Wonder if there will be the same outcry as there was about the same sort of weight on the same stretch at the same time of year (post-spawning aggregation) by a ‘pleasure’ angler 2 or 3 years back? That wasn’t considered ‘proper’, more ‘scandalous’ as he kept them all in a net and took a bag shot.

Half the others blanked though, 2nd was 109lb and 3rd was 53lb if i remember rightly

wonder how many fish were lost?

@lump wrote:

wonder how many fish were lost?

I think he said he lost 3.

It was on Collingham AA Private Pegs :-

Full result
1st Darren Harston 151.00
2nd Ian Donaldson 109.02
3rd Keith Archer 52.08
4th Howard Langley 46.00
5th Ian Sparrow 35.04

10th Wt was 12.10
28 fished and there was 8 DNW

There had been “clowns” on the other bank since the 16th, including a big top !!! But they had all disappeared by Sunday. It was a big tide and Darren caught all day on his “secret” bait

In the match on the Monday evening following Darren came down to earth with 10oz !

Russ Jones – Collingham AA

I saw a bloke land a barbel on the Trent on Friday, eggs pouring out of it in the
landing net.

It doesn’t seem right to confine spawning fish in keepnets to me.

How can that be avoided though Rob, without abstaining from running river matches on any barbel-dominated sections until mid-July or even longer?

Obviously clubs cannot put weighing stewards on the bank – precious few can even get a dedicated organiser these days.

And every ‘weigh and witness by next peg neighbour’ system I’ve known of on club & commercial matches to ensure the prompt return of fish over a venue’s stipulated non-keepnet weight has resulted in accusations & acrimony.

I was on the Cam today and watched a shoal of bream smashing into each other with such ardour that it made me longingly recall my late teens/early 20s…sigh!…but snapping back to reality this reminded me how us anglers and those who tax and regulate us have no control over when fish choose to spawn.

If that had been a match situation then any of those bream caught would have gone into keepnets for weighing. Of course I understand that barbel are a far more delicate species, but regardless of that how can comparable situations with any species be satisfactorily reconclied with match fishing? I haven’t got an answer to that, maybe others will?

Incredible and dare i say very unfortunate.I ask myself what i would have done if i started catching spawning fish in a match?
This is a topic that will possibly be the biggest viewed thread on this our “new site”.
Ask yourself the same question…….If you were in a match and started catching spawning fish…..WOULD YOU STOP? :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

I rather suspect that you will not actually catch fish in the middle of spawning …. they will have other things on their mind!
Obviously – it takes a long time to build up the eggs & milt for the annual ritual.
Actually – it’s likely to be more dangerous for the fish to be caught shortly after spawning.

Tom – why is there a perception that Barbel are delicate? in my view Bream & Roach are far more susceptible to keepnet damage (unless you are using minnow mesh keepnets where a dorsal spike may get caught).
It seems to me that the main problems with Barbel are
a) people playing them too gently so they are completly tired out by the time they are netted – knowing the limits of balanced tackle is the key here.
b) insufficient care taken when returning after weighing.

tomlegge:

“How can that be avoided though Rob, without abstaining from running river matches on any barbel-dominated sections until mid-July or even longer? “

Not sure.

Putting obviously spawn-bound fish in a keepnet is a matter for the conscience of the individual really.

While I’m an ardent supporter of the close-season I think it would be more practical to have it 1st April – 30th June. We don’t normally get warm weather until well into April so only the pike are likely to be spawning before then. If it happens that we get a warm early spring all the fish will have spawned by early June. If the spring’s slow to warm up it would at least give them another couple of weeks in peace.

NocarpPlease:

“I rather suspect that you will not actually catch fish in the middle of spawning …. they will have other things on their mind!
Obviously – it takes a long time to build up the eggs & milt for the annual ritual.
Actually – it’s likely to be more dangerous for the fish to be caught shortly after spawning.”

I’m certainly no marine biologist but I’d have thought if fish were discahrging milt and eggs they must be pretty damn close to it.

Caster Rob,

I don’t actually disaree with you on this point – I was just
a) being a pedant re “spawning” and “in spawn”
b) highlighting that fish may be vulnerable after spawning too
c) asking why general view is that Barbel are delicate …. my experience of catching them up to low doubles and match winning weights from 5 rivers does not back this up.

NCP I bow to your experience and sound advice on barbel. I’ve not caught many in all honesty but yes I have retained them in keepnets at times and they have all swum off strongly.

In my experience the most fragile species of all are grayling, not that many of those are on match waters.

Whatever the species, we all owe them maximum care and attention. Tight Lines to all on the rivers this season.

Hi Tom,

I didn’t intend to jump on your opinion – sorry if it came across that way. I just get alarmed by the barbel specialists who claim that Barbel shouldn’t be kept in keepnets etc ……
My view is the complete opposite … the barbel is actually most vulnerable to going “belly up” immediately after landing …. so a period of recuperation in well placed keepnet is beneficial. I believe that keith has highlighted previously that it’s best to peg them with the closed end upstream if possible.

And you are absolutely right that all the fish deserve our utmost care …. when playing them, handling, retaining and weighing in.

Hey Russ, what peg was he on? Was it the weir or the private bit?

im sure it was from the private pegs rob , which may be approximately after perm peg 178 ish ?!

Yep I can confirm they were on the private pegs. These are between permanent pegs 178 and 179. The pegs are opposite the Cemex water, populated by the bivvie brigade. Also this is where Bob Roberts does his “Barbel on stick float” articles for the AT, although my spies tell me he was there last Weds with a camera crew but he failed to catch !!!

We fished the same pegs again last Sunday the pegs produced 35.08 and 34.08, so nearly 120lb adrift !!

Top wt was 40,12 from peg 196.

Russ Collingham AA