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Playing Fish

S

Stuart Bradley

Senior Member
OK...A serious question from a relative newbie...
How long should you play a fish for?
I was out yesterday and was attempting to bring the fish in quickly so as not to tire them too much ( I was on the Wye and landed 10 barbs up to about 5lb)...but I was also aware that I could have been bullying them a bit.
They all returned to the swim in good health and shot off after a very short time.
What is everyone's advice on this?
Does playing a fish hard, potentially result in mouth damage, or is the tiring out factor of taking one's time, more dangerous to the fish?
Cheers
Stuart
 
I do tend to bully fish somewhat and have never noticed any mouth damage with any of my captures. I do tend to use small hooks in comparison to others so that may help.

I used to play fish slower and have noticed that my fish return quicker these days than when I used to play them in this way.
 
if the swim allows , put your rod tip low to the water nd play them that way rather than trying to pump them up through the water

remember , these fish are built to hug the bottom


watch any decent match angler play carp , rod tip is allways low untill its time for the net
 
Stuart,

The longer you play a fish, the more time there is for the movements of the fish to alter angles of pull etc. and thus the potential for damage is increased. Obviously hauling the fish out on super strong tackle is best left for snag fishing only, but playing the fish firmly on ballanced tackle as you described is, in my opinion, the way to go.

Cheers, Dave.
 
I personally don't like to bully them, but some of the pegs i fish that is the only option. The thrill for me is the fight, get them away from the snag and enjoy the fight of the fish. If we did'nt fish for Barbel for the fight; we would all be Bream fishing imo. In regards to terminal tackle, i ensure there i have more than enough in reserve to apply total pressure. I watched an angler fishing the the TT, a few weeks ago, it took him a good ten minutes to land a double figure Barb. The fish was returned only for it to go belly up some minutes later, the person involved told me it went as stiff as a board(never heard of that one, any comment), he was nursing it for over 3/4 of an hour, on the point of me leaving. I really hope it was ok, it should have been as its gills were moving well.
 
I play the fish fairly hard and get the fish in ASAP, as others have said thats best for the fish, I@v seen it many a time on the Wye where anglers are fishing with undergunned feeder rods and take an age to get the fish in. We all enjoy the scrap from the Barbel but fish safety should be top of the list.
 
Playing Barbel

Hi Stuart,
Learning how to play Barbel is part of the learning experience that we all have to go through. Make sure that your tackle is adequate for the job in hand firstly and then you can confidently pursuade your adversary to come to the net before she is totally exhausted.
Regards,
Graham.
 
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