My first stillwater Barbel

[Adrian Williams]

when fishing the rivers for Barbel I always have the unhooking mat with me, in fact it's my seat as I do lots of roving. In this occasion I made sure the ground was soft and clear of any debris .

The high and mighty on here, put people off joining the forum

Oh and that's my only net BTW

The above post is spot on, common sense is the answer.
Imo for an average size fish there is nothing wrong with laying a it on soft, cool damp grass, in fact I would say it's far preferable to sticking it on a dry unhooking mat which has been sat baking in the sun for a couple of hours.
And you are dead right with your last sentence, We all know where the smug, sanctimonious attitude towards 'barbel handling' comes from and while I'm sure the 'handling code' was originally written with the best of intentions there are far too many people who use it as a stick to beat those who they see as lesser anglers.

 

[Carle Selman]

The above post is spot on, common sense is the answer.
Imo for an average size fish there is nothing wrong with laying a it on soft, cool damp grass, in fact I would say it's far preferable to sticking it on a dry unhooking mat which has been sat baking in the sun for a couple of hours.
And you are dead right with your last sentence, We all know where the smug, sanctimonious attitude towards 'barbel handling' comes from and while I'm sure the 'handling code' was originally written with the best of intentions there are far too many people who use it as a stick to beat those who they see as lesser anglers.

Could not agree more Adrian...well said, and know doubt you will be slated for your thoughts...happy fishing..

 

[Dave Wingfield]

Nobody's perfect.......................but................. ...............if you are fishing with the chance of catching "oversized" fish, you should have an unhooking mat as a matter of course

.

And that includes nice slimy bream when barbel fishing...............or does it, because I am willing to bet that some of the 'holier than thou' on here wouldn't bother.

 

[Paul Boote]

The Chairman on Tuesday

Subject: Holier than thou

Quite. Any stillwater barbel that we encounter certainly are.

The following are obligatory for Hamster A.A. (including Peddle & Yah) Members:

1) Footwear:

2) Mat:

Our Members remain Anglers and not Nazi Rulemakers as a result.


As ever,

B.B.