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Anybody stopped fishing?

Hopefully, we will have many torrential downpours, between now and the end of the month, otherwise, Graham Elliott's Wye fish-in, could be in danger of not happening :(. I was so looking forward to this. Will be sad if it doesn't happen. :( Any updates G ???

Ive even took a bivvy ive had, for about 5 years + out of its box, and set it up in the garden, ground was hard as hell, had to use a LARGE HAMMER to get the pegs in. Done this after my night shift in me cab. Neighbours weren't impressed. What the feck is up with them ??? It was after 4.30 am :eek:. They don't give a sh|te about me when there mowing their lawns in the middle of the day when i'm trying to sleep, HOW DARE THEY COMPLAIN. ;):):p:D:rolleyes:
 
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Phil Nixon said:
I am heading for the Wye on Friday for a weeks holiday and certainly won't be cancelling. All (if any) fish I catch will be treated with respect and will be rested and returned correctly. I always play barbel hard and thus when landed they haven't used all their energy, the problem in my opinion is when an angler plays a barbel for a long time and doesn't take time to revive it, as with most things it is a matter of common sense.
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That's a good point, lots of reports of people catching them on the float, seems crazy in these conditions.
I've stopped now until it improves, as much as anything it's uncomfortable to fish in, even in the evening.
 
There is some rain scheduled on a few days before the end of the month.
And I have booked our section so will need to pay for it.

I caught a few a week ago and all went back without problem. Our section has some faster flowing water so it should be fine for us and the fish.

So if anyone at this late stage decides to not attend I am afraid they will need to contribute to the cost.

I will confirm details in a week or so by pm.

Cheers

Graham
 
Graham Elliott said:
There is some rain scheduled on a few days before the end of the month.
And I have booked our section so will need to pay for it.

I caught a few a week ago and all went back without problem. Our section has some faster flowing water so it should be fine for us and the fish.

So if anyone at this late stage decides to not attend I am afraid they will need to contribute to the cost.

I will confirm details in a week or so by pm.

Cheers

Graham
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I’m looking forward to the social crack G,.. even if I end up trotting breadflake for a novelty roach!!
Hope we get some significant rain prior though.
Going back to the thread,.. given the conditions and forecast,.. I would have liked a few more clubs and fisheries to flag up the risks of keeping fish out of the water for a trophy shot.
It’s taken as read on the Avon for salmon as well as the 19c cutoff,... perhaps it’s about time to highlight a few hot weather do’s and don’t ‘s for barbel?
Difficult with day ticket punters though I guess.
Most on here don’t need it of course.
;)
 
Yes Dave. All rivers need a fair bit of rain, but some heavy stuff hitting the water can increase oxygen levels markedly.

Fingers X.

Yes. All experienced anglers so best practice expected and assumed.


To be honest even in normal conditions there is always a chance of a floating barbel on big rivers like the Severn or Wye. IMO the cause more likely to be gassing rather than oxygen levels, although the gulping of air may be a sympton.

Thats why I mentioned how to de gas earlier in the thread.

Lot of silkweed on the bottom at the moment. Hoping thats washed through before we fish.

Atb

Graham
 
Just as an aside, further to my original post re. dissolved oxygen in lower Stour,... tested at 6pm today.
Water temp was 22.7 c , air temp .. 28.7c. ( 73f and 83.8f)
D.O. read 6ppm which is low as expected but a slight improvement with reading taken 10 days ago.
There’s no doubt that fluctuating pollution load will influence D.O.
The good news was Nitrite reading was 0-2 which is positive, and ammonia was 0.
The bad news was I keep seeing my upstream neighbours treat the river like a green tip,... grass and hedge cuttings all get slung in,... which all contributes to deoxygenated water. The attitude seems to be why pay for a green bin when I’ve got a nice river to dump it in so it just becomes someone else’s problem,... ranting I know but it does pee me off. Some of these folk wouldn’t know riparian river law if it bit them on the ar**.
 
Grass cuttings are one of the worst things you can throw in as well! Good news that it’s improved a bit. Some cooler days forecast this week, so hopefully by next weekends heat hitting again we will have built up some buffer.
 
I have stopped for now,

Its far to hot, that coupled with how low it is....I just don't feel comfortable.

I think its a tough making that decision, and especially advising others. I would never dream of telling anglers when to fish (especially when so many know their stretch and have far more knowledge than me!). However, I did see a couple of lads land a fish last week and just chucked it back in, when I politely advised them, its hot, low water, hard fighting fish, always need rest regardless etc they impolitely told me where to go. I will let you use your imagination as to what they said.

So, I really just don't fancy it atm. It would ruin it for me if I saw a fish I caught go belly up. I live 5 mins away from the Severn, so I am sure I can wait a few weeks!

I have other hobbies....Just brewed a cracking IPA, nice and hoppy, came in at a very drinkable 6.2%....
 
William Taylor said:
I have stopped for now,

Its far to hot, that coupled with how low it is....I just don't feel comfortable.

I think its a tough making that decision, and especially advising others. I would never dream of telling anglers when to fish (especially when so many know their stretch and have far more knowledge than me!). However, I did see a couple of lads land a fish last week and just chucked it back in, when I politely advised them, its hot, low water, hard fighting fish, always need rest regardless etc they impolitely told me where to go. I will let you use your imagination as to what they said.

