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Thermometer
- Thread starter John Smith 2
- Start date
Richard Barrett
Senior Member
I carried one for years, and took the temps religiously. Then I thought what's it really told me? Would I still fish after driving to the venue, or return home if I thought it too cold?
Over the years I've caught at times I shouldn't, and not at times I should. I just don't carry one anymore but hay but that's just me!
Over the years I've caught at times I shouldn't, and not at times I should. I just don't carry one anymore but hay but that's just me!
Derek Funcks
Senior Member & Supporter
I hang mine outside the bedroom window, i check it, and then decide whether i'm going fishing or not. 
Steve Walker
Senior Member
I did actually order one of these cheap chinese thermometers,more of an experiment really to see if they could deliver it for the princely total of 99p to the UK.I find the cheap digital aquarium thermometers do the job and are surprisingly accurate.This one from China has a 2m cable is 99p and free postage.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252592683409
How they can do it for that price is beyond me but even if it gets lost in the post you haven't lost much.
To my surprise it arrived safely this morning after 18 days,well packed and in working order.It's a cheap plastic type thing and the only way to switch it off is to remove the 2 little hearing aid type batteries from the back but it does have 2m of cable and seems accurate.
I've compared it to the floating analogue thermometer in my pond and it's reading exactly the same.
How they can send an item from China for 99p including postage is beyond me and when the batteries go it's simply not worth changing them,just order another one.
David Maddison
Senior Member & Supporter
Great Steve, that'll do me. I am still waiting for mine but am aware it can take a month to arrive from China. Not bad for 99p though
Dave
Derek Funcks
Senior Member & Supporter
Ive ordered plenty of stuff from China over the last few years, ( mainly L.E.D. bulbs ), on one order, it had the message, " Delivery will be soon, we use very fast boat " A light switch also came with instructions, " Light on, Dark on "
A light switch also came with instructions, " Light on, Dark on " 
Ray Walton
Senior Member
By keeping records by logging water and air temps, water colour/conditions etc etc...you can eventually learn something on why you catch and more important... .why you don't catch...that is if your interested in how barbel work. Everyone to there own though.
Attachments
Derek Funcks
Senior Member & Supporter
That's a great chart Ray, is it something you designed yourself ?
Derek Funcks
Senior Member & Supporter
With respect Jim, i don't think Ray was trying to be funny, i'm sure he knows the fish don't always play ball. I think the graph is a great idea, something to look back on, just to give an indication on when they " might " want to play. Ya know, certain air/water temps, water colour, time of year etc.
Ray Walton
Senior Member
Yes Derek and a few others to go with it each season. I did those for 6 different years on the same fishery. It's pretty difficult to work out on the smaller pic.
Jim...what's on that graph 'is' taken from personal experience of being on the riverbank in all conditions and logging everything, and it also shows that they don't always play by the rules...especially in winter, and i think i worked out why! As you say, you have to be out there to learn and find out.
Point is that I logged my experiences of being out on the bank and experimenting in all conditions, summer and winter. After learning and analysing, I can now instinctively predict/forecast in my mind when it's worth going out or stay indoors and wait for the more 'perfect' time to go...especially in winter. The thing is that I know I will catch the very same barbel much easier in less time if I wait, and time it right in more favourable conditions. Although I caught a few at a low of 35F and 36F water temp with ice and snow on the ground, the time on the bank, suffering the cold, low bite and catch ratio.. doesn't warrant the time and effort involved for me. I did it back when experimenting but not very often after that and once i proved the point to myself that they could be caught in very low temperatures..at times. It’s a bit different in summer though, in that you can virtually catch anytime...until that water temperature drops as we go into winter. Then it becomes a different ball game and the knowledge comes into play. However, you still have to go through it all and learn by personal experience to be completely confident in what you’re doing. Yeah, I blanked quite a lot of the times when I was out there.. but I learnt and know the reasoning why. I know/knew a lot of good specialist barbel anglers who just memorised everything and they also gained that built in catching instinct. So, as you say, if you can take in and memorise everything and remember things like water temps/air temp/water colouring/river height/light conditions/weather conditions/barometer reading-high or low pressure/bite ratio/catch ratio/swim/weight of fish/measurements/condition of fish/defects/blindness, re-captures, weight fluctuations, map points of where each fish was caught, and so on...then all is well. The graph(s) and other logs are just a personal visual selection of necessary pieces in putting the jigsaw together at the time for my own barbel education...and boy did I learn something and understand how they work.
Jim...what's on that graph 'is' taken from personal experience of being on the riverbank in all conditions and logging everything, and it also shows that they don't always play by the rules...especially in winter, and i think i worked out why! As you say, you have to be out there to learn and find out.
