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Trent Barbel Stocking

L

Lee Williams

Senior Member
Have it on good authority that 4000 two year old Barbel have been stocked into the Trent at Thrumpton. I fish this area a lot on the stick and bolo so should be interesting to see if they have stayed put
 
Lee Williams said:
Have it on good authority that 4000 two year old Barbel have been stocked into the Trent at Thrumpton. I fish this area a lot on the stick and bolo so should be interesting to see if they have stayed put
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Lee any idea if it was it above or below the weir at Thrumpton?
 
The Trent system and this includes the main river and most of its tributaries since 2011 have received nigh on 400,000 fingerling barbel at one time or another and remember Calverton is nearby, so any excess fish can be easily disposed of and put into the river, previous similar stockings on other rivers, prover these year 2 barbel rarely stay where they are stocked, they invariably drop downstream fast, like recent stockings on the middle Severn, the marked barbel have turned up, as low down as Worcester .

Surely It would be much better to find out why the need to stock these fish, are they being stocked as an indicator stock to monitor the rivers health, do they know the the sex of the barbel (no they wont) because if they are all males they will be dead in about 5 years time anyway, is it all
for science or or a strap line for a web site or a magazine?
 
In fairness to the EA ( I'm not a fan) they seems to be doing OK on the River Hull. Whether or not they breed in the environment is a bit too early to say.
 
The EA use barbel and chub from Ladypit Farm (Nabbs Island) to breed from at their Calverton fish farm. Female fish are marked with a blue dye spot on their underside every time they are removed. I have caught barbel with up to three dye spots on them. Last winter I spoke to someone who had caught a marked barbel over 2 miles downstream from this area. The farmer who used to own the farm (now deceased unfortunately) told me that the EA released young fish into the Trent at Ladypit every now and again. The river is full of barbel and chub for miles downstream. Not always easy, but when they are in a feeding mood the fishing is amazing.
 
The survival rate of aquacultured fingerling barbel is less than 2%...so 4000 would end up less than 100, so its an utter waste of time and money, 1500 were stocked into the Dorset Stour about 2 years ago, they disappeared without a trace ...
 
Ian Lovett said:
The EA use barbel and chub from Ladypit Farm (Nabbs Island) to breed from at their Calverton fish farm. Female fish are marked with a blue dye spot on their underside every time they are removed. I have caught barbel with up to three dye spots on them. Last winter I spoke to someone who had caught a marked barbel over 2 miles downstream from this area. The farmer who used to own the farm (now deceased unfortunately) told me that the EA released young fish into the Trent at Ladypit every now and again. The river is full of barbel and chub for miles downstream. Not always easy, but when they are in a feeding mood the fishing is amazing.
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So if there's plenty of fish, why are they stocking even more?
 
To slightly play devil's advocate, that's 4000 more mouths to feed. What is below them in the food chain to sustain the influx? Should the EA also be tipping in twenty tons of crustaceans and larvae? Offloading hundreds of tonnes of biological matter into the river for the smaller creatures to feed on? (yes I know there's a petition!)
I've said enough over the years on the thousands that have been tipped into the Ouse.... I've done alright really the few times I fish nowadays, but if, to use Lol's maths, 100 fish survive out of 4000 and you only have a handful of anglers fishing on a five mile stretch of river, they really won't get caught that often. To put it in perspective I am fishing a really tricky carp lake, there's about 40 fish in 15 acres, but they're captive, you can see them swimming around, but my last bite was in October and while I'm no Terry Hearn I can tie a decent knot.
You could have ten of those stocked barbel in your swim but it doesn't mean you'll be going home with a wet unhooking mat...
Are the rivers in such a healthy state now that all these barbel they're stocking just don't really need to feed on angler's bait?

I shouldn't have to put this disclaimer but in the interests of Internet peace, that last sentence was firmly tongue in cheek!

Waste of time and money? Maybe; if I blank next time I wet a line then yes, if I go and catch a brace of doubles that were stocked fifteen years ago then I say it's well worth it.... If my kid comes with me and catches a five pounder on his own then the time and money is absolutely worth it!
 
Whilst the doom-mongers may be entirely correct about the ineffectiveness of stocking small barbel, can you imagine the fuss if the EA harvested eggs from Trent fish and made no attempt to replace what they had taken? There would be hell on. Damned if they do and damned if they don't.
 
