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Golden Barbel, are there any still about

Mark Swaby

Mark Swaby

Senior Member
About 20 years ago I was shown a photo of a Golden Barbel just under 10lb it was caught from a stretch of the Thames not far from me. There were a couple of others too but they were smaller. I remember seeing another one in the press caught from either the Teme or a Yorkshire river. There was also a photo of one in a Czech river in a John Bailey article. I am wondering if there are any others still around or if anyone has any other photos. No need for sections or clubs obviously to avoid the pressure but it would be nice to know there are still some about and maybe a river.
golden barbel.jpg
 
I'd imagine they're an ornamental variety and as such would 'evolve' back to their natural colour, as I can't see bright gold being a good camouflage against predators!
 
Mark.
There were two or three caught around Maidenhead Thames some years ago...maybe 20 years.

They actually had the nickname " Tangos" rather than golden and were distinctly more orange.

I don't believe they were an ornamental variety because the size was often around 9lb or so.

I had a picture or two but maybe deleted or on old now dead pc. Will look.

I will ask my old mates the Windsor/Maidenhead guys if they have any.
 
You might be right Graham, found this on an old fishing magic thread for 2007:

"Yes its a trick of nature actually a defective gene, you occassionally see it in tench and pike, many years ago i used to fish a canal between Oldham and ashton called the Bardsley canal it had an unusually high number of small golden tench, tench however are strange and do naturally run through a spectrum of colours from light green to almost black and very dark browns, somewhere in the middle is gold, but apparently it is rare, somne however have been genetically modified and you do occasionally get blue tench, golden pike however are very rare, but they do occasionally occur."
 
Yes Graham they are the same fish, this was one of the photos. I had a chub about 2lb that was Golden from the Colne about the same time. I cannot find the photo but never saw the fish again. Its definitely a rare natural occurance but because they stand out they usually do not survive.We recently stocked some Carp in one of our waters and one of them was described as a Black Mirror and also Glass mirror it looked weird compared to the rest. It was missing the silver pigment from its makeup and once in clear water we were told, it will turn black.
 
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There DEFINITELY were some in at least one of the smaller lakes at Anglers Paradise, but obviously that's a commercial stillwater and they were almost certainly stocked as bred ornamentals. I'm going back to the late 90s mind, so I've no idea if they're still there. Not easy to check either as some of the lakes still say "mystery" or "you never know what you'll catch next" on their website descriptions.
 
Wow they are stunning! I used to love catching golden tench as a boy a golden barbel would blow my mind 🤯🤪
 
the top fish in the 2 photos is from the Ribble page 9 on the ribble gallery
 
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Wow, that's a blast from the past. My late fishing friend Keith Spears and I had, from memory, some 11 fish between us ranging in weight from about 4 lbs to 9 lbs. All the fish came from a short stretch which Mark probably knows. None have been seen since the 2007 floods although one has been caught upstream some years back and is the same fish shown in the previous picture. Somewhere I might still have a few pictures but can't find them since my move too Bray. Some Barbel Society members might also remember a slide show ,around 2008 , I did in Uxbridge where I showed some we caught. Take care and stay safe fellas. Mike
 
Hi Mike , thanks for the reply, yes I was at that slide show at Uxbridge Golf club back in 2008,thought it was earlier. Keith mentioned them again when we were fishing the Lea and I told him I had seen you and the photos at the meeting. Lets hope a few are still around.
 
Hi Mark, then you have seen some of what we caught. From the beginning of the season to end of July we caught approx 166 barbel. I think details may be in the old records. I had been a member for over 40 years and only fished the Thames after I had finished with the Carp at Savay [I was former Hon Sec of Ruislip AS]. We never caught any more barbel from our stretch after the floods. From memory only couple of fish I caught were doubles. Stay safe .
 
Hi Mike,

I know that people blame otters and other factors but nothing was the same after those floods on a whole host of rivers.

If the fish had merely been displaced, then they would be located and someone would be catching them. I don't think that's the case and instead they died.

Whether that was as a result of untreated chemicals being discharged into the rivers or some other factor(s), we may never know but it happened on too many rivers to be a coincidence.

Do you have any thoughts on what happened?

Best wishes, Steve
 
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