monster barbel mystery river

[Derek Funcks]

Why couldn,t the picture have been taken without the river in the background. That way, we could have all seen a wonderful fish, without people being able to guess the location. The captor could still have had his moment of glory, and a memento of it, without spilling the beans.

 

[Craig Wood]

I really cant believe people are saying this bloke is out of order for sending a pic of "HIS" fine Barbel catch. Its even more funny people saying the "CIRCUS" will now desend on this venue. MOST of us are guilty of following the so called circus after reading about how a venue is fishing particually if its producing some nice Barbel otherwise we would all just fish our own local rivers and never venture out onto new waters. How many on here have travelled many many miles to fish somewhere which has been REPORTED to be producing some nice Barbel..If anyone catches a nice fish then it is their right if they want to report it..Alot of anglers who moan about a fish capture being reported do so for selfish reasons such as they want a stretch all to themselves or the select few..Adams Mill was a prime example with just a few WELL KNOWN anglers fishing there and the others made up of anglers with more money than sense..

 

[Alex Gowney]

It is quite interesting that when a pic of a big lump is put up on BFW without the river mentioned, everyone praises and gloryfies it! If it is from the river i think it is, this calbre of barbel has been coming out for the past 3 years or so, but everyone in the know has kept stummmm and not reported them to the press! It is pretty much the same down here in Hampshire and Dorset with much bigger fish being caught and un-reported!

Also, there is no difference in allowing your pics to be published on fishing websites for the publicity angle, ego trip or for the record, than sending them to the press. Most of us do it at sometime along the way for one reason or another, including Jeff Edisbury, myself and probably a good majority of others! Some learn not too in the end through experience and keep it personal and/or amongst friends, but every one has the choice really.

Agree totally, how many who wish to retain their underfished, monster holding stretch as a semi-private fishery actually discovered it for themselves in the first place anyway?

 

[Mike Daniel]

"semi-private" eh? The possibilities are narrowing.

Where's me camper van?



(Looks like Extramadura to me...tiddlers!)

 

[Jon Elliott]

I wont bother commenting on the river or the fish, as I've not read the 'Times yet.

However I note that this thread has received nearly 2200 in less than 2 days. And the River Crane pollution thread has received less than 800 in 10 days. I'm wondering what this says about us as anglers and our love of barbel fishing.

 

[Mark Walters]

I really cant believe people are saying this bloke is out of order for sending a pic of "HIS" fine Barbel catch. Its even more funny people saying the "CIRCUS" will now desend on this venue. MOST of us are guilty of following the so called circus after reading about how a venue is fishing particually if its producing some nice Barbel otherwise we would all just fish our own local rivers and never venture out onto new waters. How many on here have travelled many many miles to fish somewhere which has been REPORTED to be producing some nice Barbel..If anyone catches a nice fish then it is their right if they want to report it..Alot of anglers who moan about a fish capture being reported do so for selfish reasons such as they want a stretch all to themselves or the select few..Adams Mill was a prime example with just a few WELL KNOWN anglers fishing there and the others made up of anglers with more money than sense..

Spot on Craig

 

[Clive Shipman]

I suppose we are all a little guilty of nimby Jon.

 

[Ray Walton]

Why couldn,t the picture have been taken without the river in the background. That way, we could have all seen a wonderful fish, without people being able to guess the location. The captor could still have had his moment of glory, and a memento of it, without spilling the beans.

I remember a long time ago when a well known angler caught a very big fish in Dorset, and the picture ended up cropped and super-imposed onto a different scenery background from another river in Herefordshire, on the front cover of an Angling mag. The fish was easily identified by the Doset locals and questions were asked. Normally, a pic can be cropped easily to have the background removed, but often it is not thought of in the excitement of catching. The backlash sometimes comes later when someones own venue is unwittingly and unfortunately exposed.
I think the more you try to hide a river and venue of capture, the more someone will try to find and expose it, even if they don't want to fish it. The thing is that this calibre of fish 17, 18, 19+ are becoming more frequent in a number of rivers in the UK. It seems however that they do not last that long when they attain the big weight.
In my view, evidence should be kept for the river record history archive and BFW at some time, whether published in the press or on websites or not. There again, it is up to the individual.

