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Recovery

Paul Boyle

Paul Boyle

Senior Member
Hi all

Had my first day of the new season last night and it was great to be out .
Had a little bit of a worry i must admit ,first Barbal of the season and i though i had lost it,when i say lost i mean killed it, it must have taken about 6 /7 mins to recover and swim back to its place in the river.
Ive never know a Barbal to do this,it was compleatly lifeless and then recovered and took off pretty smartish to my relief ,thank god i thought.
I can only presume it was the heat ,it wasnt a long fight it put up ,i think i had landed it within 2 mins or so and rested it on in the landing net.

Like i said ive never has this happen before and the fish was in very good condition,hope this never happens to me again and would like some advise please..was the heat ??or just one of those things ??
The fish was about 4/5 lbs and was taken at 10;35 pm

Cheers

Paul.
 
Paul Boyle said:
Hi all

Had my first day of the new season last night and it was great to be out .
Had a little bit of a worry i must admit ,first Barbal of the season and i though i had lost it,when i say lost i mean killed it, it must have taken about 6 /7 mins to recover and swim back to its place in the river.
Ive never know a Barbal to do this,it was compleatly lifeless and then recovered and took off pretty smartish to my relief ,thank god i thought.
I can only presume it was the heat ,it wasnt a long fight it put up ,i think i had landed it within 2 mins or so and rested it on in the landing net.

Like i said ive never has this happen before and the fish was in very good condition,hope this never happens to me again and would like some advise please..was the heat ??or just one of those things ??
The fish was about 4/5 lbs and was taken at 10;35 pm

Cheers

Paul.
Click to expand...

Paul

Did you rest it in the net before you unhooked?

Chris
 
Yes i did for about 5 mins or so...it wasn't a just lift it out and put it back job.
:).
I was thinking about this today at work..im not sure but perhaps after a long hot day it can be life threatening to fish for barbal ,low oxygen level in the water ?i know very little about this ,so was looking for some help ?
 
Paul,

I would not think the water has heated up and reduced in flow so much as to cause any problems yet, it could be that the fish was fairly fresh from spawning and generally knackered from that, in need of some food to re-build it's energy and it happened to pick up your bait............

To be honest though I often rest fish for 10 to 20mins to make really sure they are ready to go.

I do however sometimes notice they seem to just lay on the bottom of the net, often on their side but with the mouth and gills going fast so they are breathing........always right them but not sure it matters to be honest. I think if the gills and mouth are working well they will recover.........
 
knacked out barbel, so much for the 16th of june been the ideal start of the river season.
shouldn't it be the 16th july?
it's going to be hot all week, i'm tempted to stick to the lakes.
 
It's a little known fact that dissolved o2 levels are lower at night than they are during daylight, particularly in weedy water, having said that at 10.30pm they should be at their highest as at this time of the year it is only just dusk.

Another thing which will strip the o2 is an algae bloom which is dying off. This is typified by a brown staining to the river and is common on the Severn.

Until recently Severn anglers, in their ignorance, used to think this was a peat stain and coincided with compensation water being released from the dam, however, I was not so sure so about ten years ago I had a few samples tested by Severn Trent, (a relative worked for them), and confirmed my own suspicions that the brown stain was dead algae. I have posted on this subject several times on the Severn thread on the old board and think the message is finally getting through as I recently noticed a high profile Severn angler saying the same thing in an article on a blog.

I also think that sometimes they go into shock after capture and it takes no end of nursing to bring them back.
Back in the day the old Severn match men would see the odd one go belly up in the keep net, because you cant weigh in a dead fish they would scoop them out and if the net was in deep water they would drop them from a couple of foot head first into the net. Invariably this would bring them round. Now I'm not advocating that we should adopt this as a tactic but it was rare indeed to see a dead barbel after a match. ;)

Today, despite our best efforts we have no idea what happens to them after we have returned them and I bet most of the people reading this will have seen a dead barbel floating down the river in the first week or two of the season. Perhaps in these days of fish friendly keepnets it's time we re-thought our ideas about retaining fish after capture and perhaps one of the major tackle companies should come up with a retention system along the lines of the old Queensford system.
 
Thanks for the replys.

I also think that sometimes they go into shock after capture and it takes no end of nursing to bring them back.

