Barbel migration

[doebel]

Hi Everybody,
I need some advice in respect of barbel migration and their possibility to establish.Our Club manage a small tibutary to the river Main (rhine system), known to hold barbel well into double figures.

The river has an average width of 6m and a depth of 3ft. And some Pools up to 6ft. THe bottom is sand with some shallow gravel runs.
Weed growth is sparse , but gettIng better with some potamogeton increasingly seen in the shallows, after renaturalisation and widening of the river bed.

Chub and Dace are abundant, brown trout established as well as stickleback, loach, eels...
Since two years we Stock yearlings of grayling and it see ms to work.
LAst sunday I went trotting with my mate and we got grayling, chub, dace, asp, roach, bleak and a minnow on maggots.

I fished it quite offen for chub with reasonable result on luncheon meat, but never had a barbel nor have I seen one.

Why they are not migrating from the big river (at least at spawning time) into the tributary?

Do barbel easily overcome obstacles like chub or roach by jumping weir Pools and steps......there are few on the way up to the gravelly stretches.

I doubt it , but I have no experience. I sugessted to stock barbel well up the river to establish them. Good idea?

Thanks for you help!

Best regards Chris from Germany
....and happy Xmas

 

[tigger]

I think barbel can take over a river if it suites them and be detrimental to the other species so personally i'd be happy catching what you are.....sounds great!

It sounds as though they will be there anyhow but maybe in low numbers. It might be best to try and leger for them with larger baits to try and catch one.

All the best!

 

[doebel]

Hallo Tigger,
Thanks for your opinion. May be you are right, but I still do not know , if barbel migrate in, overcoming obstacles like a 1m weir step. I have seen chub and roach do that easily....crazy enough.....
I have seen barbel in the river, but always below the weir....

BTW.. The representatives of our Club already decided to stock barbel....its just a matter of time...

Best regards Chris

 

[Philip]

Yes Barbel can overcome the obstacles you mention just like the Chub.

I would go to the first swim below the weir in which you can see bottom and throw in a load of hempseed & keep topping it up then watch that over a few hours. if there are barbel about they will come along eventually.

Like Tigger however I would be quite happy catching the fish you already have & just fish the main river for the Barbel.

Whats the name of the Tributary your fishing ? ...drop me a PM if you like.

 

[jimlad]

There's an interesting chapter that I've just read in terry lampards last cast, about some very big barbel migrating above and below a big weir on an annual basis.

More local to me, I know of specific barbel that have migrated above and below a quite significant weir on the tees. Don't think it would be jumping, more flood water that would allow them the freedom of movement


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[keora]

You mention that there are a few weirs between the main river and the tributary that you fish. This may be the reason barbel aren't present.

I fish a local river where there is a bridge with a weir then another bigger weir 500 yards above. Barbel are present downstream of the bridge, but it's very rare to catch barbel above it. Some clubs upstream have tried stocking barbe. I don't think they survived, probably they drifted downstream to find sections that were suitable for them.

Another example, some years ago a gauging weir (for measuring flow rates) was installed on the River Nidd in North Yorkshire. This proved to be a barrier which fish (including barbel) couldn't cross. Eventually after lots of complaints the weir was removed in 1999.

This report explains how weirs restrict fish migrations:

weir | The South East Rivers Trust (SERT)

 

[trotter2]

There's an interesting chapter that I've just read in terry lampards last cast, about some very big barbel migrating above and below a big weir on an annual basis.

More local to me, I know of specific barbel that have migrated above and below a quite significant weir on the tees. Don't think it would be jumping, more flood water that would allow them the freedom of movement


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's interesting Jim have you caught any barbel above broken scar dam.?
The last one of any significant size that was in the taken on dbta water was way back in the 90s

 

[jimlad]

Unfortunately my success at tees barbel is woeful! I do keep tabs on catches though, and know some very dedicated tees barbel anglers (you need to be very dedicated to catch them these days). As I understand, the broken scar barbel fishing has gone downhill of late


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[thecrow]

Do barbel easily overcome obstacles like chub or roach by jumping weir Pools and steps......

During times of high water its very easy for Barbel to get up past obstacles, weirs included.

 

[doebel]

Thanks all for your comments on this topic. I HOPE l will catch barbel this year. I 'll keeping you up to date.

Thanks Chris

 

[108831]

Barbel would migrate over the weir you mention quite easily,if they liked the smell of it,barbel are continually passing from Beat 2 on the Stour up to the Great Weir on the Royalty Fishery on the H.Avon,it is a fact,several known fish have been caught at it,in particular one very large fish,i've said on another thread this entails going up a quite large boulder weir,not only that but big shoals of large mullet shoot this weir early in the spring every year,i've never seen this,but know they do through local bailiffs...