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river reports

Paul Rogers

Paul Rogers

Senior Member
Having now been a member for several years; one of the reasons for joining was access to the river reports. A post has been put up on the Dorset Stour in the last few days referring to the lack of reports. The individual surmises that the reason for this is we as barbel anglers are being overly protective of our fishing; due to many reasons, the main one being the decline of barbel on many rivers (Except the Trent........if we believe all we hear).
As the reports are only accessible by members, should we be so bad at reporting? As a reply to the original post said, it would help us get a better picture of the health of the rivers if; we as members posted some captures. Of course, we can be selective in the information, as to the stretch/swims; but, at present, I like many would believe nothing is being caught.
I fish the Loddon and Kennet; both being my local rivers; not being able to travel far. My catches for this season have been terrible, only landing five barbel so far; however, as the number of rod hours fished is small (Less than 200 hours combined). My catch rate stands around forty hours per fish, which may not be perceived as bad by some; however, until 2018, it was nearer twelve, there is a big difference.
So, would a discussion, (in a closed private thread if felt more applicable), be a good place to start to encourage openness. For those of you who are also members of the barbel society; you may rember an article I wrote a couple of years ago in "Barbel Fisher" entitled "IS ANGLING A VICTIM OF SOCIAL MEDIA". The premise of the article, that facebook et al has created a secretive and non friendly means of communication that has widened the gap between different groups within our sport, and instead of being a way forward, it has put up barriers as we all realise that far too many are abusing honesty and cause problems.
 
I had a similar conversation with my mate on the river bank earlier this week.

Not about social media, but he was noting the lack of barbel captures in recent months amongst his circle of angling acquaintances. And he is very well connected !

people haven’t just stopped telling him about fish they have caught; they have actually stopped catching.

Our catches mirror that trend. 2 seasons ago we caught from several Thames stretches, last year he caught from 1 place and I blanked where I’d caught previously. This winter he’s fished a lot and caught no barbel at all. I’ve hardly fished until recently so have been chub fishing in the low water conditions. The fish we were catching weren’t old and tatty - they were fit, healthy, growing fish.

He is really worried that there is something going on with our water quality that is either stopping our barbel from feeding like they used to; or worse it’s actually killing them…..

Your point about rod hours is a good one - that’s how I’ve measured my relative success on stillwaters. I’m a general specialist angler and am rapidly coming to the conclusion that fishing for Thames barbel is pretty pointless. I’ve caught some big fish, so logic suggests I should quit and fish for something else instead. If my pal can’t catch them, what chance have I got…..

If this trend is mirrored on lots of other rivers then we need to think about what might be going on and what we might be able to do about it.
 
Tim Marks said:
He is really worried that there is something going on with our water quality that is either stopping our barbel from feeding like they used to; or worse it’s actually killing them…..
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Tim.
This is one big issue. it is a combination of points.
1. the amount of chemical pollution. the ability of fish/barbel to smell/taste any food. Since the lower Kennet has had higher levels of discharge
MORE Noticeable after 2018; (As an example) My results on luncheon meat is non existant. I believe the smell/taste is completely hidden by the pollution.
2. plastic pollution. If fish at sea at found with high quantities in their bodies.......... Also us humans; digestive systems are seeping in these chemicals too. Killing the fish.
3. Less food. Take away the anglers who aren't catching (Match and pleasure anglers); less food for fish to eat. With no weed to support the invertebrates, no natural food. No matches equals no maggots, worms, bread by the bucket load into most swims along the river; fish die due to lack of food. A biomass is only a good as the food and oxygen can support
We need to become a more political, coherent motivated group of individuals, AND WORK WITH OTHER INTEREST GROUPS, many who were seen as enemies, but are all seeking the same thing..............CLEAN RIVERS TO EITHER SUPPORT LIFE or SOMEWHERE HEALTHY TO PARTAKE AND FOLLOW THEIR BELIEF OR HOBBY.
But, my question was, can we start here to communicate instead of being selfish with information that needs to be shared to repair the damage done. We vneed to educate those who "Fish at any cost" and only think of the present not the future, let alone anyone else.
 
