New record barbel

[Olly]

Your conclusion Dave is similar to mine! I too was going to move to France - but I was hindered by heart surgery!

[Santiago]

Spot on KevD. I don't think barbel records mean a thing since the use of high protein pellets and carballing became trendy.

[Dave Burr]

Your conclusion Dave is similar to mine! I too was going to move to France - but I was hindered by heart surgery!

That's a shame Olly, life has a habit of getting in the way of fishing. My wife's health scuppered our plans but it's all turned out okay and I'm rather glad I didn't make the move what with Brexit etc.

[Mole-Patrol]

It is surprising how many new British customers I have picked up in the last two years. The 'B' word doesn't seem to have put them off.

If anyone was coming to France and barbel fishing was important to where they chose to live then the Seine catchment area and major tributaries are probably the safest bet for the size of barbel you could expect in many rivers in the UK as an average. But for sheer choice of coarse fishing then I have not found anywhere better than the middle to lower Charente valley. The river there is breathtakingly beautiful and splits into many smaller channels that eventually re-jojn the main river so you can choose to fish a small river or a large river, a weir pool or lock all in the same area. We visit that part regularly through the warmer months and it is real Mr. Crabtree stuff. You can count the pebbles in a 12 foot deep swim it is so clear and the weeds are dense and verdant. Carp, chub, roach, pike and bream all grow large and there are very few anglers to be found except in a few places that are popular. Most of the river never sees an angler from one month to the next.

Another good area is the Lot valley near to St. Cirq Lapopie. Even if you don't fish this area is worthy of consideration as there are so many picture postcard villages. But the River Lot in that area and its near neighbour the Célé are good barbel rivers with the average running around 4lb so ideal for trotting. The lower Lot valley is like Bivvy City in places due to the large number of big carp to be found.

If I were a betting man I would think that the best chance of a really large French barbel would probably come from the Lot or Dordogne rivers. I would like to think that the River Charente was capable of producing barbel half the size of what some people say are in there, but so far I haven't seen any. The Rhone might be worth an outside bet. There are enough anglers fishing strings of pellets at night for catfish to accidentally turn up a big Boris.

[Olly]

From what I have heard the northeastern parts of France hold their biggest barbel - Moselle, Rhine, and tributaries plus rivers near Belgium border. But as they are a pleasure species - and inedible - not many actually fish for them.

River Lot - not in the north! But enjoyable barbel fishing! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb_AUgT063E&t=557s

As a sporting species in Cat 1 (trout) rivers they give fly anglers another target.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDOktKv76oo

Remember many French anglers are catch & eat although the "No Kill" attitude is catching on slowly. I have been fishing when mullet anglers have walked pass with a container of 5/6 fish in his basket. Size limits and number of fish to be taken have reduced those fish on the diner plate.

NB: French YouTube.

[Mole-Patrol]

From what I have heard the northeastern parts of France hold their biggest barbel - Moselle, Rhine, and tributaries plus rivers near Belgium border. But as they are a pleasure species - and inedible - not many actually fish for them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb_AUgT063E&t=557s

As a sporting species in Cat 1 (trout) rivers they give fly anglers another target.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDOktKv76oo

Remember many French anglers are catch & eat although the "No Kill" attitude is catching on slowly. I have been fishing when mullet anglers have walked pass with a container of 5/6 fish in his basket. Size limits and number of fish to be taken have reduced those fish on the diner plate.

NB: French YouTube.

That first video was taken on the River Lot, not a northern river. I have fished the Lot a few times and the barbel run to around 3kg, the same sort of size that Lionel was catching. Quantity not quality like many other French rivers when it comes to les barbeaux.

From the French fishing forum chat the largest barbel caught are definitely in the north of the country. I haven't heard of anything coming out of the Rhine system to compare with the Seine between Rouen, Paris and to the east. The Rhone and Aisne both produce barbel to 4kg sometimes a little more whereas the Seine system has produced fish of 6kg. Anglers fishing the Loire and its tributaries are lucky if they get a 3kg fish. There are one or two interesting rivers in the Brittany department that turn up the odd 4kg fish. Too far for me to explore on anything other than a few sessions on holiday though. But, the local feeling is that more southern rivers; Lot, Dordogne and Gironde might have some surprises. So far, the many carpists and catfish anglers haven't publicised anything of barbelist interest.

One of my two local rivers is a Loire tributary and so I count myself very lucky to have landed a 4kg barbel. Further downstream from where I live there are a few carp fishing venues where night fishing is allowed and a fair few of these anglers are Brits. So far, no news of anything larger than 4kg has come out.

[Kev D]

I agree that carp are definately clever piggies when it comes to hogging the available food. When l was about 12 the sluice on the local millpond broke and emptied the pond into the stream below. After repairs ,in their wisdom the RA stocked the millpond with carp . Being relatively shallow they throve and bred and for a few years the Authority creamed off a surplus for other waters .The trouble was that more and more carp found their way over the sluice int the millstream. Imagine a little brook barely ten feet wide and rarely more than 20 inches deep being home to carp into double figures. The roach and dace fishing died and bullheads and stone loach have virtually disappeared. I've seen carp with their backs out of the water in the shallow runs turning over stones. I'm guessing they were sucking-up the spawn of the other species as well as competing directly for food with them. It may be a flawed theory but in the stream above the millpond where there are no carp ,there are still healthy populations of loach and bullheads. Another alteration to the sluice since then seems to have reduced carp escapes but there are still a few in the overflow stream.
The trouble is,I'm as hypocritical as the next person .As much as I waffle grumpily about the blxxdy carp ruining the river ,on the odd occasion I hook one l think "Coo, this is exciting!"

[Mole-Patrol]

It is a growing problem that isn't really being addressed. When you think that barbel were found predominantly in eastern flowing rivers that historically had no carp population. They are mostly a specialised feeder that had its own niche in the eco system. Now they not only have carp to contend with that is capable of feeding like a barbel does, and also a growing number of catfish that are populating its habitat. Adult catfish are more than capable of taking the largest barbel and as I have discovered frequently are found laying up in the places I would expect to find the larger barbel.

In Spain there is increasing pressure to deal with the growing number of alien species that are finding their way into the Spanish rivers and lakes and they have put carp on that list. Whether anything will actually be done about it is a different matter. In Normandy the departmental fisheries have been stocking rivers with salmon only to find that large catfish are stationing themselves near to the fish passes and mopping up the migrating salmon. They are spending millions of Euros to feed the catfish

I am not sure about the otter situation as I have no experience of it. They were introduced to my local river in Sth. Yorks but apart from seeing their paw prints I never came across one or its prey. But signal crayfish also must play a part in the changing face of rivers. I know that a lot of people claim that fish are getting larger on angler's pellets and boilies, but in many rivers I am convinced that it is the crayfish that are sustaining the larger species. What damage they do to spawn and young fish is a different matter.

It is a crazy world!