Hi Phil
You already know my feelings on this subject,yes most certainly Barbel fishing will suffer the same fate as carp angling has done. The reason for it will be hype, just as Carp angling got hyped. I am as you know, a carp angler of some thirty years or more of learning, (and still not much good) but also enjoy to fish for other speices including Barbel. Once the angling trade/media realise there is a quick buck to be made from a certain aspect of angling it is then when the slope becomes slippery. Whilst on the subject of media, many years ago there was probably only one specialist angling publication, this being Creel later to become Angling if my memory serves me right. The articles written in this mag. were both instructional and entertaining, within these articles there was no advertising, pick one of the many Carp mags up now and read any article you want I bet some bait tackle firm is mentioned on more than one page.
What has happened to the true specialist angler?
Do they still exist?
Probably Jim but not as we know them