Big Fish: Strange days for barbel and chub prospects

For river anglers it has been one of the strangest starts to the season in recent memory and there is a distinct lack of consistency to results with both barbel and chub.

It is not just a lack of consistency though; the pattern we have been seeing has been a little more complex than the usual summer indifference which the two major species often exhibit. We have seen fish showing from areas where they are not normally caught from and, conversely, early season swims which should have been producing have failed to do so. Location has always been the number one conundrum facing all anglers and it is part of the challenge we all love but this season it has been really testing.

The problem is the climate has influenced spawning this year. A long, cold spring followed by largely inconsistent weather has done little to help the fish and the results we are still seeing in terms of catches are a direct consequence of this.

I have long argued the inadequacy of the current river close season dates and this season it has really come home just how wrong things can be.

There was barbel spawning activity very late this spring but it is only now becoming clear how late and how interrupted the spawning was.
Barbel fishing throughout July was poor because most of the fish were still mating.

For chub the situation has been even worse and a friend of mine witnessed a shoal of them spawning just last week - at least two months after they should have finished.

As for the angling, if you fish now like you would at the beginning of the season you might just start to get into a few.

To report catches phone 07780 755138. or email ian@bigfishtrail.com.