 

[Shaun Morris]

Some time ago I challenged the view that publicity is always selfish and detrimental. Was shot down, but here we go again.
Take this scenario. A local fishing club is in dire financial trouble, and is starting to give up waters, which loses even more members, the spiral begins. At the AGM members are asked to vote on their favourite waters so the committee know which waters to bin first. The carp anglers are asked to be more public about their catches with a view to attracting new members. No chance.
All is not lost. The Barbel that were stocked by the EA are getting bigger and being caught by a the few anglers targeting them. The plea is, catch these fish, take pictures, get the pictures in the local angling shops, newspapers, and on the internet. Three different pictures of the biggest fish can be viewed on this site. The one you might take issue with is the one that gives away the location of the swim, but each to their own. The club is now recovering and has many new members. Okay, the hot swim receives a massive amount of pressure, and anglers wishing to fish there usually find it taken. Everything comes at a price.

I fished yesterday. I am prepared to do a bit more walking and fish for barbel of any size in less popular places. Had 2, 8lb 3oz and 7lb 2oz, plus a chub of 4lb 2oz. Did not see another angler, have only seen 2 this season.

Sometimes there is a bigger picture to be looked at.
Shaun

 

[Pete Marshall]

Not saying you are wrong in this Ian, but doesn't the largest club in the country with a 2-3 year waiting list actually have a publicity ban? Seems they are pretty successful without the need for pictures in the AT.

 

[Mike Hodgkiss]

In terms of this publish or don't publish argument , in essence what we are dealing with is human vanity and our need of recognition from our peers . I have publicised a couple of big fish in the past and if I was brutally honest it was showing off . Anyone who puts their mug in a magazine or newspaper with big fish in their arms and justify it by saying it is'' for the record ''and no other reason is telling porkies . If you caught a great big fish you don't need to go in the AT or CAT to record it , an application for the river record would be sufficient, the capture is then logged for public record / posterity, job done . In terms of publicity spoiling things for others, then I think it can, particularly if specific swims/ locations are made obvious especially on small rivers, the swim / location gets hammered to death , the fish massively pressurised and possibly even scared away all together . I think this effect is markedly less in big rivers .

That said , .If you look at all those hundreds of pictures taken in broad daylight in obvious swims at venues like the Royalty or Throop, there publication don't seem to have ruined things particularly . Dick Walker commented that the Royalty was like a circus in the 60's as far as I can see it is still pretty busy now, but has that actually done any harm ? The fish , big ones at that still keep coming out .

What is 'spoiled ' if thats the correct word, is that if people get wind of big fish coming from a particular stretch then a handfuls of anglers who may previously fished in splendid isolation will then have the share ' there ' fish with there fellow piscators . I guess the end game is if you want to keep it all to yourself don't say nowt to nobody , you can't have it both ways . We all love looking at these big fish pictures though ...

 

[Richard Parsons]

There's a lot a sense in what you say, Mike. My feeling is that vanity is a characteristic that's common in most of us - after all, why post pictures or post views in forums, unless it's just to ask/answer a question? It's all the same really. The salient point, I think (and it's already been mentioned) is that there's no necessity to give away obvious landmarks or views that make the location of the catch obvious (particular if the fish is newsworthy). It's pretty selfish. I've posted a few pics myself and regret one or two, mainly because I didn't really understand the likely consequences at the time.

 

[Alex Gowney]

I wont bother commenting on the river or the fish, as I've not read the 'Times yet.

However I note that this thread has received nearly 2200 in less than 2 days. And the River Crane pollution thread has received less than 800 in 10 days. I'm wondering what this says about us as anglers and our love of barbel fishing.

I guess it say's this thread is more interesting to the majority on here..

 

[Ian Hugo Arnott]

I guess it say's this thread is more interesting to the majority on here..

Perhaps......size matters.


I have caught some big barbel and have never felt the need to publicise any catches and have only told very close friends. In fact I prefer to keep my catches to myself, although someone did hack my Facebook account and found a fish that my daughter had posted.

