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Still water barbel

Lee White

Lee White

Senior Member
So after a debate with someone over there pb barbel which is from a still water it got me thinking
What is the biggest still water barbel caught
 
This wasn’t ment to be the usual barbel should only swim in rivers debate it was just a genuine question as to what is the biggest caught from a Stillwater was the biggest I could fined was 16lb and some but I agree barbel should live in rivers but this is today’s society
 
Weston Pools, up Oswestry way (a commie), has them to double figures. Lots of commies have them now, but my opinion is they're short lived. I had 60lb of them, averaging 3lb or so in a club match earlier this year, they do actually go a bit on match pole gear.
 
I suppose growing them commercially is like all other fish most probably grow them up to c6 now I don’t know how long a barbel would take to get to double figure basically force feed growth pellets all it’s life I’m assuming this could be done in 5-6 yrs also when there getting that size the farms are only keeping the bigger ones year on year so they have the cream of the crop price wise I wouldn’t like to guess but to grow it for 5/6 yrs they won’t be cheap
 
The only rational objection is if/when fish are nicked from rivers, or if barbel actually do suffer in a specific stillwater. A friend of mine fishes the Trent regularly. He also happened to join a reasonably exclusive stillwater that happened to have had some barbel stocked (legitimately). I think at one time he wasn't too enamoured with the prospect of barbel in stillwaters. He's now caught plenty of them from this water. They are often fairly large, vigorous, colourful and in excellent condition. I think he was anticipating them being small, undernourished, torpid and anaemic-looking things, as many suggest they will be. He seems a lot less bothered about stillwater barbel these days.

Lee White said:
So after a debate with someone over there pb barbel which is from a still water it got me thinking
What is the biggest still water barbel caught
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I've no idea. However, there was a time that a large local gravel pit was reputed to have produced a barbel; that exceeded the then river record of the nearest river. That would come nowhere near to the national record of the time, let alone now.
 
Chris Jones said:
The only rational objection is if/when fish are nicked from rivers, or if barbel actually do suffer in a specific stillwater. A friend of mine fishes the Trent regularly. He also happened to join a reasonably exclusive stillwater that happened to have had some barbel stocked (legitimately). I think at one time he wasn't too enamoured with the prospect of barbel in stillwaters. He's now caught plenty of them from this water. They are often fairly large, vigorous, colourful and in excellent condition. I think he was anticipating them being small, undernourished, torpid and anaemic-looking things, as many suggest they will be. He seems a lot less bothered about stillwater barbel these days.



I've no idea. However, there was a time that a large local gravel pit was reputed to have produced a barber; that exceeded the then river record of the nearest river. That would come nowhere near to the national record of the time, let alone now.
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Would that be the pit a mile or two from us Chris?
 
Neil Blood said:
What I don’t understand, is when a new stillwater syndicate or commercial fishery opens and claims to offer double figure Barbel, where did the fish come from?
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Ive heard pretty reputable stories about a fishery in Berkshire that had barbel and other fish taken from a nearby stretch of the Thames 🤬
 
A few years back we were all horrified on here with pond barbel stockings. Then we had the Otter carnage, personally not so worried about stillwater Barbel now. But they do belong in rivers without a doubt. Now the biggest gripe and rightly so is pollution.
 
Few years ago a club in the cotswolds stocked a fair quantity of chub and barbel no bigger than a lb into one of there match style lakes.
Strange thing was hardly any were caught and they just disappeared !!! so I heard.
 
Whilst I’m not exactly thrilled with the idea of Stillwater Barbel it’s a an interesting topic in terms of the future of fishing. There sadly may come a time when our rivers aren’t a suitable environment for them or a feasible prospect for us as Anglers for a variety of reasons not just pollution.
I don’t fancy a Barbels chances as a snake lake inhabitant and again, I’m not sure where that stack them in way of stocking a fishery has its future in terms of welfare. In a 50 acre gin clear lake, the kind of place that Carp anglers chase a small number of fish could well be a viable home for them with its deep waters and gravel bars, some of these large lakes at times may have greater water movement and oxygen levels than many rivers the fish currently swim in.

It’s an interesting if not slightly depressing concept but the future of our sport could well be in that most unlikely place.
 
There is lots of emotive stuff from barbel anglers regarding barbel being in stillwaters; I reckon they just need the environment to be wet with enough oxygen and food to live👍

Its only barbel anglers that are bothered, and of course that is totally fair enough.

ATB
 
They can certainly survive and grow in stillwaters, not sure if they can breed though? I would doubt it.

Stillwater barbel angling wouldn't be for me, but each to their own.
 
Joe Winstanley said:
not sure if they can breed though?
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I'm pretty certain they can't/don't and their spawning in stillwaters hasn't been documented. As a species, I think they're even relatively selective about spawning grounds in their natural habitats.

If the above is true, any stockings or existence in stillwaters due to floods are going to be fleeting.

They can obviously survive and grow in stillwaters and I think we're in danger of anthropomorphising if we start questioning if they're 'happy' or words to that effect, but in my book - if they were meant to be there, they'd be spawning like the other species. I'd certainly question some of the examples of unhealthy-looking, pale fish that I've seen in photos/online. I'd assume these fish are from the muddier, less oxygenated and more heavily stocked fisheries where they have been introduced.

I think the question from the OP is an interesting one, regarding how big they can get. The 16lb fish mentioned was definitely a surprise! To my knowledge, they're not hugely prevalent in higher weights in many stillwaters (not the ones I'm aware of anyway) - which is possibly at odds with the length of time they've been in there, in some cases. Especially factoring in the amount of bait these types of venues see, even considering their higher biomasses. That would suggest to me that they're merely surviving, rather than thriving... I'd imagine they'd do 'better' in mixed fisheries where carp aren't present, but that's just an educated guess.
 
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