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Barbel distribution

Stephen Crowhurst

Stephen Crowhurst

Senior Member
So a few things I've read recently have had me thinking. There seems to be accepted fact that certain stretches of my local fisheries contain NO barbel or very, very low qualities. I'd accepted this as red. Whilst it's logical that they would not inhabit an area, such as "upstream of" too shallow and small etc. But of course being absent from a mile stretch between two other known producers is in my opinion unlikely.
So here's the question, how do you approach those under fished stretches. Obviously you could invest a season or two investigating these places trying to catch fish that aren't there. So other than visual confirmation which is not always possible how do you identify a stretch as worth investing time into?
 
In my opinion, if they are above and below, then they should be in the middle ..or at least pass through it at times. The barbel must have got to the upstream section somehow. You will never know whats in there until you try it. It may be hard work starting from scratch with no knowledge of the area, but it's called 'Pioneering' and you will be respected for taking it on.
 
Invest some time in favourable conditions. If you are getting chub knocks that's a good sign as you often find both species of fish together. If the stretch is relatively unfished (both banks) but accessible, you could try a period of prebaiting near to any obvious features. Also, if the river is relatively shallow, get some waders on (or swimming shorts in warm weather) and walk the stretch....you could be pleasantly surprised when you find drop-offs and deeper pools that you had no idea existed. You may eventually find there are no fish in the vicinity, but if the opposite is the case you'll enjoy those fish more than many others that you'll catch elsewhere.
 
Agree with Ray and Anthony - it's akin to a self-fulfilling prophecy in that the reason it's rarely fished is because there are reputed to be few fish - and the reason there are reputed to be few fish is because it's rarely fished. I wouldn't put my house on it but fish above and below suggests fish in the middle.

Good luck and keep us posted if you put in a few hours. :)
 
On all our rivers there are ' known ' barbel swims , swims where barbel are regularly caught . Understandably anglers tend to gravitate towards these areas , catch fish and the banker reputation is enhanced and other areas on the stretch see little attention . Barbel , or at least many of them are well known as wanderers moving extensively up and down a stretch of river so as Ray and others have said , there is no reason why they won't be ,at least for a short spell , stop off in many places along the stretch . The angler can rove around trying to seek them out , in my view a better , if lazier approach, is to bait and wait for them to arrive which they duly will given time and the right conditions .Of course , if certain swims regularly have feed deposited in them the barbel will inevitably hang around in these areas , some fish being almost permanently resident , repeat captures tend to bear this out
 
Pioneering's great but only if you have the time, otherwise it's soul destroying when you go weeks without a fish!
Moving about is the best option.
 
Chub definitely present as I've not only seen them but had them out. Some big buggers to. Unfortunately I'd class it as unwadable, I'm not a big fan of that anyway, but the near side of the area I'm particularly interested in is 4+ft deep in summer and weeded. Mid river is a similar depth slack behind some rushes and the far bank which is inaccessible has a shallower gravel shelf, 2-3ft I'd guess, this has a good pace and at it's futhest point downstream is a fallen tree.
I'm tempted to buy a cheap GoPro cast it over there to see properly, once conditions are appropriate.
 
Hi Ray
I hope you are well, a few things come to mind on Barbel distribution, remember the traveller that was caught on THROOP and was also caught on the Royalty.
I can also remember the words of Trefor West, on the Teme in one swim that was three feet deep and two feet of that were Barbel.

I have caught Barbel from the compound on the Royalty and the next day have caught the same fish well downstream.
It's quite amazing how far Barbel can travel.
Cheers
Brian.
 
Interesting thread this, I've often thought of trying stretches that are hardly fished, and I'm sure they contain barbel. On the movement subject, I recently caught a 12lb fish a few miles below Worcester...a friend caught the same fish almost 10 miles downstream 12 months previously. Amazing how much some of them move.
 
Stephen Crowhurst said:
So a few things I've read recently have had me thinking. There seems to be accepted fact that certain stretches of my local fisheries contain NO barbel or very, very low qualities. I'd accepted this as red. Whilst it's logical that they would not inhabit an area, such as "upstream of" too shallow and small etc. But of course being absent from a mile stretch between two other known producers is in my opinion unlikely.
So here's the question, how do you approach those under fished stretches. Obviously you could invest a season or two investigating these places trying to catch fish that aren't there. So other than visual confirmation which is not always possible how do you identify a stretch as worth investing time into?
Click to expand...

Try reading Tony Miles book "Elite Barbel", it deals with this very subject.
 
There again, there may be other more covert anglers fishing the stretch... who don't let on and are/were pretty invisible. ;)
 
Lots of areas that are underfished contain barbel that anglers don't publicise so they don't become overfished.

Brian, I have a feeling that the "traveller" was an Ouse fish not one that was caught on the Avon and Stour, sure Ray will be able to confirm.
 
Phil Nixon said:
Lots of areas that are underfished contain barbel that anglers don't publicise so they don't become overfished.

Brian, I have a feeling that the "traveller" was an Ouse fish not one that was caught on the Avon and Stour, sure Ray will be able to confirm.
Click to expand...

This is most possibly the case. I will certainly be keeping quiet if and when I do find my target. I've spent a few sessions up there and plan to be more focused on it once next season starts.
 
Yeah..The 'Traveller' was a named Gt.Ouse Barbel that was regularly caught between 1-2 miles during the 6-7 years i was there. However, there are other 'travellers' including on the Hampshire Avon and Dorset Stour. The one Brian is refering too was a well noted and identified Royalty big barbel that ventured out of the Royalty Fishery via the Claypool/ Christchurch Quay and up into the Dorset Stour to Beat2 of Throop, to where it was caught twice knowingly in a couple of weeks. It seemed to disappear from the Royalty for around 18months. We all thought it must have died. Then surprisingly, it turned up again at he Royalty Boathouse in summer caught by Joe Harrop (after the Throop Captures). All photo's of the Throop and Royalty captures of this barbel were scrutinised and dates checked and found to be 100% the very same barbel, despite gaining some finrot on the tail whilst on it's stour holiday. It wasn't until the the first Throop captor saw the photo of Joe Harrop's barbel that he thought it could be one of the same. The second Throop captor contacted me and i confirmed it was the same as the first Throop captors fish, albeit at a different weight.
 
Yes Ray, I know about the Royalty / Throop fish travelling but the one known as the "traveller" in the angling press was as you confirmed an Ouse fish. Lots of barbel travel , the Throop record was caught on beat3, beat2 and above Parley a distance of about 6 miles. A lot of smaller barbel probably travel great distances but we don't recognise this as they are not "known" fish.
 
There was a known fish on my local stretch of the middle trent,it had a missing pectoral fin and was rather unimaginatively named ''Finlay''.I caught the fish on 6 separate occasions over several years at weights ranging from 11.10 to 13.4.
Talking to other members who caught this fish it never seemed to move very far over the years and certainly couldn't be described as ''the traveller''.One angler caught it twice on the same day from the same peg.
The furthest 2 points between where it was caught were only about 300 metres apart so it's interesting to hear about some barbel travelling for miles.
 
When they were first introduced into the River Severn, some were noted to travel 23 miles upstream, whilst others stayed put in the introduction area. When they were first introduced into the River Stour at Iford Bridge in Dorset in 1896, some went upstream and others went downstream to Christchurch Quay/Harbour and up into the Hampshire Avon/Royalty Fishery. Some barbel have the travelling instinct but others like to stay resident in an area or stretch. Like with a couple of the travelling barbel mentioned, sometimes they travel back and forth.
 
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