3 16lbers in one sitting.

[Roman Vann]

I especially liked the bit with well known barbel angler bemoaning there were no barbel, and the Otter had had them all, and yet the electronic signal was to show there were three barbel within 10 yards of where he was fishing

That happens to just about everyone I speak to on the Kennet these days.

 

[Paul Matthews]

Firstly it would be good if this thread didn't get out of hand !
My opinion(s) for what they are worth :- Firstly a wonderful achievement and I have to admit that when I read the title I did wonder if it was some kind of wind up ! So well done that man, a session of a lifetime and can only imagine how it made you feel !!!!!!!!
To my untrained eye, they look like 3 different fish ! If they are not then, frankly who gives a monkeys !?!?! The statto's may care, I'm sure the captor doesn't that much and to those of us who are never likely to fish The Nene then the Barbel Population is just a statistic which, I guess I really have no interest in........
Would I publicise the catch !?!?!?!?!? Hmmmmmm I would possibly share it with a few friends, but unfortunately this will be BIG news and although they may not even fish the right stretch, I'm sure that 'The Circus' will arrive on The Nene !!!!
As for fish moving a long way, I'm sure they do, and at times wonder where some of the 'Known Fish' on rivers I fish have gone...........BUT to me the only likely reasons they would move would be Angling Pressure or Lack of Food ? Maybe a blinkered view, but why would un-pressurised, content fish move ?????????
Anyhow, some good discussion, but at the end of the day, does it really matter !?!?!!??!

 

[Paul Rhodes]

Congratulations Nigel.
See below for original post, it seems to have stirred a couple of people up.
I seem to have a problem, not an opinion.

 

[Andrew Boyne]

First of all congratulations on your amazing catch, Nigel.
Why do we have to start analysing what he's caught, "is it the same fish that Joe bloggs caught three weeks ago or has it travelled fifteen miles over six weirs", so whatQUOTE]

Some of us find that sort of thing interesting. What i don't understand is why some of you get so upset over identifying individual fish - i've just read through this whole thread and at no point does anyone raise any doubt over this catch - no one is asking Nigel to justify this catch - so what is the problem?

Some of you seem to want to create ill feeling where there is none.

 

[Neil Smart]

First of all congratulations on your amazing catch, Nigel.
Why do we have to start analysing what he's caught, "is it the same fish that Joe bloggs caught three weeks ago or has it travelled fifteen miles over six weirs", so whatQUOTE]

Some of us find that sort of thing interesting. What i don't understand is why some of you get so upset over identifying individual fish - i've just read through this whole thread and at no point does anyone raise any doubt over this catch - no one is asking Nigel to justify this catch - so what is the problem?

Some of you seem to want to create ill feeling where there is none.

Spot on.
It is to me interesting actually incredible that three fish of this size could be caught in such a short space of time in in the same location, I for one consider that it is perhaps the best catch of barbel since I can recall, possiibly anyone can recall.
So it would be odd that we as anglers did not scrutinise the catch, not at least to give us a better understanding of this mysterious creature. I cannot really speak for Ray but I am sure he was taking just a scientific view on the matter, after all he keeps detailed records on such things, it is only natural to understand if any of the fish were recaptures.
The fact that Barbel of this weight are more common, is inspiring to me, maybe not common yet on my local rivers, but the trend is seemingly up, which is encouraging.
Whilst fishing the Severn yesterday I was chatting to a angler who mentioned his mate had justcaught a 16lb barbel, but alas not from these parts

 

[Darren George]

Agreed

 

[David Gauntlett]

I agree entirely with Andrew and Neil. However, I do think that unfortunately Ray's initial approach was possibly a tad undiplomatic, especially for those who didn't understand his reasons for enquiring. Bare in mind though that he will certainly spend a lot of his time, voluntarily trying to identify those fish and post up the results, for anyone who cares to read them. To many people, accurate historical facts and records of fish caught in each and every river are important (wherever fish are reported/claimed) and that is fair enough. Ray has jointly taken on this job I gather, so of course he is going to want to know all the facts. It might be as well to remember that if/when he does identify these fish, that may well help Nigel by fending off comments by cynics later on

Cheers, Dave.

