which leads to oxygenating in a net with a resting fish isn’t hard to do and can only benefit your capture to a speedier recovery than if you didn’t.
There’s certainly no risk in trying it and if it does do the desired job of rapidly improve recovery, can be easily transported and activated very quickly….. then Why wouldn’t someone do it.

I don’t see it as a joke I see it as a potentially fantastic idea.

The tech is there, you just need the ability to make it mobile.
I use some little 12v pumps for replacing evaporation, the kinda thing they put in solar fountains. If you could drive one off a power pack you’d be in buisness.
Couple the discharge to a Venturi and your away.

 

[Adam Wylie]

it seems common sense to me if ,that if we are experiencing Abnormal high temperatures ,low water conditions ,and the assumption that oxygen levels will be low , Don't go Fishing !!! ,I haven't been for a few weeks due to low water and high temperatures ,makes sense to me. There will be plenty of time to go fishing when the conditions change .
We can all do as we like of course ,but a lot of fishing clubs and syndicate waters have been temporarily closed until local conditions improve ." Well done them " !!

 

[Damian Kimmins]

I’m sure if you started doing the maths there you’d reach a conclusion.

In a warming world where we expect these things to be more frequent and extreme we would be wise to make modifications that increase flow and agitation. We’d also be sensible to decrease unnecessary abstraction and organic input. But that would be sensible.

The difficulty with our climate as it has shown to be over the last few years is that summer temps are generally much hotter bringing much reduced flows, but winters are bringing much higher flows with milder and much more moist weather patterns. The difficulty with in river changes is what works for you at one point will work against at another.
We really need a greater management strategy towards holding the water we get in winter to reduce the abstraction in the summer.
Up at home the rain has been pretty incessant and it all just goes out to sea.?!

 

[Anthony James]

Exactly Stephen, it’s just about moving a little further forward and not about trying to find a work around for bad angling practices
I haven’t fished for barbel for weeks now and I’m not going to “Heath Robinson” something up to enable me to do so. However I am, when it’s safe to do so, going to look at Jon’s suggestion a little more seriously. I don’t think you can do enough to provide fish care for barbel and encouraging a speedy recovery at any time of year is only a positive thing.
It’s definitely a proven fact that they recover much quicker in turbulent water and it’s also a fact that we don’t always catch them in turbulent water.
Aerating which leads to oxygenating in a net with a resting fish isn’t hard to do and can only benefit your capture to a speedier recovery than if you didn’t.
There’s certainly no risk in trying it and if it does do the desired job of rapidly improve recovery, can be easily transported and activated very quickly….. then Why wouldn’t someone do it.

I don’t see it as a joke I see it as a potentially fantastic idea.

I didn't want to post on this thrread again, but.

I totally disagree with this philosphy. Do I advocate for fish welfare, absolutely. That is why I will 100% quit before you catch me bent over the side of a swim pumping oxygen into a river. If we are at the stage of needing to introduce oxygen on an artificial basis to improve fish recovery, then i'm afraid we are at the stage of needing to consider angling as a sport all together. This is pretty much why we are in the state we are in with the world. Mass consumption, consumerism and thinking we can 'put a layer of bubbles in the stratosphere to replicate the ozone layer', and mitigate all the damage that has been done, artificially.

 

[Huanzhou Zhu]

Exactly Stephen, it’s just about moving a little further forward and not about trying to find a work around for bad angling practices
I haven’t fished for barbel for weeks now and I’m not going to “Heath Robinson” something up to enable me to do so. However I am, when it’s safe to do so, going to look at Jon’s suggestion a little more seriously. I don’t think you can do enough to provide fish care for barbel and encouraging a speedy recovery at any time of year is only a positive thing.
It’s definitely a proven fact that they recover much quicker in turbulent water and it’s also a fact that we don’t always catch them in turbulent water.
Aerating which leads to oxygenating in a net with a resting fish isn’t hard to do and can only benefit your capture to a speedier recovery than if you didn’t.
There’s certainly no risk in trying it and if it does do the desired job of rapidly improve recovery, can be easily transported and activated very quickly….. then Why wouldn’t someone do it.

I don’t see it as a joke I see it as a potentially fantastic idea.

I agree it is a good idea if used correctly, e.g, helping fish to recover sooner in suitable conditions (flowing water, suitable temperatures, enough oxygen in the water). And I believe this is the purpose of such device.

But, I do worried that it will give some people the feeling that: hi, I have this device which will give fish oxygen and flow to recovery, lets fish them without worrying about the weather.

But I am still in favour of such device, and ultimately, it will do some good for the fish. As for those who want to use it in extreme weather, I guess the best we can do is to hope more and more anglers will have some common sense.

 

[Chris Thomson]

Thames barbel anglers site just posted a picture of a belly up barbel floating downstream

 

[Richard Isaacs]

I didn't want to post on this thrread again, but.

I totally disagree with this philosphy. Do I advocate for fish welfare, absolutely. That is why I will 100% quit before you catch me bent over the side of a swim pumping oxygen into a river. If we are at the stage of needing to introduce oxygen on an artificial basis to improve fish recovery, then i'm afraid we are at the stage of needing to consider angling as a sport all together. This is pretty much why we are in the state we are in with the world. Mass consumption, consumerism and thinking we can 'put a layer of bubbles in the stratosphere to replicate the ozone layer', and mitigate all the damage that has been done, artificially.

