I have enjoyed fishing for as long as I can remember. My main aim is to encourage others especially young people to take up coarse, trout or sea fishing and to get some of the same enjoyment and benefits as I have. Younger people need to have more of an outdoor lifestyle and not be stuck inside playing computer games. In half term weeks fishing tackle shops used to be full of youngsters but not nowadays. Today the average age of anglers in a lot of the nations fishing clubs is well over fifty and needs to get a lot lower. Participating in supporting work introducing young people to angling and keep maintaining their involvement is vital for the future of our sport. Also, I have spent a lifetime learning skills to do with fishing and would like to pass some of these on via my RU-vid channel. I am computer programming lecturer and try to go fishing twice a week.I record my trips using my GoPro Hero cameras.
It's nice to see restocking but come on between you all not one could get the basics of releasing fish right. It was all about taking pictures and video footage for likes and attention shame you didn't pay this much attention to the welfare of the fish.
I'm in the initial stages of planning to reintroduce barbel to the river Wensum and the Ware around Norwich as to many moaning about the state of the rivers here and doing next to nothing to solve it.
I wish you good luck with these barbel, but I wish you would put "Great" in the title. I thought it was the Yorkshire Ouse, which ironically is a much larger river than the Great Ouse. We also stocked some barbel in our Ouse last week.
I'm thinking of going to buy a load from where this lot is from to put into the River Don, Dearne and Rother, because in 30 years, I've never caught one or seen a Barbell in real life. They would take maggots if they were in. And they are not. We've got everything else, albeit small 👍
@@anthonylong6403 who's told you that? If there was Barbell in the Don, the banks would be lined. Instead the Barbell lads go to the Trent. There is stretches of the Don still barren, absolutely barren, nothing in at all, I know, I've fished them. I don't think there is anyone that's fished the Don in impossible places over the last 30 years, more than me.
@@Jimbob-yp6yi again, the banks would be lined if it was. I've got the Doncaster book, it's alright for bottle tops, nice n deep, waste of time in winter. Last time I went there, I fished above the Weir, where the proper platforms are, next to the holiday camp side of the prison, you can see into it. 10ft deep off the rod tip, overcast, mild, slight upstream breeze, few maggots, casting slightly downstream into them, falling through them, fishing absolutely perfect, holding back, running through, perfect presentation, couldn't fish any finer. One 2 ounce brownie all day, nothing else.
The EA isn’t doing a fraction of the restocking in our highly polluted rivers that they should be, I fish different regions the Thames below Abingdon and there’s vast stretches totally devoid of fish because of water pollution and Otter/ Cormorant predation.
Hi Patrick. Only just found your channel. Very good stuff. I’ve just started fishing the Trent and was planning a few more winter trips up there. I have also fish the upper Lea on the Red Spinners section at Bayford. I was interested in your approach. Were you using PVA bags or a small feeder on the Lea? Thanks Martin
The rivers problems are not all to do with otters the ouse like its tributary the ivel are a shadow of what they were 12 years ago there are still barbel in the ouse I was told they had all basically become extint I took a break from ouse barrelling about 13 years ago due to the gloom. I decided this 2023 season to gave a campaign 20 sessions in 10 barbel 5 doubles 3 9's a 7 and a baby 2pounder that seems a fair return for my efforts
I fish on the st ives lakes complex,these natural stocked gravel pits,I can catch double figure bream and large tench on a float rod,that’s how close to the bank they are. I’ve seen otters on the pits probably 10 times,I’ve never seen an ottered fish on the bank,and have not had any other fishermen say they’ve seen one 🤷♂️ What you do see is lots of huge swan mussel shells out on certain spots of the bank,that’s what the otters are going for...they could just take a great big slow lazy bream..but they don’t.
@@markhepworth we have several waters round my way, big vast pits, very low stocks, full of krays near couple rivers. Over last 5 years 2 of them have been rinsed of all the carp as we knew them very well. The krays and swan muscles were first to be hit then the bird and small mammal populations and lastly the fish! Another local water gets visits most weeks as we have trail cams as water can't be fenced. First signs were 1 fish with large gash on its side, then 3 or 4 with chunks out of tails, then we found a known 38lb common in near mint condition over 300yards away from the lake then another then another! That common was nearly 50 years old, what a way to go!!! Dragged out the lake by your face to watch your attacker eat your throat out!!!
What i dont get is literally thousands have been stocked in the Ouse in comparison to the upper Thames but there seems to have been much better survival rates on the Thames especially around oxford. I think the biggest problem facing all our rivers is over abstraction of water. Shocking how much lower the Ouse is at Newport Pagnell now, compared to the 1980's and early 90's.
