On a mission to catch a Barbel

[mikergj]

As the title says, I am on a mission to catch a Barbel. I enjoy many aspects of fishing from chub in the winter to sitting on a lake for carp.I am only just getting back into this great hobby after about a fifteen year break. Last Thursday I set of for a over nighter, I fished until two in the morning and then got my head down, was up at five with rod back in the water. The previous night I had one bite ,felt a good fish for about two seconds and then I realized, got to be a bream. No fight what so ever.Sure enough it was and as I am only just getting back into fishing I had to weigh it, five pound. The rest of the morning a complete blank. I was using a carp ground bait mixed with some sweet corn and had luncheon meat on the hook. No hair rig, just straight on a size 8 then tried a size 10. I was fishing a part of the river that I know Barbel existed 15 years ago. I stayed in that spot for the whole duration of my session. Sunday morning just gone I set my alarm for three thirty, by the time I got myself together and was on the bank it was five. Nearly abandoned the trip due to pouring rain,but was up, and what else was I going to do at that time of the morning. This time I tried a different approach, same ground bait, same hook bait, same size hook.But I picked five different swims and walked the river baiting these up.I saw one large fish in one of my swims which got me a little excited. But there is no way I can id a fish when it is in the water like that. I walked back to my first swim and started fishing, plan to spend about an hour in each swim then work my way back. I had been in my first swim for about half hour when there was an almighty swirl right over my bait. Then a few bubbles and more swirls in the water, then suddenly a little,well actually it was not little, it was bloody massive. A furry head. I better tell you this is the river Cherwell near Oxford. This thing then got out of the water on the opposite side of the bank. I sat motionless and it seemed to be oblivious to me. But it was huge, larger than a large domestic cat. This was my first sighting of a Otter in the wild. Now, as I have only just got back into fishing I have been oblivious to what has been going on but after much reading the last few days I am up to speed. Have the otters really removed all traces of Barbel from the Cherwell. Well I am not going to give up just yet and I really hope I can post a picture very soon of a Cherwell Barbel. So any advice other than give up would be greatly recieved. Thanks for reading

[Maddison_Twatter]

nice read, I think my heart would sink if I spotted otters on the stretch of river I fish but thankfully we only seem to have mink ! (well done tree huggers btw)

[Rob M]

Nice report mate, shame about the otter but well done on the bream. Keep trying on your search for a barbel.

[barbus maximus]

The Barbel will still be in there somewhere I'm sure, just not at the level of 15 years ago if Harry otter is in residence! They would have had a whale of a time I'm sure.

Keep at it, your patience will be rewarded.

Barbus

[BoldBear]

Nice report, like the others said it won't be long before you get your barbel.

I fish a small river which doesnt yet have any otters and which has a healthy number of Barbel and other fish in it, however we also have stretches of other rivers like the upper Gt Ouse which have been devastated by otters and the once well known Barbel areas are almost depleted and any Barbel have moved on and we regularly see Otters swimming through our swims quite un-alarmed by humans, and when this happens you might as well go home as every fish in the river seems to stop feeding for the rest of the day.

Unfortunately there is an Otter sanctury not far away I have been told.

Just because they seem to co-exist in some rivers doesn't mean that its the same in all rivers, plus they were expandng back into our rivers slowly by themselves already without needing any help from interfering humans.

[mikergj]

Thanks for your replies and comments,I will keep you informed of my progress.

[firemantim30]

As everyone else has said, just keep plugging away. Try moving up and down your favourite section of river - bait up a few swims on your way upstream with a few pellets or hemp and fish them on your way back downstream. Stay in each swim half an hour and if you haven't caught then move on. If you catch, start the half hour countdown again in the same peg. I reckon if you bait 8 swims it should do you for a good evening session and if not, throw in another handful of hemp when you leave each swim and work your way back upstream when you get to your last peg.

If you stay static you are relying on drawing the fish to your swim which could take along time if they hang about a mile downstream - move around, find the fish and be patient.