Point is that I logged my experiences of being out on the bank and experimenting in all conditions, summer and winter. After learning and analysing, I can now instinctively predict/forecast in my mind when it's worth going out or stay indoors and wait for the more 'perfect' time to go...especially in winter. The thing is that I know I will catch the very same barbel much easier in less time if I wait, and time it right in more favourable conditions. Although I caught a few at a low of 35F and 36F water temp with ice and snow on the ground, the time on the bank, suffering the cold, low bite and catch ratio.. doesn't warrant the time and effort involved for me. I did it back when experimenting but not very often after that and once i proved the point to myself that they could be caught in very low temperatures..at times. It’s a bit different in summer though, in that you can virtually catch anytime...until that water temperature drops as we go into winter. Then it becomes a different ball game and the knowledge comes into play. However, you still have to go through it all and learn by personal experience to be completely confident in what you’re doing. Yeah, I blanked quite a lot of the times when I was out there.. but I learnt and know the reasoning why. I know/knew a lot of good specialist barbel anglers who just memorised everything and they also gained that built in catching instinct. So, as you say, if you can take in and memorise everything and remember things like water temps/air temp/water colouring/river height/light conditions/weather conditions/barometer reading-high or low pressure/bite ratio/catch ratio/swim/weight of fish/measurements/condition of fish/defects/blindness, re-captures, weight fluctuations, map points of where each fish was caught, and so on...then all is well.
The graph(s) and other logs are just a personal visual selection of necessary pieces in putting the jigsaw together at the time for my own barbel education...and boy did I learn something and understand how they work.Antony Myatt
Active Member
Normally I quite enjoy an argument but not with Ray on this topic I couldn't be ar*ed to do all that recording myself but if Ray's seen a pattern forming that he can use to his advantage then that's a nice result for all his work.
Tony
I couldn't be ar*ed to do all that recording myself but if Ray's seen a pattern forming that he can use to his advantage then that's a nice result for all his work.Tony
Jim Ufton
Senior Member & Supporter
derek, if you read at my post , i said ,not being funny ray, meaning i don't want to be awkward,not ,ray don't be funny, which then looked like i was having a niggle at ray,not in the slightest, at the end of the day this about fishing, and what works for one dosen't mean it works for another,but as long as we all enjoy what we do,,,,,some days i go down the river and i no i'm not going to catch,but just being there ,watching motionless rods beats the cr*p out of watching that box ,,,,,,,,,,,
regards
regards
Ray Walton
Senior Member
I do know what you mean...If you know too much, you can psych yourself out of not going out fishing in what one might consider as unfavourable conditions. By going out in all conditions to at least try, is the way you learn for yourself and prove a point one way or the other.
David Maddison
Senior Member & Supporter
Dead right Jim, I would sooner be on the river bank in the fresh air any day, even if i blank
Back to the original thread - I got my 99p thermometer from china this morning
Paul Ashton
Senior Member
The "Red Letter Day" thread reinforces the use of a thermometer. Would that decision to switch venues have happened without the knowledge of water temps?
David Maddison
Senior Member & Supporter
I remember one day in early January when I fished the swale in flood. When the old dear who you payed back then answered the door she looked at me and said " Are you mad, it's freezing! "
That day I had 3 barbel up to exactly 10lb I did take the water temperature that day to keep in my fishing log. It was 45f and up 2f on the last session I had with the level the same.
(Very mild over next few days, 11 Celsius here tonight!)
That day I had 3 barbel up to exactly 10lb
I did take the water temperature that day to keep in my fishing log. It was 45f and up 2f on the last session I had with the level the same.(Very mild over next few days, 11 Celsius here tonight!)
David Gauntlett
Senior Member
What this thread has reinforced for me is that although it remains true that everyone is entitled to their own opinion....you had better not put that opinion forward if you are someone with the pretty much unmatched experience and reputation that Ray has. To do so makes some folk bristle and make curious accusations that have no basis in fact.
At no time has Ray stated that anglers should not go fishing if a dip in the water with a thermometer would suggest it's a tad on the cold side for catching barbel. What he has said is that he has amassed an astonishing collection of information about barbel, their habits and their reactions to a variety of different changes in their habitat, including natural climatic changes...with water temperature being one small part of that.
Based on his meticulously recorded experiences he has been able to put his analytical bent to work and reach some useful conclusions. One of these is that if a certain set of circumstances occurs, then the chances of catching barbel are greatly reduced. He may then go fishing anyway, for the sheer pleasure of doing that...or not, if logic suggests that other more pressing things need doing. It really is as simple as that, he has merely stated what HE does on those occasions, but NOT tried to influence what others should do. And yes, I am well aware that Ray does not need (or probably want) me to defend his position on this thread...but like others, I felt the urge to express my opinions.
Cheers, Dave.
At no time has Ray stated that anglers should not go fishing if a dip in the water with a thermometer would suggest it's a tad on the cold side for catching barbel. What he has said is that he has amassed an astonishing collection of information about barbel, their habits and their reactions to a variety of different changes in their habitat, including natural climatic changes...with water temperature being one small part of that.
Based on his meticulously recorded experiences he has been able to put his analytical bent to work and reach some useful conclusions. One of these is that if a certain set of circumstances occurs, then the chances of catching barbel are greatly reduced. He may then go fishing anyway, for the sheer pleasure of doing that...or not, if logic suggests that other more pressing things need doing. It really is as simple as that, he has merely stated what HE does on those occasions, but NOT tried to influence what others should do. And yes, I am well aware that Ray does not need (or probably want
) me to defend his position on this thread...but like others, I felt the urge to express my opinions. Cheers, Dave.