 

[Tom Herbert]

Getting decent pictures of fish is difficult, some people are better at composing a picture than others, i have some pretty awful pictures of good fish as i suspect many others do.

The barbel records are important and it is important to recognise individual fish as well, if we are going to try and understand how many fish are in our rivers. I know other fishing organisations record all their fish captures, what they do with the data is unknown too me but at least there is a record. If we record accurately what is being caught then we can see the peaks and troughs in the barbel population.

On another forum there was a discussion about re-captures from a certain river, one of the forum members was questioning his angling ethos at fishing the same swims for the same fish each week, too his credit he has moved onto another river too fish. I have been questioning mine for a season or so as well and have been fishing different areas of the river, areas that other people do not, hoping i suppose to find fish that have not seen an anglers net before but i still have this nagging doubt that the fish i do catch are the same as other anglers, the fish are just moving around a bit due to pressure.

I should look at my fish more when they are on the bank, look for identifying marks and record these, this may help me in the future understand my captures and maybe i should try harder too take better pictures as well too make my job easier to identify individual fish.

Anyway back to the three 16lbs fish, too my mind they are three different fish and the captor should be congratulated on his couple of hours fishing, i am for one green with envy as i suspect quite a few others are. Ray is right too question if they are three different fish, or at least too me he is. If he and others are too compile an accurate records list then he needs too 100% sure that the information is correct. If the information is not correct then the record is not worth the paper it is written on.

Well done again too the captor, it truly is an amazing day on the bank.

 

[Mark P Smith]

while i respect rays standing in the barbel community and his expert knowledge of the fish i know that my 14lb`er is not one of nigels catch as they were caught aprrox 7 miles apart so i think even ray will admit that its highly unlikely, now i know they travel but it would have had to pass through another barbel hot spot to get to where nigels were caught. its never an easy decision to go public with certain catches but i and it would seem most others think nigel was right to as it most certainly is a catch of a lifetime and important for the world of barbel fishing, how many times have we all spoken to other anglers who claim to have caught this and that and you walk away thinking " bull***ter ", at least this way its there for all to see, yes it may mean an increase in anglers at that location for a short period by people who will be expecting to go and land a big fish at the first attempt but as most barbel anglers know you have to put the time in to get results so those " circus anglers " will soon get fed up and go elsewhere.
as for the cynics i find they they normally come from the " secret society " you know them they slink about the bank wanting to know everything but dont want anyone to know what or where they have caught, i have no time what so ever for these people and as a bailiff i`ve found they normally only fish a few times a season but expect to have the banks all to themselves so my advice to them is if you dont like it your free to go fish elsewhere. whether of or not nigel decides to claim the nene record is down to nigel and we should respect his decision whatever he decides as we should also respect his decision in going public with the catch as its never an easy choice.
being a good friend of nigels i can tell you he`s a totally honest bloke who loves barbel fishing and is already a well respected barbel angler in this area so i`m glad he`s had the catch of a lifetime as it could`nt have gone to a nicer bloke, well done mate.

 

[Paul Boyle]

Sad really..Im sure Nigel is sorry he posted his captures on here now .

 

[Richard Hamlyn]

If only he'd used a keepnet there would be none of this uncertainty...............

Richard

 

[Mark P Smith]

paul i`m not sure about your comments, i detect a bit of sour grapes ?..........richard, barbel and keepnets will bring you a whole lot of problems on here.

