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Mike Hodgkiss said:
People are entitled to an opinion , but come on folks why can't we just accept the decision of Dave and his experts and leave it there . If I was the captor of this fish , I think I would be a little upset that people were at best thinking me a numpty not able to weigh a fish accurately , or at worst implying I was trying to pull a fast one .
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Yes it is difficult for me especially to throw any doubt on the fish, but it might just be a genuine mistake on the scales. We as anglers should be able to scrutinise such an important fish, after all it is our bread and butter, where weight does become a bit of an obsession. It really is quite a big deal this one the Wye especially is a river that rarely throws up low doubles, let alone a 15 plus, as said I am swayed by the lads that know the river / fish / stretches better than I and they seem unconvinced.
 
It's ok to say about fish on other rivers puting on so many lbs in a short time but this isn't the case on the Wye. The Wye record had stood at 14lb9 for about 20 years and this new record will do the same. That is unless next time this fish is caught someone claims the weight as a new record. I think this is now what will happen and we'll end up with a crazy figure for the river record. This particular stretch suffers from litter more than most and lots of anglers that visit it aren't what I'd call serious anglers. This can only be bad for the stretch and the river in general. I'd hate to think of someone genuinely breaking the record by a couple of ounces and not getting the recognition it deserves. As other experienced Wye anglers have said a Wye 11lb fish looks massive and fish of the same length on most others rivers would be a good few pounds heavier. I don't put any blame on anyone involved in the record keeping because at the end of the day they can only take the captures word for it, scale checks and witnesses mean nothing really as i'm sure his scales weren't that far out and that he could easily get a couple of mates to back his story up.
 
Mark Walters said:
I don't put any blame on anyone involved in the record keeping because at the end of the day they can only take the captures word for it, scale checks and witnesses mean nothing really as i'm sure his scales weren't that far out and that he could easily get a couple of mates to back his story up.
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My thoughts exactly, and seems to be the case on the other river i was thinking of in an earlier post even though the same fish was caught a couple of weeks later over 1lb 8oz lighter!

The flip side to it all is that i know of at least 2 rivers that have produced bigger barbel than the current official list would suggest.

I've always been in favour of keeping accurate river records but it seems pointless when you have one camp that are prepared to claim a fish is bigger than it actually was and another that won't tell anyone if a big un comes out.

How to solve the situation? My thoughts are that if BFW are to be held responsible for the accurate keeping of records then put any claim forward for members scrutiny. We have over 1000 barbel anglers on here and it's very rare for an unknown monster fish to be caught. I accept there will always be a small number of doubters, even on a genuine claim - but the majority will confirm its credibility. I'm sure if a genuine Wye 15lb'er had been caught this site would be buzzing with excitement. In this case i have to fall on the side of those lads on here who fish it regularly and so no.
 
i actually wondered if this would surface at all....
i was actually talking to the lad scott on a monday, this was well before xmas,maybe end oct beginning november i think, and he told me he caught a 15lb fish on the saturday 2 days prior..
the lad was with his mate and they both hailed from the swansea area, he told me they had only recently started barbel fishing and was over the moon with his catch and said he had reported it so watch this space... i thought at the time oh yeh! heard it all before but he knew the wye record was 14lb odd because i said to him about the record fish and he was well clued up on that.. he seemed a genuine enough lad and his mate, not full of themselves blagging this and blagging that etc.. he came down to my swim later on for a natter and was quite keen to learn about tactics, the wye itself, etc etc..
i hadn't actually fished that stretch for about 4 years and went to see if it had changed at all but it hadn't and i haven't been back since..
 
I have had the fish at 12lb 6oz, and that was a couple of seasons ago in Nov. I understand from what I have learned, that a Barbel`s weight can very quite a lot. And that they can lose and gain for various reasons at quick speeds, but if the fish (distinctive as it is) has never been caught near the claimed weight before or since (that we know of) then the claim does seem a little flawed.
And now we hear the man is genuine in his enthusiasm, but maybe made a mistake with the scales due to lack of experience?? 15lb or 13lb it is a cracking fish and I was proud to do battle with it on a torrential rain storm November day. There is a picture of it on my site on the first page of previous captures, I am there with a silly grin in the semi darkness wearing my poncho!!
 
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This is such a difficult topic, AND fish from different rivers do seem to vary, some seem to weigh light and others seem to weigh heavy.
Another thing to consider is how you hold a fish, if held away from you, the captor seems to have a small head and the fish appears to be massive, the fingers often give it away.

I like to hold my fish fairly close to me (as much as anything to ensure that I am in control of the fish if it moves) if I can, I think it gives a truer look to the fish and I am not really obsessed by size, although I know some will not believe me when I say that.

Those of us with a bit of experience tend to have a fair idea of the weigh of a fish, even so there have been occasions where I have got it wrong and I have been surprised when the scales tell their story, I can well imagine that an angler with little experience of big Barbel might be overwhelmed by their size and honestly believe what the scales say, another point, how many anglers test their own scales?

I am not casting doubt, I expect the captor honestly believes the weight he claims, I also know Mark is an experienced Barbel angler that knows his stuff, so I probably have not been of much help!

Anyway here are two images of fish I caught the first went 15lb 5oz was weighed and witnessed by a very experienced angler.

The second is a fish I took 3 weeks ago that went 15lb 2oz and was weighed and witnessed by two anglers that are very good friends of mine, both have taken a dozen or more 15’s themselves and between us none of our guesstamates were right, this fish was very broad, as if it were a 13lb fish that had eaten too many pies (a bit like its captor:)).

So you pays yer money and…………………………………………….?

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I agree Shaun, I know I was a quivering wreck and needed to calm myself the first time I netted her. I can't imagine how I'd of felt if I was new to barbel fishing and seen that in my net.
 
Nice pics K and M.

Mark. Great pictures. The fish looks pretty much near its top weight in the second picture give or take a 1lb

Graham
 
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