Originally Posted by thesaint999

I didn't say who was better at any point, putting one against the other is just daft for to many reasons , john Wilson is a top angler but I couldn't see him scatting around for a few ounces on the canal in December.

And that is why Mr Clegg lost - John cleaned up on the 'match' venue - and stuffed him big time on the Avon! A true 'allround' angler, one of the best in the country.

Some really interesting points discussed, here's my two pence worth!
For one anything that the BS have to say, I always take with a pinch of salt, they do have a very one track mind when it comes to this subject.

I personally do not like the idea of Barbel being stocked into 1/2 acre mud puddles, but I do not like those venues anyway. But I beleive the reason these fish have been stocked is not because anglers wanted an alternative to carp, but the venues wanted to stock waters with better fish. Carp are very susceptible to more diseases than barbel and of course with the threat of KHV maybe barbel who do not suffer from this are a far safer bet, remember commercial fisheries are sombodys business, imagine having you whole stock wiped out over night?
I know a syndicate that backs onto a river and has had a couple of fish enter during floods. These fish were caught a few times at first but then never seen again. The lake was netted recently and tuned up a few fish, two doubles one of 14lb, the others were very small fish around 2lb. There has been no floods for quite a while, this can only mean they are breeding. These fish have good anglers fishing for them but they just don't get caught. Why is that?

I know it's a bit off track, but a subject that is mentioned on the BS website is the stocking of the rivers in anglers mail operation barbel. They stocked the Severn with fish from the river lambourn, how many of you guys fish for these fish? They shouldn't be there! The ironic thing about it all? Try catching a barbel in the lambourn, they no longer exist............

And a long time ago the relavant authorities of the time swapped Yorkshire Ouse barbel for Wensum Bream.

Now that is ironic!

Hey let’s keep the matchman v specimen anglers for a different debate this was supposed to be about stocking of Barbel in stillwaters, in fairness I know I bought up the matchman situation but it was only meant as an example for a certain situation not an attack on matchmen!!

See Discuss, Barbel in keepnets??

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barbel being a bottom dwelling fish will be susceptable to more disease in lakes what with all the muck and rotting crap in them nasty dug up bit of turf. i once was told by some idiot at a lake by me called frant a typical com water over stocked with ill ripped lipped half dead fish that he had a fresh water cod from the speci lake my reply was lets say not postable on this site and have not fished a com since and will not.

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Originally Posted by fishboyfishy

They stocked the Severn with fish from the river lambourn, how many of you guys fish for these fish? They shouldn't be there! The ironic thing about it all?

Sorry to be a bit picky but were the Barbel in the Severn not stocked (or should I say more Barbel stocked) from the River Kennet during September 1956?? May I assume the Lambourn is a tributary of the Kennet as it is the same area of the country?? But I think I’m right in saying that there were Barbel caught in the river Severn prior to 1956 hence suggesting that there were already Barbel in the river Severn??

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to be honest,i dont like these overstocked muddy puddles ,devoid of natural food and too many fish competing with each other for any food that lands in the water..fish diseases spread like wildfire (a bit like someone with pig flu sneezing on a tube train).. also anglers (not all but some)handling the fish badly and winding them in on overpowered tackle,,i dont think these places are good for any species .. fishing is no longer about appreciating time on in natural surroundings to some,,its more a catch at all costs sort of thing--when i was a little kid we caught gudgeon,small roach etc and loved it,,kids today think a small fish is a 3lb stockie carp..
back to barbel,,barbel fishing is now seemingly nearly as popular as carp fishing but a very large percentage rivers would not have barbel in if it wasnt for them being stocked.. many many rivers have been stocked and boast fish to well into double figures ,the concept of this being so was unthinkable only a couple of decades ago..obviously its not just how big they grow but will they successfully spawn and reproduce in rivers they are not indigenous to,and also how will their stocking affect the balance i.e other species....before barbel and chub were stocked in a river where i fish,i used to trot a stick float and catch mainly roach and dace,with the odd chub,bream,perch,trout oh and plenty of gudgeon but a lot of the smaller species seem thinner on the ground with chub now being far more plentiful..

sorry if my above post sounds hypocritical,it is a bit,but yes ive had a lot of fun catching chub and barbel etc,but i used to have plenty of fun trotting a float before they were stocked.. similarly i used to like floatfishing for tench but now most lakes near me are heavily stocked with carp which get to the bait long before the tench do.
i used to carp fish up to about 20 years ago ,,back then we didnt have any bag up lakes around ,,people seemed happier to try and catch what was in front of them rather than being guaranteed to catch on easy overstocked waters..
however,there is no doubt that these puddles have boosted the angling and tackle industry no end,as has stocking just about every bit of flowing water with barbel...

Originally Posted by Jam

Sorry to be a bit picky but were the Barbel in the Severn not stocked (or should I say more Barbel stocked) from the River Kennet during September 1956?? May I assume the Lambourn is a tributary of the Kennet as it is the same area of the country?? But I think I’m right in saying that there were Barbel caught in the river Severn prior to 1956 hence suggesting that there were already Barbel in the river Severn??

Yes the Lambourn is a Kennet trib as well as the enbourne (another source of the fish) But i'm afraid that you are wrong in your assumption, the barbel did not exist in the Severn before this time, all severn fish descend from these stocked fish.

Barbel are only 'native' in a few rivers in the UK, those that flow out to the North Sea. This is because the Thames, Trent, etc. were all tributaries to the Rhine 25000 years ago when the sea level was lower. The English Channel did not exist then and the "mega-Rhine" flowed out to the north of what is now Scotland.

All UK barbel in rivers that do not flow out to the present-day North Sea are there as a result of stockings, mostly carried out since the 1950's, i.e. the Angling Times sponsored stocking of the Severn in 1956, but some were carried out by Victorian gentleman anglers. A large number of these stockings have been unofficial, the Ribble barbel population is widely believed to have originated from fish smuggled back from the Severn for example.