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Is it too warm to fish for barbel

Karl Heptonstall

Karl Heptonstall

Senior Member
What do people think about this? With a comment on another thread saying people shouldn't fish for barbel and more worryingly I read on another forum of someone having to rest a barbel for 90min before it swam away!
The fish I've caught over the last few weeks have all gone back very strongly after resting before and after unhooking. If a fish took an unusually long time to recover then I'd pack up and go home.
 
Good question given the conditions that look to be continuing for a while yet. I have fished through similar weather for the Barbel in the past with little or no problems other than turning a nice shade of puce....

....my usual Barbel fishing is in the deep water of the Lower Severn and cannot recall any Barbel that took longer than expected to recover and swim off strongly. I guess it may depend upon the venue you fish, if it's shallow water the fish may take a little longer than those from deeper and cooler waters....that said though, and broken water will surely retain oxygen levels and be comfortable for the fish to feed in??

In the past, when big competitions were the norm on the Severn with Barbel the main quarry , I can never remember any competitions being postponed because the weather was too hot so either it never made any difference to the fishing or they never gave it a thought!?!

Seems it may be a matter for the angler to decide if his actions are having any detrimental effect upon their quarry maybe?


Paul
 
Difficult one really Karl. I have often wondered the same thing, but never really come to a satisfactory conclusion to my mind. There are those who immediately start preaching about it being wrong...but then there are those who are ready to start preaching about anything :D And it does then beg the bigger question...if that is wrong, what about angling in general?

It is a fact that the warmer water is, the less oxygen it has dissolved in it. However, if the fish fight strongly and go back strongly after a reasonable rest, then I can't see that it has affected them that much. As for that fish you mention taking 90 mins. to recover....that seems to happen occasionally anyway. I have never had it myself, but know some who have...and it seems to happen at any time of year, so seemingly nowt to do with temperature. Who knows? The only time I would start having serious doubts would be if fish were regularly showing signs of distress by their actions...then I would be worried.

Cheers, Dave.
 
Depends entirely on how the angler plays and handles the barbel. Some idiots let the barbel take line if the rod bends more than a foot and in those circumstances the fish will fight to exhaustion. Use strong enough tackle, don't pussyfoot around playing them too long and they will recover well in the normal time.
 
Alex Gowney said:
Depends entirely on how the angler plays and handles the barbel. Some idiots let the barbel take line if the rod bends more than a foot and in those circumstances the fish will fight to exhaustion. Use strong enough tackle, don't pussyfoot around playing them too long and they will recover well in the normal time.
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Thats exactly how I play them Alex, get them in the net quick and rest and unhook, I fish the lower severn to Paul perhaps the deeper water is cooler as I havent had a problem yet.
 
Get them in quick, keep them in the water in the net & release ASAP. Be very quick if you must weigh them, photo,s too, think fish ,not personal glory, and they should be OK. In slow to non existant flows like the Thames, problems can and do occur, be very careful, I had a 9lber die on me several years ago in these conditions, fought like demon, it was never removed from the water, but it just wouldn,t go back, I will not fish for them until this heat passes!
peter
 
I had three the other night and the first one took 15 minutes before I felt confident enough to let it go. The other two were fully revived after about 5 minutes, and that seems to be the way, no matter what the weather. Some fish just need more TLC before release than others. I have seen two fish float by belly up so far this year, but that has more to do with angler ignorance than the weather in my opinion.

Nick C
 
Chris Avis said:
Thats exactly how I play them Alex, get them in the net quick and rest and unhook, I fish the lower severn to Paul perhaps the deeper water is cooler as I havent had a problem yet.
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I'm with you Chris and Alex, use the strongest kit you can get away with to get the fish in as quick as you can. Even on the smallest of rivers I prefer to use 2 1/4 tc rods with 15lb main line and 12lb hooklinks and always X line flurocarbon. Hooks depend on the baits but anything from a 16 to a 10 usually. I've seen to many people using lighter outfits that take an eternity to land their fish and then spend ages trying to revive them. Can't be good for the fish and I know it would stress me if a fish was struggling to recover...
 
I use 1.5lb test curve rods in summer and I don't hang about getting them in, the rod just bends more, which for me greatly enhances the pleasure of catching them. If I had to use 2.25lb rods in summer I really don't know if I'd bother. Each to their own though, there's no harm in it, it just isn't something I'd do. The rod in parabolic fighting curve is what is exciting about barbel fishing.

Nick C
 
Dont play the poor fish to exhaustion whatever the weather may be.....:)
 
To warm for the carp on the lakes Even, barbel, No, not for me right now, went to a lake today and the carp seemed very off, Not a good day, They were more interested in sunbathing than feeding.
Nights are the name of the game right now.
 
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I used to fly fish for trout and preferred to catch and release as I am not that fond of trout as an eating fish. I always fought them hard and fast and removed the hook in the net without removing them from the water.

I would do the same with barbel at the moment if it were not for contributing to an EA survey where we log lengths and weight of each fish caught.
 
Many thanks for the replys, confirmed my thoughts. Been out this evening and had 2 barbel and 2 chub, all swam back well after a short rest, the longest taking 5mins before kicking hard to let me know she was ready to go.
 
depending on river venue and fishing deep water should be no problem, but lower river with hardly any flow, then i would see it as a big concern for fish in general,me go home,
 
I have decided to leave them as on my local river (with some flow even at low summer levels) the fish fighting to exhaustion (late in the evienng, into night) and requiring long resting times
- personal call and that is all
I can still go after crucians, tench or a big 30lb+ carp which tolerant heat and related water conditions better.
Overnight carp sessions are more restful than late night river sessions after Barbell with the 2:30am drive home - I can never doze properly while river fishing or do overnights without feeling it badly for the next 12 hours.
Again a personal call.
 
its never too hot for barbel fishing
just have a few iced coffees in the morning then take plenty of frozen bottles of water, a good hat and your ready to go:D
 
Was shocked spent 5 hours on the river today and after a few tentative enquiries the sun came out and I'd all but given up. Was just having a slow pack up when the tip whipped round and I had a 9lb 14 at 1pm when the sun was. Not being able to go at dawn or dusk gave me a bit of confidence that I'm still in with a chance.
 
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