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Sweet spot, Success! As we say in Belgium. Hoping to be on the bank myself tomorrow, still rather warm & bright but might get lucky with a jack or two.
Cigar is back in the humi as I blanked
Worse was I took my piking gear and broke the handle on my real so couldn’t even do any spinning in between barbel casts !!!
Come to the Severn today to catch the first Barbel of the season after 4-months of blanking on the Avon.
Got a HdeM Rio Seco just incase the rod wraps around 😀
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Sweet spot, Success! As we say in Belgium. Hoping to be on the bank myself tomorrow, still rather warm & bright but might get lucky with a jack or two.
When I fished, we used to go to Lincomb Weir on the Severn just near Stourport, an absolute haven for Barbel, well any fish really. At the lock there's a still water where overflow due to flooding from Larford Lakes gave you access to carp and cats.
I'm not sure if they still allow fishing there but it was a brilliant spot.
Angling is indeed the UK largest participation sport but historically we have very little political clout. The only useful body is the Angling Trust of which I am a life member (even though I rarely fish UK waters), but the animal welfare lobby are far more organised & powerful. Most of them have never seen an otter & don't care about fish or the livelihoods of commercial fishery owners or rich men chasing trout on the fly. Once they released them into the wild the writing was on the wall. You can't even shoot cormorants without a hard to get licence & they aren't endangered. Arguably they do far more damage, by eating everything up to 2-3lb pike!
Such a shame there is little or no help given by the government to aid this situation.
Obviously there are more important things happening now that need funding, but angling is Britain’s largest sport. Without support, fish like the UK record are going to continue being dispatched, surely they will have to do something!?
Henry Williamson, author of Tarka the Otter, was still alive when they made the film of the same name (actually died on the the day they filmed the death of Tarka), At time of filming in 1977, there was only one otter pack left in England, the Kendall Otter Pack & they were used in filming. HW said that if you want to continue to see otters (getting very rare by then in England), you need otter hounds.
His point being, the otter has no natural predators besides man & unregulated they will breed until they diminish their own food supply. In those days the only concern was about them eating 1-2lb trout, these days they are killing 20-40lb carp & 20lb+ pike. Both devastating to the owners/ clubs waters concerned & the only protection the Government suggest is building otter proof fences, very expensive & only practical for small waters.
This isn't an argument will win as Tarka & Ring of Bright water did for otters as Bambi did for hunting. The public will never allow otter packs to return, when they can't stomach fox hunting.
I heard an otter ate the UK record quite recently?
I’ve wanted to catch a barbel for years, they are a stunning fish.
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A couple of years ago that was now. It was 20lb so god knows what it would have been now.
Otters are rife now in UK waters, last year one local where I fish (Warwickshire Avon) saw one with a 6lb+ barbel hanging out of its mouth.
Commercial fisheries are being hit harder as once news travels of otters being around anglers tend to stay clear which leads to a loss in revenue and large expensive carp being eaten.
They are a tough species to catch. I’ve only just started and struggling but I will get one soon. Mate of mine has done two seasons without catching one.
Needless to say I blanked but had a couple of great knocks around the witching-hour.
The Avon should be a great place to target them, patience and strong tackle are a must
I heard an otter ate the UK record quite recently?
I’ve wanted to catch a barbel for years, they are a stunning fish.
Hi fellas, I thought I should get a wee post in, Simon mentioned this thread before my last fishing trip. But I blanked.... So I didn’t 🤣
I’m an avid fan. Been fishing most of my life on and off.
Pike was the quarry as a sprog up to my mid teens, then turned to carp.
I love fly fishing but only wild rivers, not been since my early teens with my father in Scotland, so should do More of that. I did however get out on the ocean last week and bagged a few eaters.
In 53yrs of fishing I have never caught a barbel Gav, mind you only actually fished for a them a couple of times but I hope to catch one on the Hants Avon, in the not too distant future. BTW don't take you're best smokes fishing, like making a a cuppa, lighting a cigar is always when the bug*ers will disturb you & cigars can get dropped or crushed in the excitement. Machine made Havanas or RG PX, PL Pan's are good bets.
They are a tough species to catch. I’ve only just started and struggling but I will get one soon. Mate of mine has done two seasons without catching one.
Needless to say I blanked but had a couple of great knocks around the witching-hour.
The Avon should be a great place to target them, patience and strong tackle are a must
Hi fellas, I thought I should get a wee post in, Simon mentioned this thread before my last fishing trip. But I blanked.... So I didn’t 🤣
I’m an avid fan. Been fishing most of my life on and off.
Pike was the quarry as a sprog up to my mid teens, then turned to carp.
I love fly fishing but only wild rivers, not been since my early teens with my father in Scotland, so should do More of that. I did however get out on the ocean last week and bagged a few eaters.
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