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Where have all Oxforshires barbel gone.

Kevin, glad you are getting some fish but believe me the Cherwell is a shadow of it's former self these days. Long Meadow used to be virtually a guarantee for a good bag of quality chub as did Upper Heyford. Now 2 bites in a day would be normal. There is no hiding from the fact that Oxfordshires rivers are in freefall and what irks me is the EA telling everyone how they must be so healthy because the otters have returned. The truth is known by the people who fish these rivers and whether we get on to the EA about it or not does not make it any the less true. I did contact them to enquire about their policy on the infestation of signals and was told they have no policy on crayfish at all. Not even worth mentioning otters...
Maybe some of them do work very hard as Ian says but their claims in the press cannot be supported by facts.
 
This is just the reason I emailed the BEEB earlier this week, to highlight the plight of so many lowland rivers is contradicted by all these EA claims.
Again, I encourage all here to do like wise.
 
Chris Guy said:
For info: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/news/106656.aspx
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15 tonnes! That must equate to about 2 skip loads, they must mean 150 tonnes surely? 15 tonnes would most probably cover about 10 square metres. :cool:[/QUOTE]

My god Chris, you are more of a cynic than me!!:D
and if they has a bit o pikey blood in um that 15tons will do a 1000m2 guvner.:D

Kevin, when you say "plentiful supply of roach, dace, perch and chub" what sorts of weights can be put together on one swim in half a day, I ask because GXAS and KAS match results don't really reflect what you're saying.
Seems to be three or four big chub for 20lbs (on a good day) wins a match, second place is normally a big chub and a handfull of small perch for 6 - 7lbs.
I know good bags of silvers come from the stretch downstream of Marston Ferry road.

Thing is the river from the Wides through to Oxford is very much different too above Enslow, one bonus being from the Wides onwards despite the river actually getting smaller than above the Wides, it no longer gets turbid chocolate coloured run off from the canal.

Adam, if the club that has water from Witney to Newbridge is Newlands AC and you want a few hints on where barbel can(?) be found send me a PM, there isn't many though but still a change from chub.

Ian, where do chub spawn then because all chub spawnings I've witnessed, have been on or near to the same gravel as barbel spawned, usually a week or so post barbel spawnings.:confused:


Some interesting thoughts coming.:)
 
Colin Gordon said:
Ian, where do chub spawn then because all chub spawnings I've witnessed, have been on or near to the same gravel as barbel spawned, usually a week or so post barbel spawnings.
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Colin, I will probably get shot down in flames here as I have never really looked into it but from what I have been led to believe, chub will spawn amongst weed similar and at the same time as bleak, hence the high levels of chub/bleak hybridisation...........

The spawning habitat improvement progtrams I am involved in are about developing spawning reds which would be used by Barbel and Dace, no mention of Chub, Bleak or Roach although they are present in numbers in the same rivers.........

I am sure John Hepworth can put me right......
 
I tend to fish short sessions. If I use a maggot feeder I can catch steadily. If I rove for chub I catch them. I dont use a keepnet so dont know the weights

The roach are 4 oz and bigger if lucky. There are good sized dace.

As far as I am concerned they are plentiful apart from the barbel.
 
Kevin Plaskitt said:
I tend to fish short sessions. If I use a maggot feeder I can catch steadily. If I rove for chub I catch them. I dont use a keepnet so dont know the weights


The roach are 4 oz and bigger if lucky. There are good sized dace.

As far as I am concerned they are plentiful apart from the barbel.
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Not sure how many years you have fished the Cherwell Kevin, I've fished it for 27 years now and it has never been this bad, or even close to this bad in all those years. Maybe your expectations are less but this used to be a seriously good river, now it is beyond recognition. For an insight into what it was like years ago read any of Tony Miles' earlier books.
 
26 years for me, and as far as i'm concerned anyone who considers the Cherwell as a healthy/thriving river is living in cloud cuckoo land, The EA know its in serious trouble, and so do most who have any long term knowledge of it, personally i'd be much more impressed if the European crayfish was to return rather than a population of Otters that were dropped out of the back of a van, re colonised my rse :mad:
 
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