I agree with you. The water table around Milton Keynes and Newport Pagnell has been lowered considerably. I think a lot of this has been done with borehole abstraction. Also, building houses etc. in the flood plain doesn't help as the weirs are opened and the water rushed off to the sea, as soon as possible after rain. It used to be allowed to soak in on the flood meadows.
It would help if these companies pouring raw sewage into our rivers were fined realistic amounts. I realize that £2+ million is a lot to us mere mortals but to these companies it doesn't even touch their profits. really hammer them till they get the message.
Thank for sharing this Patric. I helped Sam R with clearing gravel patches at Adams Mill in late April using the same equipment featured in the video. Sam is a hero for leading this effort if you ask me. I have some time booked off next year to help again on more venues this time 👌 As a local angler for my whole life, I really do hope it works and we see more Barbel coming through 🤞
The work that's been carried out has been laudable, but I do wonder where all the sediment and algae settles again. For real improvement of our river, the huge amount of abstraction and the raw sewerage being pumped into the river needs to be reduced.
A few years ago, a number reasonably big Barbel could be seen in the clear waters of the "New Cut" at the Barker's Lane entrance to Priory Park in Bedford. They seemed to disappear (there is an otter there). At the time, I thought that was a good place for them because it's gravel-bottomed and fast-flowing, but people in Yorkshire are now saying that some of their straightened rivers flow TOO fast for some fish to breed! The New Cut is dead straight and originally intended to stop the old Varsity Line railway from being flooded.Even when the navigation channel is sluggish, the New Cut flows quickly and as flood conditions approach, it absolutely belts long, before slowing again when there's no space left downstream for the water to flow too. It's a really good idea to go somewhere safe before this happens. Could the New Cut be too fast-flowing (at least at certain times)? If someone wanted to slow it down, though, they really would need to provide excess water with yet another alternative route!
@@chrisguygeezer The other thing that's new, apart from otters, is that Little Egrets are a thing in Bedfordshire for the first time in some centuries. They might eat fish too small for a heron, cormorant or otter to bother with and I think the "fingerlings" being released in this video could be an ideal size for them. They are about the same size as the Rudd which vanished from a pond on the Biggleswade Green Wheel in the two weeks following my first sighting of an Egret in that pond in Autumn last year. They had survived prior to this, probably because he didn't know they were there until the water levels dropped with the heatwave. I've _never_ seen a Kingfisher there; they stick to the Ivel itself, the other side of town.
@@fizzyfozbuzz874 yes of course, but the same fish are coming out every season, hardly any 5-6-7s coming through to replace them when they die. Which will be soon
Every year, over the last 15 years or so, thousands (itro of 135,000) of fingerling barbel are stocked in to the Ouse, and yet the catch rate remains very poor. The same big females get caught every year, by the same anglers, who target the same fish. Soon these old fish will die and there are precious few to take their place. Instead of the 10's of thousands of fingerling barbel being stocked, surely it would make more sense to stock several hundred 4-5 year old fish. They at least would have a chance of survival.
This is what I don't understand either - surely the larger 3lb+ barbel would stand more change against pike / otter / mink / cormorant (not to mention the first flood) than these fingerling barbel. I'm not knocking the initiative though from the EA.
EA are tight wankers!! I'm surprised you got those barbel!!!! Thames water wiped out our local stretch of river and the EA and thames water didn't replace the stock- we got a fucking sign!!! I shit you not!!
Great work 👍. On one peterborough & district AA section where the chub & barbel spawn we always close off the areas around the gravels to fishing once the season has started as it nearly always goes on after june 16th so it stays shut to anglers until we're happy its over.
Sorry about my delayed response. I haven't been to the long walk thus season. I would try each swim for an hour or so and try to fish slightly deeper swims and those near cover. Use at least 8lb line and be ready for a hard fight from the barbel.
Great video, i went there myself last week and really struggled. What sort of depth do you fish at/would you recommend to fish at for lures? I'm use to the rivers so finding it hard to adapt to the reservoir, cheers.
They can take surface lures. I generally try and fish as close as I can to the bottom without snagging weed. At the end of the day pike can follow the prey fish higher up in the water, so it is best to fish shallower at that time.
I used to live in Bedfordshire. I last fished Ravensthorpe about 15 years ago. Have moved to the southwest now but have very fond memories of that lovely small Victorian reservoir.
Thank you for your comments. I have fished Ravensthorpe since I was about 12 years old and I find it picturesque and peaceful to fish. I also have some fond memories of fishing days and evenings spent there.
Good video again Patric. Personally, I like to see the moment of the take, especially if the line shoots out or when a dry is taken. Looks like you had a superb day. I lost count of how many you had to the boat.
I'm glad you liked it. I do try and get the moment of the take, sometimes it's a bit difficult with concentrating on the fishing as well. Thank you for comments.
