Bring On The Barbel
At Angling Direct, we're not just about carp. With many passionate and experienced anglers working in roles across the company, we have a lot of involvement with species clubs, such as The Barbel Society, who work to promote understanding and conservation of, and involvement with, their particular species.
For The Barbel Society, this includes working to secure effective consultation with Environment Agency, to ensure that the voices of the knowledgeable, experienced barbel anglers who make up their membership are heard, and taken into consideration in discussions around river use and development, and other issues that impact on angling as a whole, promoting a broader knowledge and appreciation of barbel as a species, and of barbel angling as a sport, developing up to date, in depth knowledge of the barbel, its habitats, ecosystem, lifestyle, and behaviour, and working to further and promote conservation efforts on behalf of both barbel as a species, and the wider river habitats.
Subsurface Stunners
Although Wikipedia describes them as “carp-like”, barbel are a distinctly different fish to angling's most talked-about quarry, and, for the anglers who fish for them, far more interesting.
Typically found in gravelly river swims, barbel can be easy to spot, and, in the right conditions, relatively easy to hook into; the fact that they prefer slower waters helps, as anglers will only have to fight the fish,rather than taking on the current as well. However, if you're tempted to think this single-pronged struggle makes barbel fishing easy, think again – barbel are known for putting up a good fight, and giving anglers plenty of sport on their way to the bank! This being the case, it's easy to see how The Barbel Society reached 1000 members in just two years, following their first meeting in April 1995, at Upton Upon Severn.
In The Beginning...
First conceived as an idea in the winter of 1994, by keen barbel anglers Mike Bell and Steve Pope, it didn't take long for the core concept of The Barbel Society – an unrestricted membership society that would work to generate wider interest in barbel fishing, and press for more suitable habitats to be developed, along with ensuring that anglers and fisheries worked to exemplary standards of barbel welfare, and that the general public saw those welfare standards in action, every time they came across the sport of barbel fishing – to catch on, and become the thriving force for conservation, education, engagement and involvement it is today.
In The Moment....
The Barbel Society will be celebratng thirty years of working with barbel anglers, and the wider remit of those involved with, and passionate about, the UK's rivers, and the sport of coarse fishing generally, and on behalf of the barbel itself.
In the run up to this anniversary, The Barbel Society have a stunning book, available to purchase through their website. For just £35, Barbel Tales is a treasure trove for anglers, naturalists, and those with any degree of interest in the natural world, and the ecology and environment of the UK, bringing almost 300 pages of barbel fishing stories, advice, and tactics, all perfectly bound in a durable hardback book that will last a lifetime, and which would make the perfect addition to any bookshelf.
The Barbel Society also runs the annual Barbel Show, an event held during the river close season each year, and eagerly anticipated by professional and amateur anglers alike. Suitable for the whole family, and with plenty to interest non-anglers as well, the Barbel Show offers presentations from experienced, well-known barbel anglers, a thriving retail hall that welcomes new vendors every year, and raffles and tackle auctions that always generate a lot of interest among anglers, and which have never failed to be well supported.
In The Future...
One of the greatest threats to the long term stability and sustainability of the barbel in British rivers is otter predation, something that has been made much more of a problem for coarse anglers across the board, as well as fishery owners and managers, because of the ill-planned release of many captive-bred otter populations into rivers that could not sustain them, when government support of, and funding for, managed reintroduction schemes was withdrawn.
While otters are a necessary part of river ecology, and their presence does encourage plenty of visitors, many of whom are keen to learn more about the wider aspects of Britain's subsurface world, including fish species such as the barbel, anglers and species societies are all agreed that action needs to be taken on the sustainability of otter populations, particularly those released several years ago into rivers that would never have been able to sustain the inevitable increase in their numbers.
As well as working to engage the Environment Agency, and encourage wider debate on this issue, and other situations that impact on barbel stocks, and the health of the species as a whole, The Barbel Society will continue to work towards, and live up to, its core aims:
* To promote barbel conservation
* Conservation, and development of suitable barbel fisheries
* Encourage and promote the highest standards of barbel welfare across the sport
* Disseminate pertinent information on barbel, their habitats, ecology, lifestyle, and behaviour
* Secure effective consultation with the Environment Agency and other relevant organisations
In their commitment to drawing more anglers to the sport of their particular species, and encouraging responsible, sustainable involvement from anglers, fisheries, and organisations such as the Environment Agency, The Barbel Society is an organisation whose values are very much in line with those of Angling Direct, and we are proud to support the work of The Barbel Society, and encourage coarse anglers everywhere to give some thought to trying barbel as a challenging, highly sporty alternative to the more traditional carp.
Our home river, the Wensum, was once host to a thriving barbel population, which has sadly declined over the years. We know that many anglers, both among our staff and customers, miss the presence of these fantastic fish in our local waters, and their lack is one aspect of our motivation to support The Barbel Society, and ensure that other rivers continue to offer plenty of sport, with healthy stocks of these truly stunning fish.
