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Barbel beat carp by a country mile!!!!

Wayne Glossop

Wayne Glossop

Senior Member
After been licked by the elusive tidal Trent barbel Saturday night I decided to go to a local commercial fishery yesterday for a few hour just to feel the carp fight I landed a 14lb common on meat and they can't even come close to a river barbel a 7lb barbel on a river give a far better fight and thrill than a 14lb carp all day every day.
 
I know what you mean being an ex mad-for-it carper these days I'd much rather catch a 8lb barbel than a 20lb carp.

Pete.
 
Darren's made a good point though. Commercial puddle fish are clearly not going to fight particularly hard if they are caught every few days. But hook a river carp that's not felt steel before and you'll have your string pulled like you've hooked a runaway train.

D.
 
Duncan Dimbleby said:
Darren's made a good point though. Commercial puddle fish are clearly not going to fight particularly hard if they are caught every few days. But hook a river carp that's not felt steel before and you'll have your string pulled like you've hooked a runaway train.

D.
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I agree there, the best fight i'v ever had come from a 17lb common caught in a W Avon weir pool.
 
Wayne Glossop said:
After been licked by the elusive tidal Trent barbel Saturday night I decided to go to a local commercial fishery yesterday for a few hour just to feel the carp fight I landed a 14lb common on meat and they can't even come close to a river barbel a 7lb barbel on a river give a far better fight and thrill than a 14lb carp all day every day.
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Thanks Wayne, your post certainly made me laugh. Don't worry I've no intention of debating 'which fish fights harder'
But with respect, take a look at the environments each fish resides in, hardly a level playing field for fair comparison, I'd say?!!

For a 14lb "commercial fishery" carp that pulls back, try Boddington or Clattercote reservoirs. Or for your tackle to be wiped out, hook a fit 14lb Tidal Trent carp...
 
Depends on the barbel and carp in question. Last week I had a twenty four hour carping session. I had four carp of 11, 13, 13 and 17lb. Guess which gave the best fight?;) I've also found that barbel of 8 or 9lbs or so generally go a lot better than bigger barbel. I suspect that barbel do generally fight better than the equivalent sized stillwater carp. However, they do have a big advantage in being able to use the flow of a river to their advantage. I've never caught a river carp to give me a better idea of the comparison between the species. I have caught the odd stillwater barbel though. My experience would suggest that there isn't a great deal in it.
 
Hi men,

Common barbel do seem to fight harder than common carp , but as for mirror barbel , then mirror carp have the upper fin there :D

Hatter
 
common barbel do seem to fight harder than common carp , but as for mirror barbel , then mirror carp have the upper fin there
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Love it!
 
Lol Good replys however the barbel are alot more vigorous and They fight like nothing in the water however travel to Spain for the carp on ebro and that will by far put barbel in the back of your mind or so they say?? Which is easily believable. Barbel yank at the line and go off like a train and there body shape is designed for them to hold the current and swim against hard fast flowing rivers. My time will come where I do hook a carp on a river and will know for sure then. Just find it an interesting post as targeted fish are barbel and carp by alot of people.
 
Catching a barbel when the water is up and pushing through is an incredible experience one of excitement and sometimes small disappointment.

I thought I caught my first double at the end of last season by the sheer force and power from the fish but ended up with a 7lb 9oz barb in wonderful condition, after its return I felt disappointed...then kicked myself up the a**e what a fight why would I be disappointed and my reason to fish is not to catch a double at this time.

To compare commercial carp is a little unfair, they are stocked in numbers and caught in numbers, there are still a few commercials on campsites I go to that are absolutely mad and fight to the bitter end, I guess this down to them not been fished as hard.
 
River carp is certainly something I would like to do, I have had a couple that's all, and the most memorable was out of a very small River the Frome Stroud Glos.
It held a small number of escapee carp from the Ring Of Bright Water house up the hill..the 14lb common put up a good scrap on my JW Avon. The carp were holed up in a mill pool off the main river, but after that I never attempted to catch them again, didn't seem right.
Perhaps the best scrap err scare I had with a River Carp was when I hooked into a real zoo creature on the Lower Severn, but I was so under gunned with just an Avon Rod and 6lb main line, the thing surfaced momentarily mid River before nonchalantly shedding the hook, you could put a saddle on the thing:)
 
Caught quite a few river carp from a few different (sized) rivers - best ever UK fight to date was a rather young spirited 23lb mirror from the Nene in the late 80s. Had bigger but that was particularly memorable.

Control the first run & you stand a good chance of getting it in as long as you know the snags. I would change my tackle if carping on rivers - my barbel (carp) rods would handle them but stiffer tackle would give a better degree of control. Kinda says it all really.

Cheers, Jon
 
I have to admit that i have been enticed by the power of Trent carp of late, i have hooked 2 so far this season and lost both the buggers!!
Using the words of a TV fisherman "by 'eck don't they ang on":D
 
Lol haha. Is that john wilson by any chance? Lol. "oh yes were in" just been watching him he was fishing wensum for barbel with 10 maggots on a size 6 lol.
 
Have to agree with Jason tidal trent Carp don't half pull your string caught a few whilst Barbel fishing over years and lost a lot more. River Carp 1 - Barbel 0 imo.
 
Lol yeah Deffinately is Matt Hayes with his weird voice he says it in lol however I'm sure John Wilson has said it a couple of times whilst laughing.
 
Stillwater Barbel...... Best fight to be had (all be it on here) :D

River Carping is something I have been doing allot more of recently.

Barbel fishing has taken a bit of a back seat as the Thames around here isn't exactly ''full'' of them!!
Carp on the other hand are spread through the Thames in large numbers and currently offer a more viable target (once you find them that is)
I have had six or seven pound Carp that have fought far better than Barbel of a larger weight, but to be honest I don’t really care how they fight as it’s.........

''Lovely just to be here''

:D
 
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There are big differences in barbel fighting ability just as there are with carp. Having caught both species from rivers I happen to think that spate river barbel at their fighting weight take some beating. The long lean fish we catch in Yorkshire can wipe you out in the first seconds of a fight unless you're ready, and that's with the typical tackle that is the rightfully accepted norm these days.

From what I've heard – I do not target carp but have had them to 17lb or so – big carp are like big barbel and their fighting abilities lessen with age/size.

Dave
 
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