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Travelling Barbel

Ian Hugo Arnott

Ian Hugo Arnott

Senior Member
I am currently dipping into " A Can of Worms " by Jon Berry, a very good read. In the chapter entitled " Sabrina And The Plastic Pig " he writes......

" Hunt and Jones' conclusions suggested two specific types of behaviour; the majority (86%) remained within 5 km. of their original location, while the remaining 14% were more nomadic, travelling up to 34 km from their original tagging zone. These travellers moved upstream and down, with no discernable preference. Larger fish appeared to be more nomadic......"


No wonder those big ladies are difficult to locate!


Regards,

Hugo



 
There was an interesting article in the BS mag which looked at a group of tagged barbel on the Ouse,I think,which showed that the vast majority of fish rarely moved more that 500 yards,even in winter.This included larger fish,the remaining 20 percent of fish were very nomadic.they also discovered that the same group of fish seemed to hang around together almost as if they were buddies.

I have a theory that it varies on different rivers,say for example the Wye or Severn in comparison to the Loddon would produce differing fish behaviour.
 
Richard Longmuir said:
There was an interesting article in the BS mag which looked at a group of tagged barbel on the Ouse,I think,which showed that the vast majority of fish rarely moved more that 500 yards,even in winter.
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Isn't the expectation that fish move more in the summer and less in winter?

When the water gets towards freezing don't barbel become dormant?

Stephen
 
Obviously, due to water levels, time of year, spawning etc. many fish will migrate to different areas of a river – that’s the natural order of things. Now that we have digital photography though, it’s easy for anglers to accurately identify individual fish. Over the last ten years or so, I’ve compiled a library of pictures of large barbel that inhabit parts the river Severn where I fish regularly. Several years ago, it became apparent to me that these fish were indeed very territorial with some of them being captured in the same areas over a period of several years. There’s one particular fish (easily identifiable) that to my knowledge has been captured at least ten times over the last five years from the same fifty or so yards of river.
Prior to digital photography it was easy to delude ourselves that certain rivers contained substantial populations of double figure barbel. Now that more photographic records exist via anglers emailing pictures between each other etc. it has become evident that this isn’t necessarily the case. When a big fish is lost (to otter predation for example) it can take many years for a fish to grow to a similar size to replace it.
 
I was told a story a long time ago about a dye marking project on the river lea,one fish was caught and dye marked at night,I think at kings weir the next morning it was caught a large number of miles downstream .Cannot confirm but the story but some of the barbel catchers might know it a little better.
 
Ian - yes, it's a thought provoking read and really gives a flavour of barbel fishing concepts and techniques through the years. :)
 
I've come across it myself last year I had a double off a stretch and by a twist of fate I came across a picture of the same fish on the net ( And it was the same fish ) unless there's two fish what look like they've had there tail trapped in a door
I've also caught the same fish a week later 2mile down river
 
Roger Carswell said:
Several years ago, it became apparent to me that these fish were indeed very territorial with some of them being captured in the same areas over a period of several years. There’s one particular fish (easily identifiable) that to my knowledge has been captured at least ten times over the last five years from the same fifty or so yards of river.
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And never outside of that 50 yard stretch? I think most are travellers, some more than others. The Ribble record fish used to make up to a dozen appearances from one particular area during each season leaving many to believe it was resident there. The same fish, each season, would make one or two appearances elsewhere up to 5 miles upstream and over a mile down from it's 'preferred' area proving it was infact a traveller. One of it's mates has been recorded even further upstream and as there is little in the way of obstruction on that river who knows how far they roam. I agree certain fish show preference to certain areas year after year, but I doubt they are there all the time.
 
Hello Andrew. I think you are quite right in saying that fish will roam, but it does seem that they also have a preference for certain areas at certain times of the year. In bigger rivers, that 'preferred area' will be quite big when you take into account 60 or 70 yards of river, plus its width - so we are looking at a pretty big area in which to live. In smaller rivers i.e. where there is less width and depth, fish may well have a tendency to roam a lot more than their big river cousins.
 
When I fished the Yorkshire Ouse fairly intensively a few years a go , I did notice a trend of stop at homes and travellers . Some of the easily recognised fish would be caught in the same swim time after time ,where as others would wander considerable distances. One fish I recall catching on 2 occasions in swims 3 miles apart in the same week . There was one fish ,[ the one time Yorkshire Ouse record at 11lb 10oz ] ,was caught repeatedly in the same swim over a number of years . I caught it twice , a friend once,and several other anglers have confirmed they caught it in the same swim .We dubbed it ''The Vicar '' as we only ever caught it in a Sunday !
 
I have proof positive that ALL barbel are nomadic. Every time I set up in a swim all the barbel leave instantly and do not return until I leave. They seem to travel very rapidly as well, because anglers that follow me into a swim sometimes catch them within minutes of my departure. I assume they recognise the dangers of remaining in a swim when an angler of my caliber is present, cunning beasts :)

Cheers, Dave.
 
David Gauntlett said:
I have proof positive that ALL barbel are nomadic. Every time I set up in a swim all the barbel leave instantly and do not return until I leave. They seem to travel very rapidly as well, because anglers that follow me into a swim sometimes catch them within minutes of my departure. I assume they recognise the dangers of remaining in a swim when an angler of my caliber is present, cunning beasts :)

Cheers, Dave.
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Excellent Dave , very funny :D
 
Any body that fish's the Lower Severn at the moment with the low levels would think all the Barbel for what even reason have disappeared .
Perhaps some one could offer a reason why ?

The funny thing is when we get some decent rain . They will suddenly reappear :D
 
David Gauntlett said:
I have proof positive that ALL barbel are nomadic. Every time I set up in a swim all the barbel leave instantly and do not return until I leave. They seem to travel very rapidly as well, because anglers that follow me into a swim sometimes catch them within minutes of my departure. I assume they recognise the dangers of remaining in a swim when an angler of my caliber is present, cunning beasts :)

Cheers, Dave.
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David,

We have much in common! :)

Regards,

Hugo

 
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