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SAD REALISATION

Steven Hodges said:
In Feb 2020 we had record flood levels on the Lower Severn, over 7 metres at Kempsey. The floods started to subside at the beginning of March and the river became fishable for the last 10 days of the season and the Barbel were still around and the river fished well, I personally caught 14 Barbel during the last week of the season so these floods did not get rid of the barbel as some have suggested. Since then the barbel would have moved upriver to spawn around Diglis/Teme mouth where I suspect they could have subject to predation. It is also very worrying that the Chub and Bream shoals seem to have disappeared also.
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But why would this not have happened the previous year i.e. possible predation during spawning?
 
Terry Harman said:
when have i ever said anything about secret otter farms i’m talking about natural england and otter sanctuary,s there’s nothing secret about it.... in actual fact they are quite blatant and blasé about it perhaps you can point me in the direction of the research and studies done prior to the ren
introduction of the ottter
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Sorry Terry, I missed your comment.

When you refer to Natural England and otter sanctuary's what do you mean?
 
At the start of the 2019 season the river was unfishable with 5 metre plus levels and had been high during the preceding close season so the spawning Barbel would have had a good depth of water when spawning. Contrast that to the start of this season and we had prolonged very low water levels through much of the spring/summer so spawning Barbel would have been in much shallower water this year on the spawning beds and therefore much more susceptible to predation. That is what I believe is the difference between last season and this.
 
Joe Winstanley said:
Sorry Terry, I missed your comment.

When you refer to Natural England and otter sanctuary's what do you mean?
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Joe Winstanley said:
Sorry Terry, I missed your comment.

When you refer to Natural England and otter sanctuary's what do you mean?
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doesn’t really matter joe you won’t change my mind and i won’t change yours
and we are all going round in circles
 
Steven Hodges said:
At the start of the 2019 season the river was unfishable with 5 metre plus levels and had been high during the preceding close season so the spawning Barbel would have had a good depth of water when spawning. Contrast that to the start of this season and we had prolonged very low water levels through much of the spring/summer so spawning Barbel would have been in much shallower water this year on the spawning beds and therefore much more susceptible to predation. That is what I believe is the difference between last season and this.
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Hi Steven
I didn't bother this season to rejoin the lower Severn stretch you fish. Many reasons but the deciding factor was the constant appearance of otters. When I joined in 2017 I never once in probably 15-20 sessions that season saw even one otter. Fast forward to the 2019 season and I literally encountered otters on every single session. My sessions were nearly always early evening into darkness.
 
Stephen Crowhurst said:
Playing devils advocate a little bit can you name a fish species that IS doing well as a long to medium term trend? Without artificial stocking.
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Roach are off the scale right now, they've had a real comeback, even on the Wensum.
Dace also. Check out the Roach fishing FB group page and the Roach, dace and chub fishing FB group page.
 
Has anyone seen the huge rivers in flood in France over the last year, especially the Tarn? And yet the barbel have been caught this season, as they


have done in previous seasons.
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Also re otter predation. Is it just a coincidence that the upper Lea has a very healthy, with mixed year classes, population of barbel and yet there has been no otter predation. Funny that.
The upper Lea in summer is also heavily subsidised by the sewage works outfall, that process the effluent for the whole of Luton. Yet, the coarse fish population is heathy and stable. Quite puzzling.
 
Responding to the last two posts:
I have caught more chub on the middle Trent this season than combined for the last ten seasons. Fish ranging from 8oz to 5lb 12oz. All caught while barbel fishing and trying not to catch them by ignoring bites and using long hairs.
Also, why are there no otters on the upper Lea? They seem to be everywhere else. I've even seen them in the middle of Nottingham on the Victoria Embankment.
 
Chris Guy said:
Has anyone seen the huge rivers in flood in France over the last year, especially the Tarn? And yet the barbel have been caught this season, as they


have done in previous seasons.
View attachment 13345View attachment 13344
Also re otter predation. Is it just a coincidence that the upper Lea has a very healthy, with mixed year classes, population of barbel and yet there has been no otter predation. Funny that.
The upper Lea in summer is also heavily subsidised by the sewage works outfall, that process the effluent for the whole of Luton. Yet, the coarse fish population is heathy and stable. Quite puzzling.
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Ahh this huge irony that somehow dirtier rivers are better than the tap water so called clean rivers that we strive for. Well I have said before on my what was local Bristol Avon it was great fishing for all species when there was a distinct level of pollution. Suspended organic solids seem to improve the welfare of coarse fish, but not chemical waste, of course.
 
Paul Collins said:
The club waters on the upper Lea are fished very heavily during the day and one is regularly fished until midnight.
Seems to be working.
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The public footpath that runs along the Ivel on the Back Meadows of the Ivel is constantly busy, plus it probably the most heaviest fished part of the Ivel. Virtually all the barbel there have gone down otters throats.
As far as people on the bank on the Lea till midnight, only mid summer maybe. This time of year 6pm.
Otters aren't shy of humans any more, I actually had one hunting close to me four 4weeks ago. It just looked at me and carried on.
At this moment in time on the Ouse near Bromham, there's a group of five otters being hand fed every day by some kind member of the public. 😡
This little video shows you how shy otters have become of humans in Thetford.
 
As a bit of an aside, has anyone seen the documentary on Netflix, 'My Octopus Teacher'?
 
Chris Guy said:
No, I did see The Octopus In My House. Wonderful study.
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That is fascinating too, Chris! In fact, I am trying to find that again, I don't suppose you know on what it is available do you?
Check it out if you can; it's the telling of a wonderful relationship between man and the natural world, taught by an octopus!
 
Alex Gowney said:
And as Lawrence says, the Windrush is a river that appears to be in the same condition as 30 years ago, just without the fish.
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For the last ten years or more the Windrush below Witney has been a victim of raw sewage being pumped in regularly by Thames Water - Google Windrush against sewage pollution W.A.S.P. I fish it from the top of my garden and elsewhere. I had a resident mink and water voles. Only the water voles are left now. Windrush water voles are such brutes.
 
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