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Spawning Barbel

Paul Boyle

Paul Boyle

Senior Member
Carrying on from the from the close season thread.

Does anyone think its a good idea to fish for our beloved barbel when spawning ? surely not .

Some have voted on the poll that there is no point in a closed season .. keeping that in mind if the closed season was dropped Barbel would be fished while spawning ..with a closed season they would be allowed to spawn without being fished for .. for most part.

With all the pro's and cons weighed up surly fishing for Barbel while spawning would be a good enough reason to keep a closed season !

thoughts please
 
People do fish for spawning barbel after the 16th as would anglers do before this date if allowed (some do when not allowed, do barbel like worms!) no one should do this regardless which makes the closed season dates irrelevant. More to rivers than just barbel.
Anyhow, barbel don't feed when spawning, or so were told, not altogether true that!
Maybe we could have some flexibility here regards dates to minimize pressure..
 
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Hi Paul

my vote was for a close season with reviewed dates ;)

john
 
It's a difficult one...... I've caught out of season Trout shedding milt and eggs and I've caught 'In Season' Chub doing the same (although never Barbel) but that's ok 'cos they're not spawning.........
You can't legislate for seasons........... And to have a closed season to 'protect spawning fish' IS farcical !!!
HOWEVER I do still support the traditional Closed Season as it gives the fish AND the environment time to recover. I'm sure that most fish will spawn more readily without the pressure of angling........ And I still love getting back to the river in June and finding overgrown banks....
Just my thoughts.......
 
There's only one thing to do when barbel are spawning in my opinion, take the Polaroids and get to as many spawning beds along the river as possible to count the fish.
I don't think any serious angler would cast a bait at spawning fish but there will always be some lunatic that will!
How many fish for tench through the closed season though.
 
In my experience, you simply can't catch a fish that's in the throes of spawning. Unsurprisingly, they just aren't interested in anything else at the time. Despite having little regard for the closed season (though I abide by the laws as they stand), I don't wish to fish for, and don't deliberately target, gravid fish of any species.

However, I do find it a little strange that fishing for gravid fish of certain species seems to be perfectly acceptable, yet for others it isn't. No one says a thing about people deliberately targeting pike in late winter/early spring. In fact I'd suggest that it's considered perfectly normal. Pikers talk about catching pike at their maximum weights, which in reality means when the big females are gravid. Suggest the same for other species and you are likely to face a lynch mob. The strangest contradiction is that there will be the odd piker, that happens to be more of an all-rounder, that would be part of the lynch mob.
 
And of course Tench that were full of spawn, it was not at all frowned upon and was a chance to catch a record 'shaker'
 
I wouldn't fish purposely for any gravid fish, however there are those that would and do even during the closed season. :mad:
 
Dave because we have fished same waters at times i know you know that fish wont feed when going through the motions but will feed right up to actually just prior to laying the eggs or milt and immediately after finishing so is it right or wrong?
my immediate thought is and always will be dont fish if the fish are, because weak fish aint no fun to catch:)
 
Graham Young said:
I wouldn't fish purposely for any gravid fish, however there are those that would and do even during the closed season. :mad:
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This is the absurdity of the whole situation - why theres even a branch of our sport which is based solely on fishing for a species with only one thing ie spawning, on its mind, it brings in many millions of pounds though and nobody ever raises any objections about it - its called Salmon fishing...........;)
 
Should we fish for barbel when they are spawning ? Well unless you can see them , how would you know if they are spawning or not ? Re the ethic of fishing for gravid fish , well as some have already remarked this with some species is seen as totally acceptable / common practice . With regard to barbel , well I often read the comment , ''fish at the back end of the season for a chance to catch a big barbel at it's maximum weight'' . All the big ones are female , so if we follow this suggestion are we targetting gravid fish who are getting fatter due to containing spawn ? I am no expert so I do not know when the barbel start filling with spawn , however it is clearly not overnight
 
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John Walker said:
Dave because we have fished same waters at times i know you know that fish wont feed when going through the motions but will feed right up to actually just prior to laying the eggs or milt and immediately after finishing so is it right or wrong?
my immediate thought is and always will be dont fish if the fish are, because weak fish aint no fun to catch:)
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John, it's wrong but people do after the 16th, People also do with tench and carp, how many big tench have been caught with a belly gut of spawn looking like footballs, And your also right John about feeding, carp spawning, you don't need tackle, just a landing net, i had a 20+ once jump out the water and land in my lap...lol
My point really being we don't need a enforced close season to protect spawning fish, we just need spawning fish to be protected whenever they do it.
 
