Nomads? Or just repeat captures

[Kevin Daly]

In my and my proteges final hours(RIP) we found that bigger fish got recaptured on a regular basis. My mucker had a theory that big fish satelited around the smaller fish until the coast was clear.
He was known for his recapture of a certain fish with a red lump, the ottered tail 17lber.......and the unclaimed 19.

My question is....do they move about alone or split off at a certain weight/or just patrol on a regular basis

 

[David Craine]

My own observations of larger fish caught seem to be that they “hang around” in pairs, I have noticed several times that when catching the smaller (5-7 lbs) fish , after a couple or more have succumbed to baits and been caught the swim will go quiet for a short while, then occasionally a larger fish, always a double will be caught, followed by another of similar or bigger size.

This has happened to me on quite a few occasions on at least three different rivers , coincidence ? I dont know.

David

 

[Graham Elliott]

Kevin.
My experience is that larger fish will often stay in a certain area for a lot of the time, disappearing for a few weeks or more but usually still coming back.

And they often get caught when the conditions are less than perfect and smaller fish are not showing.

This is especially true of barbel that are not 100pc of normal condition. Eg..kinked.

Also it maybe that they simply need to feed more to maintain weight.


IME the larger fish often are singular or in a pair of similar size ( or year class)

 

[Paul Rogers]

I have also found that when they pair up, this bigger fish will stay together for years. on the lower kennet, every couple of years in the same swim between December and January; a couple of fish, one with a growth in it's tail, which was split and it's bigger companion would get caught. Over a period of eight years; I caught the pair on short afternoon sessions four times. The first occasion the fish with the growth was 10lb 14oz and it's partner 12lb 12oz, by 2018 they had reached 14lb 10oz and 17lb 9oz respectively, when I last caught them on a three hour trip in December.
Unfortantely, they appear to have disappeared since then. Conditions on the lower have changed dramatically, the weed bed that held them, no longer exists and the willow downstream that provided safety, has been destroyed by the Canal and River trust. In fact since that capture, I have only had three captures in over three years. admittedly, I have only fished occasionally at what I considered to be prime conditions, but it is worrying that most of the barbel in these stretches have either moved a great distance, or gone to that clear fresh river in heaven.

 

[Paul Rogers]

The pair in question at their peak. the last picture shows the growth on the smaller fishes tail better.