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whats your pb barbel???

Hi men,

Neil , I'm afraid she has not saved me !, just opened another door . I fished some iconic carp waters , Pit3 , Harefield ( although I hated it ) , Arlsey ( see tiger bay ) ,Savay , and Horseshoe to name just a few . Barbel angling does something for me that I was losing in carping , being mobile . At Horseshoe especially I was moving at the splash of a carp , sometimes in the night :D. This is how we fish now , as you know rarely more than an hour in each swim :p . This week we did 4 hours in a swim on the Wye , we were climbing the walls :D, but in your words , I'm sort of saved !.

See you on the bank soon Neil , Hatter .
 
PB 15:08, and YTD 15:03
My PB moment though was 6 years ago at Arley on the Severn. A chap on the other bank had a Kingfisher land on his rod and I said to my mate "Ihave been fishing for more than 50 years and have never had a kingfisher perch on my fishing rod". Believe it or not the next day a kingfisher sat on my rod not once but five times, and I even managed to photograph it, and that picture is the back drop on my computer screen. That was definately my personal best fishing moment!
 
Mark Anderson said:
Hi men,

Neil , I'm afraid she has not saved me !, just opened another door . I fished some iconic carp waters , Pit3 , Harefield ( although I hated it ) , Arlsey ( see tiger bay ) ,Savay , and Horseshoe to name just a few . Barbel angling does something for me that I was losing in carping , being mobile . At Horseshoe especially I was moving at the splash of a carp , sometimes in the night :D. This is how we fish now , as you know rarely more than an hour in each swim :p . This week we did 4 hours in a swim on the Wye , we were climbing the walls :D, but in your words , I'm sort of saved !.

See you on the bank soon Neil , Hatter .
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Hi Mark and Sue
Used to live close to Horseshoe and can well understand the electricity with the place, had a friend who used to come into Swindon where I worked and run me through his recent captures, very impressive too.
Hope you two are enjoying your stay around these parts, having a bug has curtailed my fishing last 2/3 days but itching to get out again, looking forward to getting on the Teme again now the conditions are not so treacherous.
ATB
Neil
 
Jeff Edisbury said:
I'm surprised anybody bothers anymore?

Trainspotters!
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People have different motivations for fishing and I am very much in the camp of wanting to beat my personal best, no matter the species. This always has the potential to backfire though. I am thinking of a friends lad whose tench PB went from 3 pounds to nine and a half! That leaves an awful lot of untravelled ground in between. So I fully understand those who are indifferent to weights.

But I do like to think that wherever I am fishing there is a chance of beating my PB except, oddly enough when winter chubbing. I can do this all day long and not care a jot how big they are.
 
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Jeff Edisbury said:
I'm surprised anybody bothers anymore?

Trainspotters!
Click to expand...

On blob Jeff? :D

18 months ago I had my PB which was a little bigger than Jeff's PB :p....great for the bragging rights in the pub with your mates but to be honest I'm happy with any Barbel & the smaller one's put up the best scrap!
 
Hi Kev,

I will ALWAYS bow down to good angling practice!

Jealous? Probably more than happy as you know!

Barbel fishing is becoming carp fishing on a river.

If I NEVER beat my present PB then who cares, not me or any of my fishing friends.

If I had a very big fish, I WOULD weigh it but purely for my own interest.

As yet, I haven't weighed a fish this season.

Best regards,

Jeff
 
Jeff Edisbury said:
Hi Kev,

I will ALWAYS bow down to good angling practice!

Jealous? Probably more than happy as you know!

Barbel fishing is becoming carp fishing on a river.

If I NEVER beat my present PB then who cares, not me or any of my fishing friends.

If I had a very big fish, I WOULD weigh it but purely for my own interest.

As yet, I haven't weighed a fish this season.

Best regards,

Jeff
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Good post. Time for something different.
 
"Barbel fishing is becoming carp fishing on a river".

Unfortunately, have to agree with you on that old boy!

Hopefully see you & Cat on the bank (or in the pub) soon...Kev x
 
Jeff Edisbury said:
Barbel fishing is becoming carp fishing on a river.
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Each to their own if no problems are raised.
I do all sorts, including but not exclusively
  • Bivvied, roving and stalking for carp
  • Rovng for Perch, Zander and occassionally Pike.
  • Roving, static and bivvied for Barbel.
  • Dangling maggots/sweetcorn/bread for anything that swims.
I treat my environment with respect, my visitors (piscine and air breathing) with respect, I expect the same of others and occassionally wonder (but not for long) at the narrow-minded "its this or nothing" mongers.
I go fishing to relax and enjoy
- if I up my PB all well to the good. If I do not its the same!
 
It was a simple question, with some not so simple replies. Perhaps it is not 'on' to talk of such things, and those that do are merely self serving and have somehow missed the reason as to why we fish for barbel these days.