Not sure about that Anthony. You do make a valid point even though I disagree.
There was a time when it was acceptable to put barbel in keep nets, there was a time when it was acceptable to lower them onto the floor.
Fish care and welfare is only moving forward in the same respect as carbon fibre and those gearboxes we use to wind em in.
Any item of tackle can be miss used to the point that it’s dangerous and only the man holding it can be held accountable for it.
Now I do not encourage the use of any device whatsoever as a reason to be fishing in the heat we are experiencing at the moment but we know all too well that even in mild conditions barbel are notorious for needing time to recover and that time can be 2mins or 15mins depending on lots of things.
If we are able to speed up that recovery or even in worst case scenario, preserve life then I for one just see it as a potential step forward in fish welfare.
No doubt there will be many more to come. Some good and some not so good.
I saw last night that fox have launched a dedicated recovery net for barbel which is their idea of a step forward. (No I will not be buying one) the landing net imo is the safest place to do it if you can’t get down to hold it.

 

[Richard Isaacs]

Thames barbel anglers site just posted a picture of a belly up barbel floating downstream

Ffs are people really fishing at the moment.
It’s dangerous for the angler let alone the fish. What is wrong with some people

 

[Anthony James]

Not sure about that Anthony. You do make a valid point even though I disagree.
There was a time when it was acceptable to put barbel in keep nets, there was a time when it was acceptable to lower them onto the floor.
Fish care and welfare is only moving forward in the same respect as carbon fibre and those gearboxes we use to wind em in.
Any item of tackle can be miss used to the point that it’s dangerous and only the man holding it can be held accountable for it.
Now I do not encourage the use of any device whatsoever as a reason to be fishing in the heat we are experiencing at the moment but we know all too well that even in mild conditions barbel are notorious for needing time to recover and that time can be 2mins or 15mins depending on lots of things.
If we are able to speed up that recovery or even in worst case scenario, preserve life then I for one just see it as a potential step forward in fish welfare.
No doubt there will be many more to come. Some good and some not so good.
I saw last night that fox have launched a dedicated recovery net for barbel which is their idea of a step forward. (No I will not be buying one) the net imo is the safest place to do it if you can’t get down to hold it.

But we aren't talking about handling the fish here, we are talking about artificially altering the eco system to enable us to catch them. Evolution of fish handling is different to manipulating their environment.

 

[Richard Isaacs]

But we aren't talking about handling the fish here, we are talking about artificially altering the eco system to enable us to catch them. Evolution of fish handling is different to manipulating their environment.

Not really Anthony it’s got nothing to do with enabling us to catch them.
Its just pushing the air we breath into the water.
You could sit there with your banksticks and whack the water surface to do a similar job. It’s just aeration.
By this theory every time something hits the water and creates bubbles it’s manipulating their environment. That’s a tad far fetched I believe.
It’s just to promote recovery and no different to the use of a Mat to prevent ground damage imo

Edit sorry wrong name. Correct now

 

[Terry Harman]

Right I’m off up the river …..

 

[Stephen Crowhurst]

The difficulty with our climate as it has shown to be over the last few years is that summer temps are generally much hotter bringing much reduced flows, but winters are bringing much higher flows with milder and much more moist weather patterns. The difficulty with in river changes is what works for you at one point will work against at another.
We really need a greater management strategy towards holding the water we get in winter to reduce the abstraction in the summer.
Up at home the rain has been pretty incessant and it all just goes out to sea.?!

That’s simply an engineering issue and part of the process is as old as the hills. It requires investment and care, two things that are in short supply. It’s about creating resilience to the system not reinventing the wheel.

 

[Damian Kimmins]

Thames barbel anglers site just posted a picture of a belly up barbel floating downstream

Natural cause death?

 

[Damian Kimmins]

That’s simply an engineering issue and part of the process is as old as the hills. It requires investment and care, two things that are in short supply. It’s about creating resilience to the system not reinventing the wheel.

Are you suggesting that what I say is required is reinventing the wheel?

 

[Terry Harman]

 

[Stephen Crowhurst]

Are you suggesting that what I say is required is reinventing the wheel?

No. I’m suggesting it does not need to be complex, your suggestion is immaterial to my point.

 

[Joe Winstanley]

That’s simply an engineering issue and part of the process is as old as the hills. It requires investment and care, two things that are in short supply. It’s about creating resilience to the system not reinventing the wheel.

It's partly an engineering issue, but it's mainly about land use and land use policy. We need a land use policy which provides genuine incentives for land owners to improve the ability of soils to absorb and retain water. And moving away from hard engineered end-of-pipe flood management solutions which are all about shifting water into the sea as fast as possible.

 

[Stephen Crowhurst]

It's partly an engineering issue, but it's mainly about land use and land use policy. We need a land use policy which provides genuine incentives for land owners to improve the ability of soils to absorb and retain water. And moving away from hard engineered end-of-pipe flood management solutions which are all about shifting water into the sea as fast as possible.

Very much so, what suits current flood defence methods and useage isn’t always whats best for the environment. Large channelised sections are great for flood relief or boats but poor for biodiversity and environmental resilience. Expensive isn’t always about the primary cost, as we’re all aware.
We can start small too, a croy can have a pretty good localised impact. Yes there’s offset costs.
Like I say, it takes will and money.

 

[Sam Lloyd]

Perhaps all Barbel could be moved into stillwaters where the water can be aerated year round regardless of conditions?

 

[Derek Funcks]

Come on guys, lets get real, artificial oxygenators of any sort, wtf. if your even considering one of these contraptions as an excuse, then it is simply too hot to fish. Some peeps just looking for any excuse/idea to get out there. So Sad.