Angling Times This Week

[Jeffwill]

Are there any forum members who fish the the Bristol Avon regularly and can substantiate the claims of 74 year old Bathampton bailiff Richard Patrick?

 

He reckons he has fished the Avon for 50 years and Avon barbel stocks have been decimated by Otters which have been spotted increasingly for the past 3 years. This season he has not caught a single barbel from the clubs water so travels to Chippenham.

 

The article mentions the E.A doing surveys for restocking. Then i suppose restocking fingerlings

 

I've just been reading John Baileys Kingfisher diary, he's a writer of some standing and a conservationist, worth reading:

 

http://www.kingfisherapartments.co.uk/fish...mp;from=archive

 

I suppose this will become more and more common as Otters multipy and spread. Good luck to everyone who is not affected yet!

 

From my own personal experience of this problem, a fantastic "secluded" stretch of the Wye I was fishing took less than 18 months for a single pair of Otters to wipe out a large shoal of chub. From fishing there for many years and seeing otters "settle in", the chub had taken the best part of 10 years to grow / mature / shoal there. Its devastating when it happens.

[Anderoo]

Is that Greg Whitehead reporting, Jeff?

[Worms]

Are there any forum members who fish the the Bristol Avon regularly and can substantiate the claims of 74 year old Bathampton bailiff Richard Patrick?

 

He reckons he has fished the Avon for 50 years and Avon barbel stocks have been decimated by Otters which have been spotted increasingly for the past 3 years. This season he has not caught a single barbel from the clubs water so travels to Chippenham.

 

The article mentions the E.A doing surveys for restocking. Then i suppose restocking fingerlings

 

I've just been reading John Baileys Kingfisher diary, he's a writer of some standing and a conservationist, worth reading:

 

http://www.kingfisherapartments.co.uk/fish...mp;from=archive

 

I suppose this will become more and more common as Otters multipy and spread. Good luck to everyone who is not affected yet!

 

From my own personal experience of this problem, a fantastic "secluded" stretch of the Wye I was fishing took less than 18 months for a single pair of Otters to wipe out a large shoal of chub. From fishing there for many years and seeing otters "settle in", the chub had taken the best part of 10 years to grow / mature / shoal there. Its devastating when it happens.

How does he know so precisely that 10% of the barbel have been taken?

 

I understand that you blame otters for the demise of so many fish but how did the balance work before otters were so nearly wiped out? It can't possibly be because of the decline in eels alone surely. With vast areas of the countryside becoming flooded with signal crayfish the otters ought to be oblivious to the fish around them. And, why are they taking all of these big, fast barbel, why not smaller slower species?

 

I'd love to know which stretch of the Wye you (used to) fish. From your post I take it that prior to ten years ago the chub weren't there and that they appeared and grew into a shoal and then all died. Old age perhaps?

 

The Wye has had otters, coarse fish, game fish, sea fish and all manner of other kinds of predators including man for years yet, suddenly, the otters are eating all of the coarse fish. Sorry, doesn't sound like otter behaviour to me.

 

Another point regarding barbel is that apparently the numbers of large fish appears to have undergone a significant decline since the summer floods of recent years. Maybe there is a disease problem.

 

Oh well, must dash, blasted hedgehogs are sucking the milk from all my cows again

[JV44]

Oh well, must dash, blasted hedgehogs are sucking the milk from all my cows again ?? Worms surely you mean Badgers not Hedgehogs ,Agree about thye Crayfish as the Mink certainly seem to munch them around here so imagine the Otters would as well and hopefully make up for the lack of Eels in the rivers where the Crays are present steve.

[Worms]

Oh well, must dash, blasted hedgehogs are sucking the milk from all my cows again ?? Worms surely you mean Badgers not Hedgehogs ,Agree about thye Crayfish as the Mink certainly seem to munch them around here so imagine the Otters would as well and hopefully make up for the lack of Eels in the rivers where the Crays are present steve.

No, the badgers are eating the sheep doncha know (in between injecting the cattle with TB)!

 

Otters love crays, they eat the white clawed just upstream of me............bugger, that's where they've all gone, otters have eaten them all

[Worms]

On a more serious note some of these articles are of interest particularly regarding water quality and barbel

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal...=1&SRETRY=0

http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/News/river_wen...rbel_roach.html

http://www.thebarbelsociety.co.uk/research.htm

 

Now check out the water quality of the Bristol Avon..........eutrophic! Hardly suitable water quality for introducing yet more fish is it really.

 

This one has some particularly interesting facts especially about removing bankside vegetation and instream branches on the size and number of barbel..........The barbel society along with the EA have just done precisely that on a local river, all of a sudden the barbel fishing has declined!

http://www.barbel.co.uk/site/articles/stillwater.htm

 

Interestingly enough, most barbel anglers realise that barbel need carefully releasing as they frequently tire themselves completely after being hooked. Now consider the upsurge in the number of people who target barbel compared to say ten or fifteen years ago. Small rivers that were lightly fished are now lined with camouflaged blokes hurling ouces of lead and cwts of feed into rivers and then bullying out fish with heavy rods. Big fish are targetted repeatedly once known and individual specimen barbel are targetted by guides eager to show aspiring barbel fishermen how skilled they are.

 

So, if barbel are being consumed by otters all of a sudden do you not think that angling pressure may be a significant factor? Just google barbel and then look at the different forum and club reports, repeated captures again and again, named fish, the bloody lot.