For me those that have ambitions to better thier personal bests, are like the Olympic Athletes who are not content until they have reached the very pinnicle of their efforts and can say with complete honesty that the have left nothing on the bank.

Sort it out!!!:p
 
My only concern about that Neil is the "fish at all costs **** everyone else" approach to fishing!

Watching the Matt Hayes video was very thought provoking and inspirational as well as good practice regarding fish handling. Having been lucky enough to catch a number of doubles, why would I want to weigh single figure fish for example? Why am i doing that, who am i doing it for? I am happy to put the fish back without it having to go through the additional weighing process. I would have a rough idea of how big it was, that is enough for me these days. If I was fortunate enough to catch a vey big fish then yes, I would almost certainly weigh it.

Regards,

Jeff
 
Colin Bridger said:
PB 15:08, and YTD 15:03
My PB moment though was 6 years ago at Arley on the Severn. A chap on the other bank had a Kingfisher land on his rod and I said to my mate "Ihave been fishing for more than 50 years and have never had a kingfisher perch on my fishing rod". Believe it or not the next day a kingfisher sat on my rod not once but five times, and I even managed to photograph it, and that picture is the back drop on my computer screen. That was definately my personal best fishing moment!
Click to expand...

I read this earlier before going out for a few hour on the Goyt. I thought the same, I have seen hundreds of Kingfishers but never had one land on my rod in 42 years of fishing.
Then this morning it happened it was pure magic to be so close. He even let me get my camera before flying off. He didnt let me remove the lens cap or turn it on!
Another Pb :D
 
Mark Anderson said:
Hi men,

Neil , I'm afraid she has not saved me !, just opened another door . I fished some iconic carp waters , Pit3 , Harefield ( although I hated it ) , Arlsey ( see tiger bay ) ,Savay , and Horseshoe to name just a few . Barbel angling does something for me that I was losing in carping , being mobile . At Horseshoe especially I was moving at the splash of a carp , sometimes in the night :D. This is how we fish now , as you know rarely more than an hour in each swim :p . This week we did 4 hours in a swim on the Wye , we were climbing the walls :D, but in your words , I'm sort of saved !.

See you on the bank soon Neil , Hatter .
Click to expand...
harefield is now a big bream water, funny how things change.
:D
 
Ive got a pb and a best .... pb is 16lb exactly , best is a fish that currently holds the river record at 16.02 ... though was smaller than this when i caught it, both fish are from the Bristol Avon:)
 
In 4seasons of fishing on the ribble,last november all alone on a dark wet and windy night i landed what i thought was going to be my first double. Igrabbed the digital scales unused for 2 years and tried to switch them on to no avail, good job i carry spare batteries still no joy, useless piece of **** i shouted as i launched it up the bank in temper(£70 dial reubens purchased the next day to avoid this eventuality happening again). That was my best fish, the quandry of not knowing if i have my first double still excites me. Makes me think Gerry Gleesons attempt to catch 14 doubles in 14 days from 14 rivers nigh on impossibe.
 
Jeff Edisbury said:
My only concern about that Neil is the "fish at all costs **** everyone else" approach to fishing!

Watching the Matt Hayes video was very thought provoking and inspirational as well as good practice regarding fish handling. Having been lucky enough to catch a number of doubles, why would I want to weigh single figure fish for example? Why am i doing that, who am i doing it for? I am happy to put the fish back without it having to go through the additional weighing process. I would have a rough idea of how big it was, that is enough for me these days. If I was fortunate enough to catch a vey big fish then yes, I would almost certainly weigh it.

Regards,

Jeff
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Not everyone fishing for a pb has this attitude Geoff. You can get just as many to$$ers from all branches of angling. You may not want to weigh every single fish but others like to keep detailed and accurate records of their fishing. If anyone thinks think the weighing process harms the fish then they shouldn't be weighing any of them.

It is also pointless to try and generalise the question " why do we go fishing?" as people go for many different and varied reasons.
 
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id be more pleased with a 7lber from the upper Avon as i find it nigh on impossible to catch up there than a double from the lower.

Its all about learning and perfecting the unobtainable perfection of angling.
 
Only had 3 Barbel, 1st one was back in 1981 on The Royalty,that was 10lb 6oz,had to wait 25 years for my 2nd, a 6lb fish from the Mole,then last season had my PB 15lb10oz,also from the Mole.Next goal is a Barbel of any size from the much abused Wandle.
 
All valid points Alex.

I'm not for one minute saying that weighing fish is a no go area< each to their own. It's just that for me, i have questioned why i was doing it and decided that it was because i'd always done it and after seeing the Matt Hayes video, I found that I was in almost total agreement with his views.

As for the "why do we go fishing", did i say that? Apologies if i did, I'm getting old and my mind is going!

Ken, have you been smoking those reed stems again? But yes, I agree............i think?!

Best regards,

Jeff
 
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