I've caught 13 Barbel this season and they were in just two sessions, biggest went 6lb 12oz, and none from the upper Trent. It's been a difficult season for me. I didn't fish much during the hot spell in the summer, so haven't been out as much as I'd have liked, but struggled when I have.

Not fished the Dove for two seasons now, can't really see the point TBH.
 
Simon Archer said:
I've caught 13 Barbel this season and they were in just two sessions, biggest went 6lb 12oz, and none from the upper Trent. It's been a difficult season for me. I didn't fish much during the hot spell in the summer, so haven't been out as much as I'd have liked, but struggled when I have.

Not fished the Dove for two seasons now, can't really see the point TBH.
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Two for me from the H Avon but only fished ten days this year due to distance however only two weeks away from my end of season trip. Can’t wait !
 
Wow! where do we start with this one. I have been fishing the River Nidd for over 30yrs,although I had occasional trips to the Swale have focused on a couple of long lengths of the Nidd knowing that whatever the state of the river I knew where the Barbel would be.I even took a friend of mine once who had never caught a barbel and guaranteed he would catch one.He "said you cant do that ",within half an hour of setting up had caught his first Barbel.
I also used to be a shift worker and so used to fish midweek,would have the length to myself,over the last few years it has been busy midweek and normaly see at least one otter and blanks have become a normal event.Is that angling pressure or Barbel shortage?
Also once a year I holiday in Hampshire/Dorset,fortunate my wife loves it down there.I fish Throop mainly but have a day on the Royalty just because of the atmosphere and history of the place.Have had numerous blanks on Throop,also had PB barbel from there,realise its a "hard water"
Fishing the Royalty had numerous multiple catches of Barbel including a couple of doubles,blanked on my last 2 visits.
I always try to post on here my results,good or bad.I dont think Im a bad angler,not the best but not a clown.I realise that the last few years have had weird weather patterns,if that is relevent I dont know but my catches have deteriorated.
Overfishing.Otters.Water quality or a combination of these and more?
Also when posting I try and put across the atmosphere of the day including birds seen etc.Not a fully fledged "twitcher" but enjoy identifying birds seen.
I also take part in the R.S.P.B gardenwatch.Although having a small garden the first time I participated had 16 different species on my feeders,the last one 6.I think thats why we need to post ,if the lack of fish and birds is a downward trend then it does need to be monitored.
What the answer is,I dont know but the future is depressing.Stay safe all.
 
There's an interesting topic over on the Carp forum, titled " The best of it" about those of us of a certain age have probably seen the best of fishing in one form or another. Some interesting comments about the rise of instant anglers just wanting the catch the latest big named carp, but also how most of us started out by trying to catch tiddlers on the local river/canal/lake, then moved on to others forms of angling. Some good comments.
 
Simon Archer said:
There's an interesting topic over on the Carp forum, titled " The best of it" about those of us of a certain age have probably seen the best of fishing in one form or another. Some interesting comments about the rise of instant anglers just wanting the catch the latest big named carp, but also how most of us started out by trying to catch tiddlers on the local river/canal/lake, then moved on to others forms of angling. Some good comments.
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Do you have a link to it Simon ?
 
My Barbel rivers of a number of years ago. Captures
Thames, about 50pc of days
St Pats about 50pc
Loddon. 70pc
Kennet 95pc

I wouldn't even bother fishing them for barbel now. Life is too Short. Just take advantage of the good chub and perch still around.

I can pop for a couple of days to the Trent and normally expect quite a few good fish. That's enough of barbel for a couple of months, maybe with a Wye or lower Severn day or two in-between if conditions look good. Not that the Lower Severn is a fish a trip now.

I have just compensated by tackling different challenges, the latest is River pike on the fly.

It is true these last couple of years that good barbel conditions have been very limited after prime time from around Sept onwards.

A few rivers, especially up north seem to be showing an improvement however.

I regularly put in reports, but just mention the river and try an avoid swim identification pictures, not just for me but for others benefit that fish locally.

It can give others help with deciding to get out.
 