That sounds just about right Adrian and also the presure of spawning plus the heat ? ,the barbal was acting dead ,not moving and turning belly up.The fish was however in tip top condition .it was about 4/5 lbs dark brown with huge red fins ,very healthy looking ,slim and lean.
It was my first day on the river dove and i was quite shocked when i thought it would die,first fish on a new river dead ....not good .

Has anyone any idea how old a fish of this size could be ??

Paul
 
Definately time to be very mindfull of the poor river conditions, low levels, rapidly warming water, post spawning, tired fish, be very considerate, leave them in the net for unhooking, let them recover, DO YOU REALLY NEED TO WEIGH/PHOTOGRAPH?, you might get a nice piccy, but the fish might keelover, think about the fish first, ego 2nd!
peter
 
I also think that sometimes they go into shock after capture and it takes no end of nursing to bring them back.



I've seen two Barbel die like this, i believe the stress of a hard fight brought on a stroke in both of them, though it appeared the anglers ( both experienced - one very very ) did absolutly nothing wrong, and i felt it was a case of there but for the grace of god go i !

It appears to me from what you say Paul neither did you do anything wrong, one of those unlucky times, like Crooky says maybe an already tired fish, and the fight left it with no energy to hold itself upright.

No one is more concerned for fish welfare than me, but we have to accept that just doing what we do, may result in very rare circumstances in the death of a fish, i've had tired fish in my net, but never close to death, i play a fish rarely for more than two minutes, most of the time well inside that, they don't get time to get tired, but even so ..... there but for the grace ....

Ian.


Edit...
Nothing to do with these circumstances but by far the majority of Barbel deaths are caused by inexperienced anglers keeping the fish out of water for photo's far too long, looking for little spots, or pondering on it's lovely flank, ... oh better get my camera set up for a photo....
4 mins later 2 or 3 photos, the Barbel stands no chance.

Sometimes they are released far too early, watch for gills moving rapidly this means it's hyperventilating, wait until the gills are moving slowly and rythmicaly, before releasing.
 
Last edited:
As has been mentioned just keep them in the landing net facing upstream for a while - don't take them out to unhook right away.

As long as it takes to get your breath back, and, if it's a good fish, to sort scales, get camera all set up with dummy practice shots of you looking like a plum holding nothing above a matt is probably about 10 mins anyway.

Then think about bringing the fish out to unhook. No rush on that imo. Cup of tea is nice at that point anyway.

I try not to keep them out for longer than about 2 mins. Quick rattle of snaps either side and get them back in the landing net to rest again before release.

Strong tackle means you can get them in quickly so its not a massive test of strength for them.

I always try to get them back quick and then think I would have liked a better look, but I stare at them in the landing net and have more pics of fish in landing nets than anything else!

All good advice I received on here and from family.
 
I've had fish just like this in the past; exactly the same scenario, just finished spawning, looked in good condition but didn't put up a big fight and then took ages to recover. Hot weather, low water and low oxygen levels in the water all seem to contribute.
Last year I had three Barbel in a row all behaving like Chub rather than Barbel in the hot spell at the start of the season. I eventual thought just best not to fish that particular bit of river for a few days.
At least the fish has spawned, which is good news. Better than catching them just before spawning which may not be so harmful to the individual fish, but is more harmful to future generations. Hence the timing of the close season.
In the end, you did everything you could, it just happens. It is only a fish after all, so no need to beat yourself up.
 
Hi

Me and the people I fish with always use carp keepsacks for the barbel and usually keep them in it till the end of a session. They are never harmed and are always chomping at the bit when they are released. You can get a photo and release them with no worries of them going belly up as they've had a good rest ;).
 