 

[Alex Gowney]

I think Richard means it tounge in cheek Mark

 

[Paul Rhodes]

mark please say your comments are meant in the same tongue check manner as Richards post.
Sour grapes, why ?I congratulated the fella on his catch.
I removed my other post, because having read it , I realised I hadn't put my point across very eloquently.
As for my comments on fish movement and repeat captures, Im still of the opinion I don't really want to know where,when and who caught any decent fish I've caught..
I must be old fashioned, in not wanting to know what's in any stretch of river I fish until I've fished it and found out for myself.
I appreciate there are people interested, I was just trying to point out,that maybe another thread on fish movement could be started.

 

[Roman Vann]

Someone shut this thread down. its verging on ridiculous - keep returning expecting something of interest to find people bickering.

 

[Simon Lush]

mark please say your comments are meant in the same tongue check manner as Richards post.
Sour grapes, why ?I congratulated the fella on his catch.
I removed my other post, because having read it , I realised I hadn't put my point across very eloquently.
As for my comments on fish movement and repeat captures, Im still of the opinion I don't really want to know where,when and who caught any decent fish I've caught..
I must be old fashioned, in not wanting to know what's in any stretch of river I fish until I've fished it and found out for myself.
I appreciate there are people interested, I was just trying to point out,that maybe another thread on fish movement could be started.

You're more or less spot on Paul,excellent post mate.

Nigel started this thread having just made an almost unbelievable catch of fish, unfortunately from virtually square one he was having it publicly pulled apart and disected for whatever motives i neither know nor care, a few polite p.ms could surely have sufficed and then this fiasco would have been avoided ?

 

[Howard Cooke]

I don't think people should be too disheartened by the way this thread has developed. If you apply the 80/20 rule to the posts made, I think we would find that it passes meaning that the majority of people have been congratulatory and have heaped praise on the captor. Even then, looking at what first appears to be some negativity and questioning, it really seems to me to have strayed into a debate about the fine line between conservation and mystery. Personally, what I find so fascinating about river fishing is the very real sense that you don't know what you might catch. This is what takes me back, to the time before the Internet and forums, when fishing was truly mysterious and magical. The sharing of data about catches etc does enable us to build a picture of the rivers occupants but perhaps, and hopefully, not a complete picture-and long may that continue. However, I do see the need for data to help with conservation, so we can spot trends and other matters of importance about the health of the river system and its occupants. Like many folk perhaps, I interpreted Ray's initial questioning as disbelief at the capture but I think it was just down to phrasing. By any measure, this is an astonishing capture and one that reminds us of how magical this sport can be in the surprises it can deliver. Nigel should be very proud.

 

[Mark P Smith]

paul, it was the other pauls post that did`nt come over very well to me but i`m sure he did`nt mean it like that neither did richard in his post about keepnets so please accept my apologies, i suppose it is some peoples disbelief at the catch and i would think it was the same when a new record of 21lb was caught.
i do believe that a catch like this should be reported as it a milestone in some respects for the nene.
like a lot of you i dont like to know whats in a particular swim and prefer to find new swims on my section of the nene but it helps if you have an idea what the river holds so i`m a big fan of accurate river records.

 

[Andrew Boyne]

Sad really..Im sure Nigel is sorry he posted his captures on here now .

I would like to see that post justified - i see nothing but praise through the whole thread.

As for my comments on fish movement and repeat captures, Im still of the opinion I don't really want to know where,when and who caught any decent fish I've caught..
I must be old fashioned, in not wanting to know what's in any stretch of river I fish until I've fished it and found out for myself.

I believe the term is ignorant bliss!

Seriously guys - there is no malice here. We're barbel anglers, we're interested in barbel captures - that's all.

With regards to the identity of the individual fish the only certain thing i can see, as already mentioned, is the 3rd 16 is a recapture of Nigel's own river record. I've come to that conclusion simply by looking at the BFW gallery. Ray agrees - and i'm sure Nigel and Mark P do too.

Here's the evidence:

It is an amazing catch of barbel, of that there is no doubt. If it offends people that such a catch is analysed on Barbel Fishing World then god help us.

 

[Paul Hamer]

Well said Andy