Ian Lovett said:
The EA use barbel and chub from Ladypit Farm (Nabbs Island) to breed from at their Calverton fish farm. Female fish are marked with a blue dye spot on their underside every time they are removed. I have caught barbel with up to three dye spots on them. Last winter I spoke to someone who had caught a marked barbel over 2 miles downstream from this area. The farmer who used to own the farm (now deceased unfortunately) told me that the EA released young fish into the Trent at Ladypit every now and again. The river is full of barbel and chub for miles downstream. Not always easy, but when they are in a feeding mood the fishing is amazing.
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I used to fish Ladypit before it was taken over by Scunthorpe Police / Pisces and got to know the farmer well. I didn't know he had died, shame really as although he was a bit of a cock he wasn't a bad bloke. He used to let us get our own fresh duck and chicken eggs for free when we were down for a couple of days.
I've had some fabulous days down there with bream, barbel, chub and pike, although they weren't as big as they are now. I used to stand in the middle of the river below the weir with a bait table either with feeder rods fishing against the far bank sheets or trotting baits down through the streamer weed. I've been a member of Scunthorpe around 4 years now and keep meaning to go back but I don't think I'd get away with my old tactics and overnight camping has been stopped.
As for the EA stocking is concerned it cant be a bad thing as it future proofs the sport. Unfortunately the river can regularly be lined with 'carbel' anglers who simply don't look after their catch before releasing them, I boat fish the river for predators and its amazing some days how many dead barbel drift downstream belly up obviously dead. Over the years I have foul hooked and retrieved 5 rods that were pulled into the river on my lures one of which came complete with a dead barbel, none of the rods were really suitable for fishing such a powerful river either and its a shame but unfortunately that's the way things are going.
 
Phil Heaton said:
I used to fish Ladypit before it was taken over by Scunthorpe Police / Pisces and got to know the farmer well. I didn't know he had died, shame really as although he was a bit of a cock he wasn't a bad bloke. He used to let us get our own fresh duck and chicken eggs for free when we were down for a couple of days.
I've had some fabulous days down there with bream, barbel, chub and pike, although they weren't as big as they are now. I used to stand in the middle of the river below the weir with a bait table either with feeder rods fishing against the far bank sheets or trotting baits down through the streamer weed. I've been a member of Scunthorpe around 4 years now and keep meaning to go back but I don't think I'd get away with my old tactics and overnight camping has been stopped.
As for the EA stocking is concerned it cant be a bad thing as it future proofs the sport. Unfortunately the river can regularly be lined with 'carbel' anglers who simply don't look after their catch before releasing them, I boat fish the river for predators and its amazing some days how many dead barbel drift downstream belly up obviously dead. Over the years I have foul hooked and retrieved 5 rods that were pulled into the river on my lures one of which came complete with a dead barbel, none of the rods were really suitable for fishing such a powerful river either and its a shame but unfortunately that's the way things are going.
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I have stood in the river in exactly the same place you used to fish and did the same as you also. Had some great sport from barbel and chub. Sometimes, in Autumn, I would put a pike rod in, towards the weir on float legered sardine. It is still a great stretch and ideal for a confidence boost if you are suffering a series of blanks on the main river. Doubles are few in number. Unfortunately, it can get busy in Summer, especially at the weekend.

I agree with your assessment of some "carbel" "anglers" but pleasure/match fishermen can also not treat barbel properly.

Nowadays I enjoy fishing the quieter stretches of the Trent (there are plenty of those despite what some will tell you) and, believe me, there is some good fishing to be had away from the crowds.
 
Chris Guy said:
So if there's plenty of fish, why are they stocking even more?
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It's as if with the continued breeding program, they have to get rid. Or they think by throwing in endless quantities, they'll pacify the average angler.
Shame they don't put more effort into bringing all these sewage dumping water companies to heel.
 
Dan Whitelock said:
To slightly play devil's advocate, that's 4000 more mouths to feed. What is below them in the food chain to sustain the influx? Should the EA also be tipping in twenty tons of crustaceans and larvae? Offloading hundreds of tonnes of biological matter into the river for the smaller creatures to feed on? (yes I know there's a petition!)
I've said enough over the years on the thousands that have been tipped into the Ouse.... I've done alright really the few times I fish nowadays, but if, to use Lol's maths, 100 fish survive out of 4000 and you only have a handful of anglers fishing on a five mile stretch of river, they really won't get caught that often. To put it in perspective I am fishing a really tricky carp lake, there's about 40 fish in 15 acres, but they're captive, you can see them swimming around, but my last bite was in October and while I'm no Terry Hearn I can tie a decent knot.
You could have ten of those stocked barbel in your swim but it doesn't mean you'll be going home with a wet unhooking mat...
Are the rivers in such a healthy state now that all these barbel they're stocking just don't really need to feed on angler's bait?

I shouldn't have to put this disclaimer but in the interests of Internet peace, that last sentence was firmly tongue in cheek!

Waste of time and money? Maybe; if I blank next time I wet a line then yes, if I go and catch a brace of doubles that were stocked fifteen years ago then I say it's well worth it.... If my kid comes with me and catches a five pounder on his own then the time and money is absolutely worth it!
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Dan, would you take me to the spawning sites, I know a few and I'm sure you do, and show me the fish spawning please. Over the next few weeks they should be up over the gravel in the shallower water. I used ti love observing their mating and spawning behaviour.
I'll definitely be up for a wander. 👍
My fishing plans over the winter were completely scuppered, what with lockdown, floods and sadly, family matters. Cheers fella.
 
Neil Depledge said:
I believe that the EA stock the Trent every year to cover the numbers that weren’t produced naturally as the brood stock are removed from the Trent for breeding at Calverton.
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HI Neil yes you are correct the barbel are taken from 2 sites one is Nabbs island as already stated the second is further downstream at Averham. Without the restocking of the barbel in the numbers that would have reached that size from natural spawning it would have altered and reduced the juvenile success rate.
 
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