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Is it so much "Spawning fish", or just giving the river a chance to "Recover"??
I have been out today and watched Barbel (quite surprised myself too), and they were appearing where they would not usually, when/if line and leads are being thrown out daily! Maybe they do need a rest from us, as we need from them...
 
Shaun Nurse said:
Is it so much "Spawning fish", or just giving the river a chance to "Recover"??
I have been out today and watched Barbel (quite surprised myself too), and they were appearing where they would not usually, when/if line and leads are being thrown out daily! Maybe they do need a rest from us...
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Quite agree, they do.
 
Spot on Shaun. As has been said previously, there are no scientific reasons, certainly none that will stand up to close inspection.....in support of either side in this debate. However, most of us with a conscience just felt that there was something not quite right about it when they did away with the closed season for non flowing waters. It just felt WRONG. Even those of us who eventually succumbed to temptation and fished still waters during the old closed season...did so with a feeling of guilt and unease.

To do away with the closed season altogether would definitely devalue the whole thing somehow for me. I can't explain it better than that, it is just the way I feel, a personal thing. To me it would be like knocking down the last bastions of tradition...I don't know why, but I know that it would bother me a lot. And like you, I certainly do feel that the fish benefit from the break. Even if a few anglers do cheat and continue to fish the rivers, the ecosystem will, in my opinion, benefit from the general lay off. I too see the fish coming out of hiding during the close...acting as the never do during the season, showing no fear, almost as if the know they are safe. The lack of full on pressure must very obviously be a blessed relief for them.

I suppose I see it this way because I am old, guilty of 'old fashioned thinking'...I need to 'get with it'....I need to 'progress'. I do agree there is some truth in that, because as any of the younger set will tell you, being old means being stupid, unimaginative...and bereft of knowledge of any sort, certainly anything worth knowing. So, I guess I had better do as they say....progress, join in with young set, get with it, learn the new wise ways.

Of course that would mean that I would be joining a group who have adopted such moronic life styles that they have now become the first generation in history to have shorter predicted life spans than their parents, where pre-teen youngsters, again for the first time in history, are dying from heart failure...where obesity in younsters has become the norm.

Not to worry though....we would be able to fish all year round. for a while. Sorted!

Cheers, Dave.
 
nice post shaun:) a calm collected and sensible post mate,

Dave we both agree not only on this but lots of other stuff too, beleive it or not i have actually stroked a couple of carp in the close seaon and theres no reaso why this cannot be done with barbel in the right time and conditions
 
David Gauntlett said:
Spot on Shaun. As has been said previously, there are no scientific reasons, certainly none that will stand up to close inspection.....in support of either side in this debate. However, most of us with a conscience just felt that there was something not quite right about it when they did away with the closed season for non flowing waters. It just felt WRONG. Even those of us who eventually succumbed to temptation and fished still waters during the old closed season...did so with a feeling of guilt and unease.

To do away with the closed season altogether would definitely devalue the whole thing somehow for me. I can't explain it better than that, it is just the way I feel, a personal thing. To me it would be like knocking down the last bastions of tradition...I don't know why, but I know that it would bother me a lot. And like you, I certainly do feel that the fish benefit from the break. Even if a few anglers do cheat and continue to fish the rivers, the ecosystem will, in my opinion, benefit from the general lay off. I too see the fish coming out of hiding during the close...acting as the never do during the season, showing no fear, almost as if the know they are safe. The lack of full on pressure must very obviously be a blessed relief for them.

I suppose I see it this way because I am old, guilty of 'old fashioned thinking'...I need to 'get with it'....I need to 'progress'. I do agree there is some truth in that, because as any of the younger set will tell you, being old means being stupid, unimaginative...and bereft of knowledge of any sort, certainly anything worth knowing. So, I guess I had better do as they say....progress, join in with young set, get with it, learn the new wise ways.

Of course that would mean that I would be joining a group who have adopted such moronic life styles that they have now become the first generation in history to have shorter predicted life spans than their parents, where pre-teen youngsters, again for the first time in history, are dying from heart failure...where obesity in younsters has become the norm.

Not to worry though....we would be able to fish all year round. for a while. Sorted!

Cheers, Dave.
Click to expand...

It didn,t stop you though did it. Them few words make the rest of your post laughable. ;)
 
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