Steve Lewis
Senior Member
The concrete channel has been there for as long as I've known it, so at least since the early-mid 80s. So you could well be right old man
. But it's the weir in the memorial park I'm thinking of - way too high for even the most adventurous barbel to get over. I'm sure one or two would have got in during proper floods, but there have only been a couple that major that they went over the weir lip.
As for the BA below Keynsham - Keynsham weir is the furthest down I've ever known to be properly targeted by barbel anglers, and even that was a bit of a blip in the system as the "traditional" cut-off point was always Bathampton weir. Below that and down to the top of the tidal bit (aside from Keynsham weir) it's VERY deep, VERY slow, very few features, and almost canal like with a thick clay bottom, and all those areas have only ever been known for bream, roach and pike (and small eels - thousands of small eels). I'm not even sure I can recall a "freak" barbel capture anywhere down there, and I'm sure one would have been reported if caught during a match back in the days when matches were a regular occurrence and attended by hundreds of anglers (even Merv Haskins, who knew those lower reaches like the back of his hand, ventured further up to Claverton and Freshford for his barbel fishing).
Keynsham weir and the bit around the marina itself - there ARE still barbel there (you can often see them basking on the gravel in the summer, and I've seen several big girls), but most of that whole area is now a private carp syndicate (£160 a year with a waiting list the last time I asked about it, purely out of incredulous interest given it all used to be free fishing round there back in the 90s), with a small bit I think with Keynsham AA.
Chew grayling - I know absolutely nothing about the uppermost reaches, but there are a LOT around Chewton Keynsham and Compton Dando (which is where most of the barbel stockings have taken place), but they thin out by the time you get to Keynsham (primarily because the water is too slow running).
And Keynsham park - I'm sure I've mentioned on here before I had a go once and NEVER had the desire to do it again. Urban fishing just doesn't appeal to me at all. You boys that do enjoy it are all masochists, FACT!
. But it's the weir in the memorial park I'm thinking of - way too high for even the most adventurous barbel to get over. I'm sure one or two would have got in during proper floods, but there have only been a couple that major that they went over the weir lip.As for the BA below Keynsham - Keynsham weir is the furthest down I've ever known to be properly targeted by barbel anglers, and even that was a bit of a blip in the system as the "traditional" cut-off point was always Bathampton weir. Below that and down to the top of the tidal bit (aside from Keynsham weir) it's VERY deep, VERY slow, very few features, and almost canal like with a thick clay bottom, and all those areas have only ever been known for bream, roach and pike (and small eels - thousands of small eels). I'm not even sure I can recall a "freak" barbel capture anywhere down there, and I'm sure one would have been reported if caught during a match back in the days when matches were a regular occurrence and attended by hundreds of anglers (even Merv Haskins, who knew those lower reaches like the back of his hand, ventured further up to Claverton and Freshford for his barbel fishing).
Keynsham weir and the bit around the marina itself - there ARE still barbel there (you can often see them basking on the gravel in the summer, and I've seen several big girls), but most of that whole area is now a private carp syndicate (£160 a year with a waiting list the last time I asked about it, purely out of incredulous interest given it all used to be free fishing round there back in the 90s), with a small bit I think with Keynsham AA.
Chew grayling - I know absolutely nothing about the uppermost reaches, but there are a LOT around Chewton Keynsham and Compton Dando (which is where most of the barbel stockings have taken place), but they thin out by the time you get to Keynsham (primarily because the water is too slow running).
And Keynsham park - I'm sure I've mentioned on here before I had a go once and NEVER had the desire to do it again. Urban fishing just doesn't appeal to me at all. You boys that do enjoy it are all masochists, FACT!