Nearly all of my photographs of fish feature just the fish and the rod and reel I used. But there again I am too old, fat and ugly to grace any photograph


Regards

Hugo

 

[Neil Partridge]

following a few of the 'bigger' barbel i have caught around my way i certainly wont be telling a couple of guys i know where & when again because its getting silly, i will always help people out with rigs & how to(s), but when the tourists start arriving in area around summer the one guy tells where they are being caught & you cant get the pegs, & when you do you finish up taking bag loads of their rubbish home.
there is one particular peg that can take two anglers (with two rods each) fairlly comfortably but now you'de be lucky to get near it due to telling a certain person. i drove past it one day and seen four on it one day whereas 12 months ago you knew it would be free any day of the week.

 

[Julian Peacock]

When you have witnessed first hand the amount of anglers that can descend onto a stretch of river following press coverage, you begin to realise how much if can affect your own fishing. You may have been jostling with regulars (not just locals),for the most productive swims most weekends but then an influx of camo clad loud mouths descend into your swim when you get lucky to have got there first one day.........certainly made my blood boil. Of course when i tell them to go forth they just assume i am a grumpy nimby. Fine by me. What i mean is, it is not just the amount of anglers but the quality of angler that troop around the paths following publicity.

 

[Jeff Edisbury]

Ray,

There's a massive difference in publicising a Royalty fish than one from here.

There have been a small number of anglers targetting these fish for a few years. I've had a go myself but without any luck. If I had been fortunate enough to have had a very big fish fom here, I can assure you that I would not have published the fish in the paper.

For the record, the strech is very much busier than it was 3 or 4 years ago but not anywhere near "Royalty busy", which of course, is completely insane!

Again,
for the record, I send my Royalty fish pictures to Nigel at Davis Tackle because he asks me to and I and Cat enjoy the subsequent mickey taking banter that follows in his report

If it was vanity, I would have said something by now about the abuse he dishes out about my feeble attempts at catching Royalty barbel!

 

[Dave Gaskell]

I've posted a few pics myself and regret one or two, mainly because I didn't really understand the likely consequences at the time.

At last.

I now know the years of grief from you and others who fished my local river may have been worthwhile!

It is just a pity that you did not see the light until it was too late.

Regards,

Dave

N.B. The problem was not those who frequent these forums but the ill equiped locals out to catch a big fish without any consideration for the fish, others or the river.

 

[Jerry Gleeson]

There's a lot a sense in what you say, Mike. My feeling is that vanity is a characteristic that's common in most of us - after all, why post pictures or post views in forums, unless it's just to ask/answer a question? It's all the same really. The salient point, I think (and it's already been mentioned) is that there's no necessity to give away obvious landmarks or views that make the location of the catch obvious (particular if the fish is newsworthy). It's pretty selfish. I've posted a few pics myself and regret one or two, mainly because I didn't really understand the likely consequences at the time.

At last.

I now know the years of grief from you and others who fished my local river may have been worthwhile!

It is just a pity that you did not see the light until it was too late.

Regards,

Dave

N.B. The problem was not those who frequent these forums but the ill equiped locals out to catch a big fish without any consideration for the fish, others or the river.

I dont think i quite understood what the fuss was about until i discovered 2 anglers walking round the river with a picture of me on his phone trying to locate what swim i was in, 2 telescopic 6ft rods and a tiny pan net, how i cringe!!
hindsight is a wonderful thing though isnt it.
i do enjoy taking photos of captured fish, i just try to be a bit more discreet nowadays.
cheers
jerry

 

[Richard Parsons]

At last.

I now know the years of grief from you and others who fished my local river may have been worthwhile!

It is just a pity that you did not see the light until it was too late.

Regards,

Dave

N.B. The problem was not those who frequent these forums but the ill equiped locals out to catch a big fish without any consideration for the fish, others or the river.

Come on Dave, it was never that much grief. And I wouldn't agree that 'it's too late' either. But you made your point, and it's one that's worthwhile. Best to let sleeping dogs lie. (sorry to digress yet again)

More generally, I think it's just a case of being sensible. On rivers that can cope with the burden of a circus, publicity isn't the be all and end all. On smaller rivers it's less desirable.

I would, however, point out that a few blanks does a lot to quell any enthusiasm.