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Barbel size

Roughly 1/2 a pound a year perhaps a little more.
A 5 year old fish would be roughly 3lb I’d say.
At 16-17 lb it could very well be a 20-25 year old fish.
 
Think i screen shot this from hear in the past
 

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Richard Isaacs said:
Roughly 1/2 a pound a year perhaps a little more.
A 5 year old fish would be roughly 3lb I’d say.
At 16-17 lb it could very well be a 20-25 year old fish.
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I don't really know but I imagine a weight gain of just half a pound a year to be conservative. I would think a 10 Barbel would be approx 10 years of age...a female, and prime breeding stock, just the sort of fish we should cherish. Females I believe attain a faster weight gain over males.
 
Fish under 5lb will invariably be juveniles but once they get over that weight you would need scale sample analysis to determine age.

An 8lb male barbel could be well over 10 years of age.

Something which I have mentioned on here during past otter debates (and more than likely ignored) was that a scale study/analysis was done on Great Ouse barbel and from the samples they took there were no barbel under the age of TWELVE. The smallest barbel in their sample was something like 7lbs and this was a 12 year old male.

This study was done well over a decade ago now but the results were interesting in that they highlighted a lack of recruitment in the Ouse for 12 years. But it was on an otter thread so, meh.

ATB
 
Depends what sex they are, Female barbel become sexualy developed later than a male, males live shorter lives at 5 to 7 years years old, 10 years at best, whereas females grow to 20 years old plus, males dont grow as big, maybe 9lb being top, but it all depends on the environment they live in, recent studies comparing barbel growth rates on the river Teme and river Severn showed that the Temes barbel had slower growth rates than the Severn, so its hard to generalise, also male barbel tend to outnumber female barbel at about 10 to 1 on most rivers, this is why when a double figure barbel ( undoubtedly female) are killed, the effect on that river/environment is devastating for the present and the future.
 
I saw a photo of a Barbel caught last year , i caught the same Barbel at 14lb 4 oz from the Colne 11 years ago. The fish was a similar weight but like humans has a few extra lumps and bumps. I wonder how old Barbel live without any predation, poaching or bad handling. Carp will do over 50 years so could Barbel reach a similar age.
 
Some Barbel on the lower Severn have been aged at 25 years old as I remember , without a doubt though old barbel do show signs of decline as they become old, I had a 13.12 off the lower Severn and subsequently caught her again a year later and witnessed its capture another 3 times over a 4 year period, its decline was very evident, it showed with its declining weight and with both eyes showing signs over advanced cataracts, I think very large female barbel also become barren and no longer produce eggs, so the weight gains associated with spawn no longer occurs, a 16,17 or 18 plus barbel is a very old lady and perhaps is one capture capture away from death, I know the last time the big old fish on the Severn I referred to was caught in my presence was totally exhausted after capture and we struggled to get her back, she did swim off after about an hour of nursing .....but she was never seen again.
 
Lawrence Breakspear said:
Some Barbel on the lower Severn have been aged at 25 years old as I remember , without a doubt though old barbel do show signs of decline as they become old, I had a 13.12 off the lower Severn and subsequently caught her again a year later and witnessed its capture another 3 times over a 4 year period, its decline was very evident, it showed with its declining weight and with both eyes showing signs over advanced cataracts, I think very large female barbel also become barren and no longer produce eggs, so the weight gains associated with spawn no longer occurs, a 16,17 or 18 plus barbel is a very old lady and perhaps is one capture capture away from death, I know the last time the big old fish on the Severn I referred to was caught in my presence was totally exhausted after capture and we struggled to get her back, she did swim off after about an hour of nursing .....but she was never seen again.
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Interesting read Lol, these big lower severn fenales are to be treasured, I am fortunate enough to have acquainted myself with a fish of over 15 lb, she came out a few months later in the summer, and won the Drennan cup for the captor. I hope she is still around, I really do.The lower lower would be the right place for the old ladies to live out their days in relative peace, I would certainly testify to that.
 
It's no doubt that age and growth rate depend on the river. I have been heavily involved in the middle and lower Trent growth survey. A few facts to come out of the 2 year survey with something like 700 plus scale readings. I had a 13.09 august barbel that was only 9 years old. The trent fish are growing at 122% of national average however I don't know as yet when these averages have been established. Was it back in the 60s or 70s when doubles where few and far between. The oldest fish so far reported was 16 years old. Imho the Trent fish do not have the longevity of rivers such as the Severn.
 
The Trent, runs warmer for longer (maybe 3c in the colder months) during certain times of the year, so they feed longer, opposed to a spate river that rises in the welsh hills and is a very harsh place to live....Trent barbel numbers are in decline as I see it, it may appear not to be, due to the lower tidal part of the river, and you have to have to consider the amount of aquacultured barbel the Trent has received over the last ten years, approx 500,000.
 
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