Hi Guys,
As I have mentioned so many times before, I witnessed the Teme change from a Barbel aquarium ( fish everywhere) to a Barbel desert. This happened quite quickly over a handful of years. I can’t get out as often as I would like so can’t comment accurately now. People have always been helpful on this site ( generally speaking) so I doubt that it is simply people refusing to share information. The fish simply aren’t there to be caught. Sad but true.
G.T.
 
I still post in the river captures but changed my fishing over the last 5 years from fishing easy stretches to not so easy but bigger fish to pretty dam hard for the last 2 years. I used to fish last few hours on an evening 3 times + a week but now tend to do 1 or 2 sessions a week but longer into darkness. The odd occasion I fish my old stretches I haven’t done as well as I used to mind. But I’m at a stage at the minute where I’m happy to blank without the slightest knock with the knowledge that if I get a bite it could be river record whilst having the stretch to myself more often than not
 
All the previous comments I can sympathise with, gone are the sessions you expect to catch, and just content yourself with 'at least I tried " aptitude underlining the thoughts that Barbel numbers are critically low.

If nothing else it hss sorted put the wheat from the chaff, you need to be dedicated just to go now, and perhaps fish for other species, I do because I am of an age where I wasn't aware of Barbel as a target, and nor were my fellow anglers, it was roach chub perch et all, so not really a stretch for me, and in a away a much less volatile more relaxing way.

Don't get me wrong my head is still full of Barbel you cant kick a habit like that easily, hopefully I can still get the occasional fix from the Wye.

As Graham states the Lower Severn is not really viable anymore, what a disaster that is? But is testament to just how bad we have allowed our beautiful rivers to become nothing more than open sewers for benefit of greedy water companies.

Long live BFW for it is for me the only true place that cares enough and expresses it so eloquently without this place I am sure we would all be a lot worse off.
 
Neil Smart said:
All the previous comments I can sympathise with, gone are the sessions you expect to catch, and just content yourself with 'at least I tried " aptitude underlining the thoughts that Barbel numbers are critically low.

If nothing else it hss sorted put the wheat from the chaff, you need to be dedicated just to go now, and perhaps fish for other species, I do because I am of an age where I wasn't aware of Barbel as a target, and nor were my fellow anglers, it was roach chub perch et all, so not really a stretch for me, and in a away a much less volatile more relaxing way.

Don't get me wrong my head is still full of Barbel you cant kick a habit like that easily, hopefully I can still get the occasional fix from the Wye.

As Graham states the Lower Severn is not really viable anymore, what a disaster that is? But is testament to just how bad we have allowed our beautiful rivers to become nothing more than open sewers for benefit of greedy water companies.

Long live BFW for it is for me the only true place that cares enough and expresses it so eloquently without this place I am sure we would all be a lot worse off.
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Wholeheartedly support those sentiments Neil👍.
 
I dont think BFW river reports reflect accurately the state of Barbel fishing largely because relatively few people post catch reports . I am not a big fan of social media but if you dip your toe in the water so to speak, Facebook,for example , reflects a picture of many rivers fishing well for Barbel ,others not so well . Putting aside the big and separate issues of pollution , abstraction etc , I feel that plastering catch reports all over the internet may give us a more accurate picture of how well rivers are fishing but in the long term I think it spoils things for everyone leading to over fishing ,too much bait going in and general bad angling practice . Posting about your catch on social media means dancing a very fine line between sharing your pleasure after a good session and massaging your ego . I like reading the catch reports on BFW , you are sharing with a small select and respectful audience , but word spreads very fast by other means . I know this post sounds a little cynical but I have seen stretches of my local rivers suddenly become saturated with anglers after a a notable catch has been shared widely on social media
 
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Paul Rogers said:
"IS ANGLING A VICTIM OF SOCIAL MEDIA". The premise of the article, that facebook et al has created a secretive and non friendly means of communication that has widened the gap between different groups within our sport, and instead of being a way forward, it has put up barriers as we all realise that far too many are abusing honesty and cause problems.
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Definitely this. A lot of the replies here are talking about the decline in barbel/river fishing (which is a whole topic in itself) but Paul’s point above is, well…on point.

