TALKING POINT
With river records tumbling, it’s a golden period for barbel anglers, but what are the reasons behind the boom?
Are barbel changing?
OVER the past 12 months more huge barbel have been landed, from more rivers, than at any point in history.
It’s been a remarkable period for fans of the species, and the action shows no sign of slowing down, with another monster specimen of 20lb 7oz reported in Berkshire this week.
Steve Birt landed what he described as ‘an angling dream’ after hooking the giant during a session on the River Thames, but believes there is even better to come from the famous waterway.
“I know of three different 20lb-plus barbel that live in this stretch, and I think this river will produce the next British record,” said Steve. “The Trent will give the Thames a good run for its money, but it doesn’t quite have the same numbers of twenties.”
But it hasn’t just been these two rivers
producing huge barbel. A new British record weighing 21lb 2oz was caught from a Sussex river just before Christmas, and seven other river bests have fallen over the past year.
So, why do Britain’s barbel appear to be getting so much bigger, in so many areas?
Barbel Society founder Steve Pope believes that part of the reason is that more people are targeting the species than ever before, and the high-protein baits they use have had a big effect on growth rates.
“It used to take many years for fish to hit the weights we’re seeing regularly now, but they’re doing it a lot quicker these days because they’re eating these baits.” he says.
Speaking about the River Trent’s rise to the top of the barbel tree, Steve believes that the stocking practices of the Environment Agency have also been key to the upturn.
“The river received a big introduction of barbel from Calverton fish farm many years ago and these are some of the fish being caught today.”
Well-known all-rounder Bob Roberts also believes that the EA stockings have had a big impact, but not just on the Trent. “The brood stock was taken from the Trent and grown on before being stocked out to other rivers, with fish to 3lb going in. This gives them a head start against predators.
“Barbel were only originally native to eastern-flowing rivers carrying a bit of pace, but they’ve now been introduced to all these other rivers too, many of which have little flow these days, so the fish have to expend far less energy for a meal, and they’ve begun to wax fat as a result.”
Bob also pointed to the knock-on effects that cormorant predation on silverfish has had on barbel.
“When cormorants began ravaging the rivers, it was the roach and other silverfish that went first. This left less competition for the natural food, and the barbel benefited from that massively,” he added.
Phil Smith, who holds the remarkable accolade of having caught double-figure barbel from 32 different rivers, offered yet another slant on proceedings.
He said: “The past few seasons have been phenomenal for barbel due to the perfect feeding conditions. This species feeds like crazy in floodwater, and we’ve had plenty of that! Plus, barbel are less cautious than other species, and don’t wise-up to anglers’ tactics as quickly. Combine this with a generation of anglers who are now super-efficient at catching them, with mega sharp hooks and effective rigs, and you are bound to see more big fish on the bank.”
So, could the UK’s barbel get much bigger over the coming years, or have we reached the limit of their growth potential? Dr Paul Garner believes that we are already ahead of the curve for the species compared to other European countries and can’t see maximum weights increasing much more.
“Although barbel grow to over 30lb in
Spain, those fish are a completely different species called Comizo barbel. Our own species, Barbus barbus, don’t grow as big in other countries as they do in the UK, so I would say we have just about reached the ceiling. In Germany, for example, the same species only reach about 18lb or 19lb in the biggest rivers.”