has anyone got any theories on why big barbel tend to run up river to fight , rather than charge around downstream, or is it just a phenomenon where i fish ?. i had one friday night from under my feet( with no snags upstream) but instantly on the strike set off upstream under my own bank , i could understand this if i were fishing below the streamer weed or snags, but on this occasion i had chosen an area above the weed with clear water above me , all the bigger barbel tend to do this where i fish .
why do big barbel run up river
| Author | Comment | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 night loner |
why do big barbel run up river |
Lead | |
|
Posts: 14 (06/07/08 19:26) |
|
||
|
chavender |
|||
|
Posts: 603 (06/07/08 19:52) |
there could be a couple of reasons ,due too their size and powerfull fins they're better equiped too swim against the current .by swimmng upstream against
the current more pressure will be on the line which may help pull a loosely hold hook free .or it could just be the natuel intinct to fight or flee or just
plan old PANIC !
steve
I try to be funny... but sometimes I merely look it 
|
||
|
bluestaff |
|||
|
Posts: 106 (06/07/08 21:21) |
Sorry night loner but i don't class a 5£ barbel to be a big fish!!!!
 but i do know
what you mean |
||
|
bewdley2 |
|||
|
Posts: 878 (06/07/08 23:13) |
Could possibley be because fish lay facing upstream naturally, and most times will feed facing that way, consequentley when they feel the hook they just bolt
the way they're facing. Kindest...Jim..
 ......
|
||
|
thisisjohn |
|||
|
Posts: 7993 (06/07/08 23:25) |
about time we saw you back posting youngun
  .....j.w
|
||
|
treepeg |
|||
|
Posts: 63 (06/07/08 23:37) |
Let them run, and if you use barbed hooks drop your rod. Then see which direction they take,usually homeward bound?
|
||
|
tony2canes |
|||
|
Posts: 2224 (06/07/08 23:57) |
Its a good question, on the Trent most of the doubles I have caught have set off up stream.
I have never wondered why before. |
||
|
treepeg |
|||
|
Posts: 68 (07/07/08 00:02) |
Trent is too big of a river, and like a canal for the most part of it Bamboo,smaller rivers have more Homes for the barbs to live in ...as I said before on the
smaller rivers they will head for Home
|
||
|
izzak.anglerstalk |
|||
|
Posts: 1 (07/07/08 02:01) |
Fish moving directly down stream get the flow of water through the gills the wrong way.
Your Signature ... Suffer fools gladly NOT
|
||
|
barbeltastic |
|||
|
Posts: 807 (07/07/08 08:23) |
treepeg wrote: Most of my fishing is on smaller rivers, where in the summer at least, you can watch the fish coming out from their hiding places to the baited area to feed and then swimming back again. Big and small, when you hook them they nearly always bolt straight back towards the sanctuary area they came from. 99% of the time this is downstream or towards the opposite bank, straight back in the direction they came from. In the absence of any cover to bolt to I have experienced a fair few fish run upstream when hooked, not the majority I might add, perhaps it is because they seek sanctuary in that direction? |
||
|
night loner |
|||
|
Posts: 15 (07/07/08 09:10) |
thanks for your replies i can seeyour point in all of them .
i just wanted to see if anyone else was of the same oppinion as me as to why these bigger fish head up river, my theory is that it comes down to agility, physical stature, and age of the fish. after all its easier just to kick forward on hooking rather than twist and turn then head off in the opposite direction like i find most of the smaller fish do.
Last Edited By: night loner
07/07/08 10:22.
Edited 1 times.
|
||
|
Gary Newman |
|||
|
Posts: 36 (07/07/08 12:33) |
I think I'm right in saying that when a fish runs downstream it has to hold its breath, or the fish equivalent, otherwise it would drown itself. When going
upstream it can breathe normally, so maybe this is why the bigger, older fish that are often slower moving, do this.