Posting on angling dedicated (or many hobby dedicated) websites like this is in decline. Likewise club forums. Two clubs I’m a member of used to have very active forums, which are now virtually dead as everyone has shifted to Facebook. Those Facebook groups are closed groups and you have to be a member of Facebook to view or join. Whether this is a good or bad thing…who knows. A bad thing for BFW I think as the reports sections dry up.

It’s a difficult topic; as anglers we like to hear about and see others catches but also want to be secret squirrel. It’s Catch-22.
 
Mike Hodgkiss said:
I know this post sounds a little cynical but I have seen stretches of my local rivers suddenly become saturated with anglers after a a notable catch has been shared widely on social media
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Mike, it is a "catch 22" (Sorry for a pun) situation. If the fishing is poor, no one fishing equals no food going in to keep a healthy bio-mass if there is a lack of natural food for it to feed on; or too many fishing spoiling it for the locals, but keeping a supply of food going in to maintain the bio-mass!!!!
Neither situation is perfect; so, what can we do?
Well, do we have to accept that this is only way barbel fishing to survive, is to stock the rivers from Calverton (Or other fish farms), to the level that the River Trent, Nene and a few other rivers have been, to create artifical survival rates to give us the sport we desire! The Trent is only such a big barbel river due to the return of the brood fish not used elsewhere, in numbers far greater than would survive naturally. So, as we have done historically; stocking barbel into rivers that were not their natural home... Severn, Wye, Hampshire Avon etc; do we need to accept that until the rivers; if at all; return to good health; or continue to be polluted sewers that fish are unable to successfully breed in; that this is the ONLY WAY FORWARD.
I may not be happy with this as a solution, but it is a discussion point.
 
Paul , I am no expert but I don't think the amount of bait put in to rivers has any real effect on the bio mass ,however I think anglers chucking in large amounts of bait in popular swims / areas can spoil the fishing in that immediate area . As to stocking rivers and creating an artificial situation . Well I don't know if its a good or a bad thing , largely because there is not one single clearly identified causal factor that has lead to the decline of Barbel numbers in some rivers
 
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Mike Hodgkiss said:
I dont think BFW river reports reflect accurately the state of Barbel fishing largely because relatively few people post catch reports . I am not a big fan of social media but if you dip your toe in the water so to speak, Facebook,for example , reflects a picture of many rivers fishing well for Barbel ,others not so well . Putting aside the big and separate issues of pollution , abstraction etc , I feel that plastering catch reports all over the internet may give us a more accurate picture of how well rivers are fishing but in the long term I think it spoils things for everyone leading to over fishing ,too much bait going in and general bad angling practice . Posting about your catch on social media means dancing a very fine line between sharing your pleasure after a good session and massaging your ego . I like reading the catch reports on BFW , you are sharing with a small select and respectful audience , but word spreads very fast by other means . I know this post sounds a little cynical but I have seen stretches of my local rivers suddenly become saturated with anglers after a a notable catch has been shared widely on social media
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Yes im very much in the same belief here as you mike

To everyone else I fish for me! It might be seen as selfish but at the same time it’s not effecting anyone or the fish in a positive or negative way if I don’t chose to share my experiences. I don’t post my captures in the river reports and I don’t post any information when I do mention a particular capture else where.
I put up the occasional nice photo in the bfw gallery if by chance someone wants to take a pic for me at the time of capture but to be brutally honest im putting the work in so Its my choice if I want to share any reward that might come off the back of it.

There’s enough people in the world that want to tell everyone about what they caught for various different reasons and that’s absolutely fine with me. Some of them I absolutely respect but I’m just not in the same camp.

I think it should be left exactly as it is….. a choice!! Not made to feel like your holding back information some people think they are supposedly entitled too… even if it’s just a picture with no information…… it’s still a choice!

I fish for me! I don’t need an attaboy or well done or great job or a million likes. I’d rather they went to my son because I’ll absolutely share his captures with everyone…… until the point he’s old enough to want to keep afew secrets back himself. 😉
 
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