 

The biggest pressure on barbel is Humans.

 

We must fix the rivers, use some common sense and take responsibilty for our actions. Stop blaming the bloody cormorants, otters, herons, kingfishers and other natural predators that will take advantage of our stupidity and greed and filthy habits.

 

And on top of that you believe what's written in the Sunday Sport Angling Times

[JV44]

No, the badgers are eating the sheep doncha know (in between injecting the cattle with TB)!

 

Otters love crays, they eat the white clawed just upstream of me............bugger, that's where they've all gone, otters have eaten them all

 

No i thought the Cows were injecting the Badgers evil they are haven`t you seen the Cravendale Milk adverts ,Friends of ours saw a pair recently [Otters]on the upper Thames and also whilst coming down the Oxford Canal on the bits where it interweaves with the Cherwel but both were very rural areas and from what i have seen both areas have plenty of fish steve.

[Jeffwill]

How does he know so precisely that 10% of the barbel have been taken?

 

I understand that you blame otters for the demise of so many fish but how did the balance work before otters were so nearly wiped out? It can't possibly be because of the decline in eels alone surely. With vast areas of the countryside becoming flooded with signal crayfish the otters ought to be oblivious to the fish around them. And, why are they taking all of these big, fast barbel, why not smaller slower species? LOL

 

I'd love to know which stretch of the Wye you (used to) fish. From your post I take it that prior to ten years ago the chub weren't there and that they appeared and grew into a shoal and then all died. Old age perhaps? - NO THEY BECAME OTTER SPRAINTS

 

The Wye has had otters, coarse fish, game fish, sea fish and all manner of other kinds of predators including man for years yet, suddenly, the otters are eating all of the coarse fish. Sorry, doesn't sound like otter behaviour to me. - OBVIOUSLY THE STRETCHES YOU FISH HAVE NOT BEEN BADLY AFFECTED

 

Another point regarding barbel is that apparently the numbers of large fish appears to have undergone a significant decline since the summer floods of recent years. Maybe there is a disease problem.

 

Oh well, must dash, blasted hedgehogs are sucking the milk from all my cows again

 

SEE ABOVE

Edited July 29, 2009 by Jeffwill

[lutra]

On a more serious note some of these articles are of interest particularly regarding water quality and barbel

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal...=1&SRETRY=0

http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/News/river_wen...rbel_roach.html

http://www.thebarbelsociety.co.uk/research.htm

 

Now check out the water quality of the Bristol Avon..........eutrophic! Hardly suitable water quality for introducing yet more fish is it really.

 

This one has some particularly interesting facts especially about removing bankside vegetation and instream branches on the size and number of barbel..........The barbel society along with the EA have just done precisely that on a local river, all of a sudden the barbel fishing has declined!

http://www.barbel.co.uk/site/articles/stillwater.htm

 

Interestingly enough, most barbel anglers realise that barbel need carefully releasing as they frequently tire themselves completely after being hooked. Now consider the upsurge in the number of people who target barbel compared to say ten or fifteen years ago. Small rivers that were lightly fished are now lined with camouflaged blokes hurling ouces of lead and cwts of feed into rivers and then bullying out fish with heavy rods. Big fish are targetted repeatedly once known and individual specimen barbel are targetted by guides eager to show aspiring barbel fishermen how skilled they are.

 

So, if barbel are being consumed by otters all of a sudden do you not think that angling pressure may be a significant factor? Just google barbel and then look at the different forum and club reports, repeated captures again and again, named fish, the bloody lot.

 

The biggest pressure on barbel is Humans.

 

We must fix the rivers, use some common sense and take responsibilty for our actions. Stop blaming the bloody cormorants, otters, herons, kingfishers and other natural predators that will take advantage of our stupidity and greed and filthy habits.

 

And on top of that you believe what's written in the Sunday Sport Angling Times

I agree with what you are saying about Humans being the biggest pressure on barbel, but I'm not sure that bullying barbel with heavy rods is part of the problem. Surely anglers playing fish out on light gear would be even worse?

Edited July 29, 2009 by lutra

[Guest Rabbit]

The Bristol Avon has declined over the last few years as far as barbel numbers are concerned, I see increasingly more dissilusioned BA anglers on the Teme and Wye recently. It was only recently that Lacock near Chippenham would always be the place to go, however the amount of angling pressure that place saw I am not at all surprised that it has declined, the same applies to the Bath area Limpley Stoke used to be the place, not any more.

 

I dont know if we should be blaming the Otter Mink Floods Angling pressure or what, perhaps it's a combination of all. If the barbel numbers are declining through predation by otter or mink then it would be that these critters are killing for fun, not so sure they do that, like a fox in a chicken coup.

 

Of course on the other side of the coin, you have to ask is it such a bad thing that the barbel numbers are being thinned out? As much as I love catching barbel I wonder in some waters if there is an inbalance where the barbel have just taken over the whole river system, as was the Great Ouse recently, but mink and or Otter killed many of the fish, perhaps these 'spoon fed' overweight named specimens were easy picking for the Otter and Mink!

 

I fished the Wye on Monday with John Clark (Flying Tench) this once exlusive Salmon only river is stiff with barbel, I had EIGHT in about a 90 minute spell and 11 for the session, multiple barbel catches on the Wye is common, John had six, and fished a lot less hours than me!! To have that many fish that don't have many predators that can take them is perhaps a bit of a worry, something has to give.