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Fox Barbel recovery tunnel

Gerry Giles

Gerry Giles

Senior Member & Supporter
Hi folks
a pal of mine has just given me a Fox Barbel recovery tunnel
I have never heard of one and can find no mention of it online ?
anyone use one ?
 
Gerry Giles said:
Hi folks
a pal of mine has just given me a Fox Barbel recovery tunnel
I have never heard of one and can find no mention of it online ?
anyone use one ?
Click to expand...
More than likely a pike tube Gerry I've got one though never used it to recover a fish in, just small livebait when I used to go piking.
 
There have always been a few Barbel tubes around,i seem to think Tony miles used to write about them ( Queenford retention system?20 plus years ago).I bought one back in the 90's but never used it,feeling it safer to photo fish and return them quickly.I used to use a carp sack in the cooler months if i wanted a photo and had to wait for a mate to arrive.They were supposed to be safer than sacks in the summer months(low oxygen levels) to recover barbel or overnight fish for morning photos.
 
I've got an old Trakker weigh sling with two aluminium rods, which zips at either end (not the new mesh material). This has been great for the obvious but is also easy to put in the river and scoop in plenty of water to allow the fish to rest prior to weighing/photographing. It's also handy for returning fish to the water because you can help the fish stabilise (if necessary, using the rods).

Now, I mention this because it relates to the above posts in a surprising way. There have been several times when I've lowered the sling into the water, opened the end zip, given the fish plenty of time to recover, and possibly because it feels slightly enclosed, it has been happy to stay there for up to half-an-hour when I've returned to my rods! On one such occasion, I'd already hooked another fish and had to shoo the fish away so that I could use the sling! This was of course in well-aerated water and not in a warm margin in heat-wave conditions. The point being, this sort of sling is useful to carry for retention etc. as the fish I've come across seem very comfortable when in them for short periods.
 
Gerry Giles said:
Hi folks
a pal of mine has just given me a Fox Barbel recovery tunnel
I have never heard of one and can find no mention of it online ?
anyone use one ?
Click to expand...

I may be wrong, but isn't this just a minature keepnet ????? Something that is highly frowned upon. :confused::confused::confused: or is this something completely different ?????
 
Whether it be retention tube , landing net , weigh sling , call it what you will , they are all nets of a sort used to keep fish in . In my view if large enough and only used for a short period I doubt if the retained fish will come to much harm
 

It's around 48 inches long full length zip each end opens the same way
 
Keep nets can be an issue as the top fin can get caught in the mesh and then split the first ray away from the fin. It used to be a problem on heavily match fished rivers in the bad old days.I caught a fish once on the middle seven with the first ray split away(old damage) the ray then caught in my landing net.The first ray has barbs down it which meant the net would not come off,i had to cut my landing net.The retention system/Barbel tubes usually had carp style sack around the sides(that will not damage fins) with a more open mesh at the ends to allow oxygen and flow into the fish and were designed for short term recovery.They were also designed not to collapse on the fish.Just saw your one Gerry, different again to others i have seen with no open mesh at the ends but same style
 
I've had exactly the same as Mark, a fish with a split first ray stuck in my landing net. Again the only solution was to cut my net.
The problem I see with the retention sling is keeping the fish upright. I am not happy to leave a fish belly up, they seem to recover much quicker when upright and pointing into the current.
 
The tube above is a fox pike tube, I have one. If you want a tube for barbel find a framed one, far less chance of the fabric closing in on the fish.
Something along the lines of the original et pike tube or better still one of the copies of of a queenford retention sack. I got one new from eBay Last year for about 20 quid.
 
One thing I will say !!!

people that know me will know I have been Carp angling for the past 55 years

and only this season returned to Barbel fishing and at the very start of the season I was fortunate enough to be invited out by Jon for a trip and Boy o Boy did I learn a lot ! one of the biggest things Jon taught me was the importance of fish recovery and handling

Since that trip I have seen around a dozen decent size Barbel drifting by belly up ! on both the Tidal and middle stretches of the Trent
a site that sickens me
the largest number of fish belly up I have seen is when a friend got me a couple of day tickets on a stretch downstream of Collingham weir on the other bank about 3/4 a mile down stream in that 48 hour trip we saw 5
I now know the importance of keeping the fish out of water for the minimum amount of time and even more important knowing how long it takes to get all the air out of the fish before release just because it gives a kick does not mean it has fully recovered I have learnt
I have seen a bubble of air coming out 3 or 4 mins AFTER it was kicking ! Im more than happy to watch and hold a fish for 10 to 15 mins before releasing it
I dont think I will use the tube just because I cant see the fish I wont know if its upright
 
I believe this is the QueenFord recovery retension net.It looks safer than a triangle or spoon landing net.Top fin well away from the mesh.
 

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I've been Barbel fishing for 29 years and in all that time, fishing throughout the seasons and on small/big rivers alike, I've never felt the need to retain a barbel for recovery, other than a few minutes in a large landing net.
 
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