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Barbel distribution

Dave Taylor said:
It took me over 20 years to partly suss out 12 miles of the Wey on my old patch Stephen which involved a 50 mile round trip and countless miles of walking coupled with many blank sessions at weekends. After a series of blanks it was often difficult to resist the temptation of the more prolific stretches, but when I did cave in I eventually found it less gratifying,...perhaps because it seemed pre conceived?
Trouble was, that over that period of time some of the big transient fish that had remained in my mind on the hard stretches may have been nothing but ghosts and long gone. Then out of the blue a different big fish or two would grace the net, then it was back to chasing shadows again, ...but the unknown aspect of it all, .. was ..and still does inspire me to get out there.

Now I find myself again with miles of lightly fished bank to explore which has reignited my fishing, still getting the blanks and sore feet, but I'm loving every minute!

I note you fish Throop,...one of my favourite waters of years gone by.
I'd fished it as a tourist for a good 25 years and foolishly/ pompously thought I had it sussed until I met a top angler who opened my eyes to parts of the venue that I had for years discounted as good barbel territory.
He had just finished a two week stint and was happy that I wasn't about to cramp his style. The fish he showed me were amazing and it taught me an important lesson of not getting tunnel vision with waters and believing there's nothing else to learn. To me, the learning curve is the fun bit.;)
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I'm four years in on Throop now, so only another decade or so to go till I get good at fishing it then :D. My first season was abysmal, I really had to learn a lot. Year two was better and so was year three. This year (year 4) has been a mixed bag. Chub wise I've upped my game markedly, although winter always challenges me for some reason. Barbel wise I've failed so far. Hopefully I meet a legendary teacher one day. In fairness there's some top blokes about and you've got to learn for yourself.
I know what you mean about more productive stretches not being the same. I fished the Wye this summer which was incredible and I will return but don't feel I can count the fish I caught to my tally.
 
I love your enthusiasm Stephen, ...river fishing would die a death without anglers like yourself who don't utterly rely on commercials.
With or without a mentor you will hit the jackpot and wonder why it hadn't happened sooner. The great advantage that you have is your local venues and choice of waters,...only wish I could have grown up around here!
 
Dave Taylor said:
I love your enthusiasm Stephen, ...river fishing would die a death without anglers like yourself who don't utterly rely on commercials.
With or without a mentor you will hit the jackpot and wonder why it hadn't happened sooner. The great advantage that you have is your local venues and choice of waters,...only wish I could have grown up around here!
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Cheers Dave. I must confess I'm going to leave the Barbel alone this weekend, well you know what I mean. The temperature drop has made me think to change priorities for a bit and target the Chub specifically. Just can't decide whether to Trott with maggot or try the mince approach. Whatever it's a pin weekend. :D
 
Stephen Crowhurst said:
I'm sure your better placed to the details than myself Ray, you are of corse correct that a large number were introduced to Throop, 3 years ago I spose. From what I understand and I'm more than happy to be corrected. These where fingerlings of around 10cm from what I understand. If your observant you can spot them on the shallows mixing with the gudgeon. From what I understand you shouldn't be catching these mini ones as they feed on food stuffs far smaller than the average anglers bait, in fact some suggestion was applied that catches of these tiny ones is a sign of poor food availability. Thankfully Throop has a diverse and healthy population of micro fauna.
Due to the poor survival rate of them at this size, I can't recall the figures, due to predators such as Pike and Chub but 30% rings a bell. It would/should around year 4-5 after stocking they should start turning up at around a foot in length. So if we said 10k fingerlings have been introduced there should be around 300 3-5lb Barbel extra, as previously discussed though these could be anywhere now. I have witnessed 3 shoals of sub 6" Barbel but I think I'd be best keeping it to myself where I've seen them. The people who need to know, know. ;)
As you may have guessed I'm becoming more and more interested in this side of things and am keen (time allowing) to get involved with this side. Ive been interested in these things most of my life and have a long list of fish I've reared over the years.
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We introduced 1500, 6 inch barbel into beat 2 ,3 years ago, some of the barbel were dye marked but this will have disappeared now as it only lasts about 18 months. We don't know how successful this will be but hope some of the barbel survive.
The club take part in fly monitoring on the Stour and Avon, Brian Willson and Dennis Keith carry it out once a month on Throop, conditions permitting.
This consists of kicking the gravel and collecting what is released in a net, the results are then sent off to the Dorset wildlife trust who monitor the Avon and Stour at various locations. It is surprising how much food there is in the gravel and makes you understand why the fish don't have to eat our bait.
 
Cheers for clarifying that Phil. I know from previous chats with them both how diverse and plentiful Throops macro fauna is. The information from these "pond dipping" sessions the guys collect is brilliant, I'm sure Brian will confirm they enjoy the process as well.
 
Following on from Phils post, it is amazing how much insect life there is in the gravel, lots of Gammarus, Olive Baetidae plus a numerous amount of various insects.
Also very interesting is the capture of a few Barbel measuring 2 inches in length, these were taken from under the near side bank foliage.
Amongst these were a number of Bullheads and a very large amount of Silver Fish that were less than half inch in length.
When cutting weed it's amazing to see the amount of tiny Eels in ball roots.
So there is plenty of natural food for our finned friends.
Brian.
 
They were net caught weren't they Brian? Hopefully in the next few years we will start to see these Barbel coming through in the 3-5lb class.
 
Ray Walton said:
Out of interest Phil...Is there a salmon/fish pass at Longham Water Works main weir?
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Hi Ray

Cannot say for sure but as a lot of salmon have been seen by the EA in the last couple of years at Blandford I assume there is a salmon pass at Longham.

Just found this online:

It is considered that all the weirs on the River Stour downstream of Blanford Forum are either
accessible for migratory trout or salmon or contain a dedicated fish pass. For example,
Longham weir and Canford Weir have dedicated salmon passes fitted on one of the structures
within the weir complex as a bypass, whi
 
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