So, I really just don't fancy it atm. It would ruin it for me if I saw a fish I caught go belly up. I live 5 mins away from the Severn, so I am sure I can wait a few weeks!

I have other hobbies....Just brewed a cracking IPA, nice and hoppy, came in at a very drinkable 6.2%....
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6.2%,very nice. Come in handy whilst watching the game tomorrow,and hopefully Sunday too.
 
Yes,I've stopped fishing for them until conditions improve.I had a short session on the middle trent yesterday and saw 2 barbel float past me belly up.I also spoke to a fellow angler who had caught one earlier and it had taken an hour to recover before he was able to release it.He was fishing with heavy gear so it wasn't a prolonged fight.I packed up and went home early.
It's a hard decision to make but we can't afford to lose quality fish in these current conditions with water temperatures high and oxygen levels low.
 
Just spoke with a friend who was on the middle Trent yesterday and he saw two dead barbel float by so could be the same ones. I was there Saturday 7th July and also saw a dead go past me.

Last evening I was on bailff duty on my local river and an angler had a 12lb 8oz fish which was the same fish another angler caught three days previously. I would say that is too much pressure to put fish under in these conditions.

I caught a few chub and a bream yesterday and was was noticeable was how warm the fish felt when handling them.

I am waiting for rain before I fish for barbel again.
 
During this current heatwave I’m seeing plenty of references to dead barbel on the Trent, but as far as I have seen, there have been no reference to dead fish on any other rivers. Is there a problem on the Trent, more so than other rivers I wonder? Thankfully a bit cooler so far this week, in Yorkshire anyway, just need some rain...
 
This has just been sent to members of Ross Angling Club:



Dear Ross-on-Wye AC members,
As any of you who have seen the Wye in recent days will know, the river is currently very low. Lower than I have seen it in ten years of fishing the Wye. To compound the situation, the current spell of hot weather has pushed the water temperature up into the mid-twenties. These conditions lead to severely diminished dissolved oxygen levels in the water. Any fish, but particularly barbel, caught under these conditions will be exceptionally physically stressed. With the welfare of our fish stocks in mind, the club committee ask you all to think twice before venturing onto the river to fish for barbel while the river remains at this unusually low level. The fishing is far from at its best anyway in these conditions. Our salmon anglers have already stopped fishing. If you do catch a barbel (or any other fish for that matter) please land it as quickly as possible, do not remove it from the water for any longer than absolutely necessary and hold it in the current to recover until it is clearly able to swim off comfortably. This could take some time.
To put this into perspective, I understand that the Barbel Society has closed its fisheries while the current conditions persist and I have seen images from other rivers of dead barbel floating belly-up. It seems likely that they may have become the victims of thoughtless capture and handling.
Please respect the fish.
Best wishes,
Nick

--
Nick Simmonds

Membership sec
 
Howard Cooke said:
This has just been sent to members of Ross Angling Club:



Dear Ross-on-Wye AC members,
As any of you who have seen the Wye in recent days will know, the river is currently very low. Lower than I have seen it in ten years of fishing the Wye. To compound the situation, the current spell of hot weather has pushed the water temperature up into the mid-twenties. These conditions lead to severely diminished dissolved oxygen levels in the water. Any fish, but particularly barbel, caught under these conditions will be exceptionally physically stressed. With the welfare of our fish stocks in mind, the club committee ask you all to think twice before venturing onto the river to fish for barbel while the river remains at this unusually low level. The fishing is far from at its best anyway in these conditions. Our salmon anglers have already stopped fishing. If you do catch a barbel (or any other fish for that matter) please land it as quickly as possible, do not remove it from the water for any longer than absolutely necessary and hold it in the current to recover until it is clearly able to swim off comfortably. This could take some time.
To put this into perspective, I understand that the Barbel Society has closed its fisheries while the current conditions persist and I have seen images from other rivers of dead barbel floating belly-up. It seems likely that they may have become the victims of thoughtless capture and handling.
Please respect the fish.
Best wishes,
Nick

--
Nick Simmonds

Membership sec
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Well done them. Good stuff.
 
in low oxygen levels whether its in fast water or not if you must fish may I dare suggest leave your cameras at home, do not remove fish from water, nurse in the landing net and learn how to burp a fish properly then nurse it lovingly until it starts kicking strongly, I have never had a fish belly up on me and never intend to, stick to this and if you must fish make sure theyre ready to leave your loving hands burped and kicking hard
 
Jon Bedford said:
During this current heatwave I’m seeing plenty of references to dead barbel on the Trent, but as far as I have seen, there have been no reference to dead fish on any other rivers. Is there a problem on the Trent, more so than other rivers I wonder? Thankfully a bit cooler so far this week, in Yorkshire anyway, just need some rain...
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At a guess I'd say there's probably more barbel anglers on the Trent than all other rivers put together. It's also frequented by many 'sponsored' anglers who feel the need to always report catches to appease their tackle and bait sponsors. The immense pressure on that waterway will inevitably lead to some if not many fish casualties in these extreme conditions.
 
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