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Identifying fish from surface activity

C

Chris Netto

Active Member
Hi

My first post on the new site so happy NY to you all.

I like to think I have reasonable eyesight (despite needing to wear reading glasses now) and as a youngster I spent many hours during the summer holidays watching for fish in the small river that is the Longford. The result of this is that I have quick eyes and can see fish and most other wildlife reasonably quickly. However, I seem to be very poor at identifying fish via surface displays/movement.

What I am trying to describe is the rolling, dimpling etc described by many, who all seem to be expert in ID-ing barbel, carp bream, tench etc from their rolls and surface movement.

So to help me out has anyone managed to photograph fish rolling and are willing to share via a post on here/email these to me with a suitable caption of what species? Alternatively, if you can describe what typical surface movement/actions are used by those species that would also be helpful.

I have managed to ID perch, but that spikey fin is a give-away even I can ID.

Thanks
Chris
 
Hi Chris...One situation I have seen very rarely over the years is barbel feeding up in the water under surface ranunculus weed on hot muggy summer days in low flow or slow water conditions. You can sometimes spot the weed 'humping' up above the surface in various places and at intervals as the barbel move around the area well off the bottom. Have caught 3 of these by placing a bait on top the surface weed in the vicinity of the humping....Ray
 
I found it fascinating watching the footage shot by Guy and Stu in the up close and personal DVD's of barbel surface feeding in such weedbeds, as it's something i've never experienced myself. I've often herd slurping noises ( if thats the correct term ) during darkness, and particularly during high water conditions which i presume to be barbel ( or chub ) feeding in the margins on slugs and such like?

As for identifying fish from surface activity, i guess it's pretty hard to distinguish unless you are looking in the right direction at the time and actually see the fish break the surface. In my experience i've only ever seen barbel breach in a porpoise like manner. By that i mean they stay in an upright position as opposed to Tench which i've observed 'rolling' in the true sense of the term ( like a fighter plane pulling a victory roll! )

Do barbel do this too? I've read elsewhere that it is possible to identify barbel porpoising in the dark as due to their shape they make a distinctive noise as their belly hits the surface. Thoughts/experiences anyone . . .
 
Just like Ray, I have also seen barbel feeding off the surface, taking some errant bread crust that had escaped the attentions of chub. This was in fairly shallow water over a bed of cabbages. I didn't believe it at first and have not seen it since.

Kris
 
Kristian...In my opinion it is quite rare to see it, unless you are on the river a great deal of time. Some things you see are once in a lifetime stuff. I have seen semi-rollovers in summer similar as you describe, but not full circle over the top like.

Andrew...Not that, easy to identify barbel sometimes in the dark, but more probable if it is a prolific barbel venue. River bream do it, Carp, Pike etc.

As regards surface feeding above, i have even caught eels! Sluuuurpping is also a givaway that a fish is feeding off the top of the weed, but it can be anything from a barbel, carp, chub etc to an eel!
 
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Back around '79/80 Ray, there was nigh on a fortnight when the barbel on the Royalty were displaying this behaviour on Trammels on a daily basis once the sun had really got up and temperatures had risen. I was freelining small cubes of meat into the holes in the weedbeds and miscasts invariably meant that bits of meat were distributed around the holes on the surface of the weed. During the day I heard slurping and saw the weed being nudged from below and automatically assumed they were carp. Deciding to give it a go I cast a lump of meat near to where the most 'humping' activity was and after about twenty minutes of looking like a complete prat to passing anglers - who could clearly see my meat sitting on top of the weed and virtually out of the water - there was a commotion beneath my bait and it was sucked under. On striking the weedbed boiled on the surface and after a dogged fight I netted not the expected carp but a 7lb 12oz barbel!

During the next week or so I caught considerably more than three barbel using this method. ;)

Joking apart I completely agree with you views on the need for hot, sultry weather but would add that it helps enormously if the weed growth has been sufficient for a 'crust' to form on the top of the ranunculous beds, trapping all sorts of food amongst it. Oh, and anglers like me who aint very accurate at casting lumps of meat into small holes in weedbeds and accidently leave miscast bits of meat all over the show!
 
Ray Walton said:
As regards surface feeding above, i have even caught eels!
Click to expand...

Do you remember Ray, at last years 'Bargates Masters' I caught an eel on a dry fly :D
 
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One of the weirdest barbel captures I've had was during the low-water summer of 2006. I had fished the dawn without success, and, with the sun well up and making the river look naked and fishless, was about to wind in my tackle and bait from a very shallow lie amongst some ranunculus when a pair of bright orange fins - the upper lobe of a barbel's tail and its flag-like dorsal - appeared above the surface in my bait's vicinity. I sat watching that pair of barely moving fins for a good ten minutes before the 'pin screamed and a near-7-pounder was eventually landed.
 
Hi Chris, a happy new year to you, I hope you are well.

Some good answers for you, but all barbel related.
Were you asking for identification of specific species?
If so you may be better posting your question in the 'Other Species' board.

Regards Dave
 
I think that the short answer is to keep your eyes on the water at all times. On the Wye we have salmon, barbel an chub that frequently make a leap into fresh air for whatever reason. A ten pound salmon and a ten pound barbel make the same size splash :) Identitfying them is usually only possible when you spot a fin shape or more of the body if you are lucky.

Likewise on some stillwaters it is almost impossible to identify an evening roll without catching that dorsal or tail fin shape.

I see a lot of predator activity during the summer and autumn, fish being chased around the margins etc. I assumed that trout or perch were responsible but careful observation has proved that much of this is caused by chub of about 6" long chasing fry half their size.
 
I give in, tried 5 times to load a pic from photobucket.

picture.php


Finally !!!!

Anyway this is a barbel that rolled, then jumped clear of the water, and straight into my hands,
Owzat for a catch then ?
 
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I would Rob, but not specifically to catch the barbel that rolled.
On the rivers I fish, where there is one there tends to me more...so its got to be worth a go IMO.

As for Barbel on the surface, I had one a good few years ago in some very fast shallow broken water, while freelining bread crust for Chub.

Great fight on light gear in very fast water... ended up having to walk downstream winding as I went, so I could gain some line.


Steve
 
Thanks for the replies, and I think Ian (hi Ian) has obviously cracked it.....or is it Ian has cracked? :)

I was hoping for some photos, but I guess that would be really hard to achieve. I am familiar with spotting a fin or some identifying aspect, but sometimes I am too slow, or the 'show' is too quick. I was presuming different species would roll in a different manner and some description would be helpful.

I have cast to rolling fish over the years, but to date have achieved nothing despite other people who tell me they have done similar and have had a take.

Anyway if anyone does have any rolling pics (barbel or other) I would love to see them via my email address if preferred.

Chris
 
Hi Chris,
How are you ? I cracked a long time ago mate !! :p

I have tried casting to rolling fish in the past, but have never caught by doing it, these days my bait stays strictly on my baited spot, if the fish is my swim i'd rather rely on it finding my bait especialy if it's a big one i'd rather not risk spooking it.

Ian.
 
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