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New record

Congrats to the captor, bet there's a queue to get on a peg down there,,,,,
There has been a string of very large fish caught down there over the last few days. I've been spending a lot of time staying down there since June 2022, and see the Lea FB page featuring these big girls. You never see smaller fish featured, say in the 4-10 lb bracket.
When these big girls die, there's precious little that will fill that void, apart from some clonking chub.
I regularly walk the Fisher's Green stretch, and it is a beautiful length of river, but it's fish density is very low. Walking along there you'd expect to see shoals of roach and dace, but there are precious few. And unlike the Great Ouse, the local EA wing, don't appear to be stocking with fish of any description. Which I find strange.
 
It is an exceptional looking fish regardless of size with a big old smile beaming above. Venue should be irrelevant as long as it is for the country the record list is created for. The records list should be there to demonstrate the potential size a fish can reach naturally (debatable according to venue/species). I can't see a reason to name a venue unless it is for scientific monitoring but you don't need a record fish to work out trends.
 
There has been a string of very large fish caught down there over the last few days. I've been spending a lot of time staying down there since June 2022, and see the Lea FB page featuring these big girls. You never see smaller fish featured, say in the 4-10 lb bracket.
When these big girls die, there's precious little that will fill that void, apart from some clonking chub.
I regularly walk the Fisher's Green stretch, and it is a beautiful length of river, but it's fish density is very low. Walking along there you'd expect to see shoals of roach and dace, but there are precious few. And unlike the Great Ouse, the local EA wing, don't appear to be stocking with fish of any description. Which I find strange.
Last few years, not days
 
After my previous post regarding the secrecy of the previous records venue the angling times have published it as the Rother today, I assume it doesn't matter now the record isn't from there!!!.
 
There has been a string of very large fish caught down there over the last few days. I've been spending a lot of time staying down there since June 2022, and see the Lea FB page featuring these big girls. You never see smaller fish featured, say in the 4-10 lb bracket.
When these big girls die, there's precious little that will fill that void, apart from some clonking chub.
I regularly walk the Fisher's Green stretch, and it is a beautiful length of river, but it's fish density is very low. Walking along there you'd expect to see shoals of roach and dace, but there are precious few. And unlike the Great Ouse, the local EA wing, don't appear to be stocking with fish of any description. Which I find strange.
You would be very surprised how many 18+ fish there are in that stretch at this time of year
 
I believe that Rother fish is no longer around
I could be wrong, but I’m sure I was told by a reliable source that the previous record fish had been caught prior to its record breaking capture, but from the Arun. Other fish have been known to be quite flighty between the two rivers. So every chance that fish is still at large… One of the local clubs has lost the Arun stretch synonymous with the larger Barbel relatively recently, so it could be holding up there living a life of Riley! 🤞🏼
 
After my previous post regarding the secrecy of the previous records venue the angling times have published it as the Rother today, I assume it doesn't matter now the record isn't from there!!!.
Not really true, the Wikipedia updated the location back in 2022. As you can see from the edit history.
 

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A little odd it says undisclosed river - river rother! It wasn't declared in the river records on this forum or the British record fish list.
 
The prior record which was caught in the Arun and Rother over the years hasn't been seen for a long time now... There's plenty of anglers fishing down there, so safe to assume it's gone - which most the locals would agree with.

I’ve recently caught a barbel from the Hants Avon which weighed at 16lbs 7oz. I recall catching the same fish in February 2011 from the same area which at that time was 13lbs 5oz.

It’s not unusual for some of the barbel to go missing and then reappear years later in the same stretch as this one did.
 
Well said Darrel and I totally agree with you.

How anyone can honestly say that a fish that hasn’t been caught for a couple of years has either “passed on” or
“is safe to assume it’s gone” is surely a bit blinkered in their thought process? It’s a well known fact that barbel can and do travel for miles and miles where the river allows (as does the Rother), and not being caught for a couple of years is not really evidence that it no longer exists. For all we know it may well have put on a couple of pounds since it’s last capture and ibe alive and kicking - the truth is none of us know , not even the locals down here😀😀
 
If the angler in question has put in the hours , done his research and most importantly of all treated the fish with the upmost care and respect then I say well done.
I’m sure most of us would love to catch a fish of a lifetime, although the rivers I fish don’t hold that size of fish I wouldn’t begrudge someone catching.
 
Hi men ,

It's only a fish fellas , a big one at that and I know the area not just the WP is fished for big barbel , big chub , big carp and the perch are not to be sniffed at . I also know the fishing can be challenging, and we are lucky that the obvious otters problems have left some to target . We are also lucky that for the price of a day ticket you can fish for some of these great fish , which in itself gives you a different problem to overcome , but we are all anglers 👍.

Hatter .
 
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