Bigger barbel?

[Cat]

Evening All,
Before I ask this question I must be clear that I'm not really a barbel fisherman, and have never specifically targeted them, although have bagged a few, but I digress...
I may be mistaken as I haven't really followed the developing interest in the species, and have still yet to read Chris Yates' book on the subject, but have barbel got bigger over the years, have have fisherman got better at targeting the larger specimens, or is it a question of more people targeting them (or a combination of the three)?
From my reading of many older books, along with posts on the TFF, it appears that a good cane rod designed for the job 60 years ago wouldn't be considered up to the task today. Caveats to this point may include, understandably, people don't want to risk their, let's say for the sake of example, MkIV (I know there are others!), or the methods used then in comparison to today, etc.
If they have indeed got bigger, I wonder why, as I can't believe they are being fed in a commercial pond carp esque way? Has food supply and quality, along with water quality has improved to such an extent (although I believe there has been introduction beyond their original habitat basins)?
Food for thought, although I accept I may have completely missed the obvious!
Regards Cat

[RBTraditional]

Barbel populations are in serious decline in some rivers due to the increase in signal crayfish eating the eggs, otter predation of larger specimens , cormorant and mink predation of the juveniles, the siltation of spawning beds, poor water quality, decimation of weed beds by both mechanical removal, flooding and herbicides. We found that on the Kennet that a combination of all the aforementioned resulted in the fish having less competition became bigger then the captures of those became less frequent with very few smaller ones coming through until after a period of maybe five years they had disappeared altogether...having big barbel in a river with very few small ones is not always a good sign of the health of the river or barbel population

[Dave Burr]

Cat, in answer to your question.

For many, many years the record barbel stood at (about) 14lb 6oz with three fish sharing that weight. Despite this apparent ceiling weight, there were plenty of tales of monster barbel seen or hooked and lost so it's fair to assume that there were bigger girls out there. Of course, tackle before what, the 70's? was far less substantial than now and the classic 'Avon' rods could be pushed to the limit by barbel as would the lines and hooks of the day.

I rediscovered barbel in the mid-nineties and it was still all but impossible to find a 'barbel rod'. Then everything changed. Barbel were suddenly the IN fish and a lot more of us went chasing them. tackle improved, tactics were developed and baits tweaked to target them specifically. As meat and corn became less effective so pellets and boilies were the norm. The record started to creep up with certain fish being targeted and repeatedly getting caught whilst steadily getting bigger.

The records tumbled on a regular basis on the Gt Ouse where a year class of fish lived in section of river that seemed almost devoid of new fish and the old ones just grew and grew. There were eventually three or four individuals all over 20lbs with plenty of upper doubles too. I once gave a talk at a specialist club meeting in Northampton on the subject of Wye barbel. In the room was the current record holder along with 6 or 7 previous holders. No pressure then

Other rivers threw up monsters but it was never really certain if it was due to anglers attentions discovering these fish or the amount of food going into the waters. Rivers like to Wye grew a massive barbel population but nothing to threaten the record.

Then the bubble burst. Rivers started deteriorating (post 2007's summer deluge which I am certain started the rot in some rivers), the recruitment of small fish was hit by pollution, crayfish, cormorants and bloody otters. The otter explosion also saw to it that any barbel in a small river was at serious risk and the GT Ouse was devastated in a short time.

Yes, barbel have always grown big but they definitely got bigger in the 90's and beyond. Then the anomaly was 'corrected' and although massive fish still inhabit a few places, the size seems to have levelled out a bit.

[Chevin Chaser]

I won't go into the decline of barbel, most possible reasons have been noted.

I fish the Gt Ouse and this season I've landed 18 barbel and not one repeat catch. They have been caught from lots of different stretches in a radius of 20 miles. When I've walked the banks and spoken to other anglers who were targeting them, the main baits used were boilies and pellets. The amount of bait thrown into the water was beyond me. Each to their own and if it works for you then why not, but it's not my method of choice. So this leaves a vast amount of excess food for the barbel to eat, and the pounds will soon pile on.

If fishing for barbel, I choose never to feed the swim. I use a single bait, usually a piece of meat or worm, very occasionally a pellet. If one is around and they are on the feed, then I've got a very good chance of hooking into one as they compete for the bait. In September I caught 3 out from the same swim all over 8lbs and In just under 2hrs. Red letter day, maybe, or the one bait kept them competing.

A lot believe there are no barbel left in the Ouse, I can assure you there are, but like everything else, you must do your homework and fnd them. 6 barbel were caught on stretches that are not really fished and in slow deep waters and with otters, cormorants and mink present.

Let's not forget that all species get old, weak and die.

[Cat]

Thank you Gentlemen...very interesting and thought provoking.