The smallest one I ever caught was a little larger - I weighed it at 9oz and I caught it from the River Severn. I was only 17 and I had brought along loads of cheap fish meal groundbait, which my mate Martin rightly called "Swim Dead" and suggested I should market it! Well, the only thing I caught was the wee little thing. Martin blanked, so we gave up barbel fishing for the day and caught chub on floating crust, from underneath an overhanging willow.
Happy times...
A lovely little fish Bob, I take it it's Grandad is the one in your avatar. :chuckle:
Mark (Administrator)
The most precious places in the English landscape are those secretive corners,
where you find only elder trees, nettles and dreams. (BB - Denys Watkins-Pitchford).
Yes it was a great shame, I reported it to the EA on the Easter Sunday, I was Tench fishing the 70Acre at the time and stretched my legs, only to see dead fish floating down the river behind my swim after a bit of a flood that had happened overnight.
I later found out there were dead fish seen further up the river on Good Friday and it was not reported ?
A mate of mine works for the EA and he took 5 Black Pin Bags away full of dead Barbel and Chub from the Top of the fishery.
It was of course a cover up and we will never get to the bottom of it, but I was told by an EA fishery officier that they reckened 80% of the Barbel and Chub were killed, we will never know.