I know from mahseer, a distant cousin of the barbel, that usually the longer the run downstream the bigger the fish as it means that it hasn't had to pause to get its breath back. |
||
|
trypewriter |
|||
|
Posts: 356 (07/07/08 13:56) |
I think it's a combination of the suggestions so far. They aren't as 'nimble' as the smaller ones and can't turn as quickly to run
downstream. But perhaps the real answer to why they power off upstream is 'because they can'.
|
||
|
sneakypeter |
|||
|
Posts: 478 (07/07/08 20:17) |
Maybe they are just seeking the point of least resistance, if the pull on the line is from upstream, by swimming up, they reduce the pressure. Thinking back,
most of the big fish I,ve had from the Thames run upstream, works to our advantage, every time, they are fighting us and the flow. I don,t think swimming
downstream will affect there breathing at all, the dissolved oxygen is just there irrespective of direction of movement, there not sharks, who have to move to
breath, barbel breath quite happily wether facing, up, down or across the stream.!
peter |
||
|
albert watkinson |
|||
|
Posts: 1087 (07/07/08 20:44) |
i have hooked a few in the last 37yrs but i have never had one come upstream on the initial hook up.i have never thought about it before but i shall now.
albert
|
||
|
Gary Newman |
|||
|
Posts: 37 (08/07/08 10:57) |
sneakypeter,
I wasn't suggesting that they are like sharks and have to keep moving, simply that if facing downstream the flow is in the wrong direction for them to 'breathe' as the water will be pushed through their gills the wrong way if they open them whilst swimming downstream - much like dragging a fish through the water backwards can drown it. Whilst swimming upstream they can happily open their mouth and gills and breathe as normal. |
||
|
davhall |
|||
|
Posts: 2036 (08/07/08 11:10) |
i agree with the above, just make's more sense, i have had barbel come upstream when hooked then stop and whack down stream again, it was quite weird.
|
||
|
notmemate |
|||
|
Posts: 13 (10/10/04 21:15) |
I am hoping that there is something in barbel going 'home' on small rivers, most of my fish to date have headed downstream or straight to cover on the
opposite bank.
The ones I could not stop last year also dashed straight downstream and appeared to be powerful fish, I hope I come across them this year.
Thanks for your thoughts on fish heading for 'home', I now have somewhere else to try fishing too. |
||
|
John Whit |
|||
|
Posts: 102 (08/07/08 12:08) |
Hang-on... fish can't swim downstream because they'd drown???? Surely the water passing over the gill-rakers to absorb the oxygen would work both ways.
I suppose it may be more comfortable passing through the mouth and out the gills though, I just can't imagine fish are that badly designed (evolved) that
swimming downstream is such a problem???
|
||
|
davhall |
|||
|
Posts: 2037 (08/07/08 12:16) |
i watched all fish swim up and down stream all day, but always facing upstream when stopped.
|
||
|
Gary Newman |
|||
|
Posts: 38 (08/07/08 12:39) |
Try putting a barbel back and hold it facing downstream - on second thoughts don't because it will probably kill it! A fishes gills only work in one
direction.
As another example, if you're fishing livebaits on a river you need to mount them correctly otherwise they drown - either through being forced to sit facing the wrong way or when you wind them in. I'm not saying that barbel can't breathe under normal circumstances when mooching about up and down the river, but when they are swimming at full pelt downstream they are doing so with their mouth and gills closed. |
||
. 
- BFW Barbel Talk
- BFW River Reports
- BFW Other Species Fishing board
- BFW Social board
- BFW Barbel basics
- BFW Members
- BFW Swim Analysis
- Technical help
- Barbel and Fishing Classified
- Miscellaneous Classified
- Archive 1
- Archive 2
- Archive 3
- Archive 4
- Archive 5
- Archive 6
- Archive 7
- Archive 8
- Archive 9
- Archive 10
- Archive 11
- Archive 12
- Archive 13
- Archive 14
- Archive 15
- Archive 16
- Archive 17
- Archive 28
- Archive 29
- Archive 30
- Archive 31
- Archive 32
- Archive 33
- Archive 34
- Archive 35
- Archive 36
- Archive 37
- Archive 38
- Archive 39
- Archive 40
- Archive 41
- Archive 42
- Archive 43
- Archive 44
- Archive 45
- Archive 46
- FAQ topics
- 2001 to 2002 Season River Reports
- 2002 to 2003 Season River Reports
- 2003 to 2004 Season River Reports
- 2004 to 2005 Season River Reports
- 2005 to 2006 Season River Reports
- 2006 to 2007 Season River Reports
- 2007 to 2008 Season River Reports
- Moderators area
- Admin
Quick Reply