Ray...Although you show good intent, it is not really the way to do it especially in summer and hot weather especially with barbel. I know of a few incidents with carp sacks where barbel and other species have been unwittingly killed through inexperience and neglect and thinking they would be safe.
Many clubs and fisheries state in their rules 'no barbel in keepnets or sacks' so this needs to be checked out!
Secondly, you cannot ‘visually’ see into a carp sack as they are not transparent, and to where a barbel or other species could easily turn belly up unnoticed and die, if not checked consistently every few minutes. They can turn sideways and suck in air or drown which can kill them also. They could also be starved of oxygen and suffer heatstroke, especially at this time of year in summer. Dark coloured material absorbs heat from the sun.
Placing them in the landing net in the river flow is the much better option when practical, and then releasing when fully recovered. An open large weigh sling is the next best option to nurse the fish by hand and aid recovery safely.
At this time of year and especially after spawning, you might have to nurse and help the barbel to recover for ‘hours’. It should not be rushed even if it spoils your day out fishing where you know you can catch more.
Letting them go without taking a photo and weighing will quicken the recovery after capture, providing that they are fit and ready for release. Leaving them in the landing net to recover their strength and not bringing them straight onto the bank after capture, is of prime importance, when practical… both welfare initiatives as mentioned by others above.
It must be expressed that carp are much more tolerant to 'lower' oxygen levels than barbel and that barbel require much more attention to their welfare at the time of capture and the time being out of the water.
Most educated anglers apply the same amount of care to both species.
Another way that you can tell if a barbel has stabilized itself and is recovering is to tilt the barbel to one side in the water and check its eyes.
When tilting, the eyeball should move downwards or upwards instantly, the opposite way to the tilt. Check both eyes of the fish when in the water.
If the eye moves the same way of the tilt, i.e. fixed in the position, then it has not recovered and something is still wrong. The exception to this is when the fish has a blind eye and is fixed permanently.
….Ray
 
Great post Ray. :)

Unfortunately one of our major barbel rivers in the North West - the Ribble - is suffering a serious lack of water and has been for many weeks. Being a spate river, when it's low, it's very low - almost a trickle and at the moment it's as low as i've ever seen it. I think back to my Trent days, and back further on the North Yorks rivers and i've never seen a river in such a dour state. Those just mentioned don't suffer in the same way during drought periods as there is always some flow.

Dead barbel were observed on some of the Ribbles tributaries well before the season opened - spawning casualties perhaps? Certainly caused by the conditions and not poor handling by anglers. Having said that - if a barbel can keel over and die simply due to the poor conditions of the river i can't imagine anyone wanting to actually fish for them in such conditions. I've fished the river just once this season - and that was after carp! The barbel i think will be best left alone until the situation improves.
 
Andy
I saw a Barbel 6lbish belly up last week just after the season started.
Do you remember how many where lost last season when there was marginally more water?
Like you say best left alone until we have some water,last season i had a fish 11lbish that took nearly 30 mins before she was strong enough to go and i didnt even take her out of the water for photos:(
 
Andrew...I have seen this before where the discharged sewage effluent etc becomes concentrated with less dilution available in low summer levels and flows. The effluent lowers the Oxygen content of the river causing less tolerant fish like barbel to become 'stressed' and at high risk at this time. Some of the sewage effluent ingredients become more toxic in hot temperatures.
On catching a barbel in these conditions, it may not recover at all, even when nursed.
Some clubs and fisheries impose rules regarding 'No weighing or photographing' fish captures in hot weather when the water temperature reaches 68F+. Some may temporarily stop the fishing and even close the venue to preserve and protect the barbel and other species.
 
Indeed John - sadly i do remember - some very good fish lost last year.

Spot on again Ray! In conversation with the local EA Baliff recently and he expressed the concern over flash polution incedents that pass through undetected at such times - or at least un-tracable. Stagnent water in ditches and drains builds up and when flushed into the river by a heavy spell of rain can cause a huge drop in oxygen levels for a short period as it passes through - rather than improve the river it actualy gets worse! - likewise a one off industrial or commercial discharge - something as simple as using the wrong drain - can wipe out an entire stretch of river - as has been seen on the Tame recently.
 
3 or 4 years ago during the hot month of July when it really was proper hot, BRPS,the club i was in at the time banned fishing on the river during this time, annoying as it was, a good call.
 
The problem, or correctly one of the many problems, on the Tame last year was one of a massive plug of de oxygenated water entering the river in one go. This is caused by large rainstorms, which have de oxygenated water in them, flowing more or less directly into the river systems around large conurbations such as Birmingham. The Tesco's car park effect. Every bit of free ground in Birmingham is now a Tesco's car park, nearly every front garden has also been paved over to make way for more car parking. Sudden rain storms now flood every dip in the roads round here and then run of into storm drains and eventually into the Tame. Next to none is soaked up through the ground and discharged over a period of time. This all exacerbated by the many thousands of misconected households in Birmingham, whose bath water etc. drains straight into the ground rather than the sewerage system. Misconections are now the householders problem rather than the water companies, so who cares!
The chances of a river like the Tame ever recovering are virtually zero, but the same will happen in less urban areas with the amount of large car parks and building going on these days.
I cannot understand how we used to cope in the olden days (all of 20 years ago) without a massive supermarket car park on every road island in England.
 
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