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First Session Planning....

i will be in my mates garden on the severn. his peg is nicely lit without shining on the river,no beer, its not like that, just a quiet coffee) & then a nice breakie to look forward to off his wife first thing in the morning
then after that night i will be finding somewhere in the wilds & away from the first week cicus.

byetheway, the severn around ironbridge looks bang on following last weeks high water.
 
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I've never found the first couple of weeks on the Warks Avon to be great for barbel. Last year the river was up and I had one on meat. I think I will put a bit of bait in Saturday night on a peg I fancy then make my way there Sunday. Time will depend on what the rivers like. Hopefully the weather is kind and it will be a joy just being back on the river. July looks better with trips to the Severn and Wye on the cards as well:)
 
Alan Murphy said:
The way the weather is the barbel won't have spawned.
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Alan that is spooky I was just about to say the same. I reckon we are 6 weeks behind the usual season. Has anyone seen any barbel spawning yet?
 
Two of our trio blanked on the wye howard over 3 days on a similar trip - a roving approach and watercraft and you will be ok hopefully.
 
Mark P Smith said:
and guess who`ll be waiting for them at dawn ? lol looks like i`ll have to keep an eye out were your pre-baiting john to find this " less likely looking spot " haha, i cant wait but before that we`ve got the show which i`m looking forward to.
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I am not doing any pre-baiting. That is why I am going down in the evening when everyone else has been baiting the swims all day;)
 
That probably won't do you any good if the pre-baiting is done properly John, you will still catch fish if you fish well, just as you would in any other fish holding swim...but the bait put in by the other angler is unlikely to help you to catch more than you otherwise would. I have only done it once, in a similar manner as that described by authors such as Miles and West, using very high quality boilies over a prolonged period during the closed season, and did very well indeed. I should add that I baited up several swims, so the fish were not concentrated in one swim...they were just used to a particular bait and trusted it because they had safely eaten it for several weeks.

That way this method of pre-baiting does not mean that another person fishing such a swim, using a different bait, will not catch (that idea is a red herring, an unfair criticism used by those who dislike pre-baiting) All it means is, if that angler gets into the swim he has baited and uses that specific bait....he is likely to have a field day....because the fish are less suspicious of that bait and have grown to trust and enjoy it. Fishing that swim with another bait means the fish will regard your bait in the same way as in any other swim...they will take it if fished well...but not with the gay abandon they would if it were the bait used in the pre-baiting campaign. In other words, that angler is likely to benefit from his efforts if he gets into that swim...but to you, using another bait...it is just another swim.

Cheers, Dave.
 
Me and a friend will be going down to the Wye from London for a couple of days hopefully to catch a few Barbel. The fact that they may not have spawned yet has got me thinking!
I will be going in with maggot and hemp either on the specci waggler if its low and clear,or maggot feeder if its up a little and not too coloured. A bit of colour will see the groundbait and pellet approach. My excitement on the eve of the 16th is still there but the weather, politics and decline of my favourite river has dampened things a bit but not that much!
 
It will almost certainly be the Nidd. I walked the banks of two extensive fisheries the other week checking out various swims which can cope with a variety of conditions, even took some photos to help me find them again. However the late spring may mean the nettles and balsam will not be head high. I bought a machete this winter in anticipation but jungle warfare may not be necessary this season.
 
If the Barbel havent spawned, I take it that it would be against the welfare of the fish to fish these areas.
I often think that fishing over spawning fish is wrong and controlling clubs should stop angling in these areas.
I for one will do the right thing and be miles away.....from any spawning grounds.

Jon
 
Very gallant Jon, if i knew where the spawning grounds were i would avoid them too...... anyone care to suggest where the spawning grounds are on the lower Severn?
 
Chris Cheshire said:
Very gallant Jon, if i knew where the spawning grounds were i would avoid them too...... anyone care to suggest where the spawning grounds are on the lower Severn?
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Chris I was told along time ago . That the Barbel from the Lower Severn move in to the Teme to spawn . How true that is I dont know ?
 
Chris Cheshire said:
Very gallant Jon, if i knew where the spawning grounds were i would avoid them too...... anyone care to suggest where the spawning grounds are on the lower Severn?
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I have thought about this one Chris, and I wonder if they just don't spawn in the Lower at all.
Normally spawning ground are such as you see as gravel shallow runs (redds) and as Joe states that would fit with the Teme. Perhaps someone with a little bit more knowledge on the matter could comment?
 
I find it difficult to believe that all the barbel in the lower Severn head to the Teme to spawn, if that were the case you would be able to walk across the river on them.

There are loads of places on the lower where they can spawn. There are hundreds of small side streams and minor tributaries feeding the lower Severn, all of these have areas of gravel where they meet the main river which vary from a few square yards to several hundred yards.
 
Adrian Williams said:
I find it difficult to believe that all the barbel in the lower Severn head to the Teme to spawn, if that were the case you would be able to walk across the river on them.

There are loads of places on the lower where they can spawn. There are hundreds of small side streams and minor tributaries feeding the lower Severn, all of these have areas of gravel where they meet the main river which vary from a few square yards to several hundred yards.
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But it is still conjecture, you may be right, but the Lower Severn is a different type of River, and indeed whether the tidal Lower could support such spawning is another question. But one thing is for sure apart what we can see with our eyes on shallow rivers little seems to be known about Barbel spawning.

I don't think anyone was suggesting that all the Lower Severn Barbel head for the Teme to spawn, besides perhaps if the conditions certain Barbel inhabit don't trigger a spawning urge then maybe there will be no spawning.
 
Hi all, seeing as though there is opinion that the barbel may not have spawned by the 16th, would you guys not recommend a trip up to the Wye from London for that time?
 
Hurgen Akindji said:
Hi all, seeing as though there is opinion that the barbel may not have spawned by the 16th, would you guys not recommend a trip up to the Wye from London for that time?
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In all the years i have fished the wye, I have never known it to be unproductive at the beginning of the season - I'd take my chances and still go
 
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