Barbel Hunting amongst the masses

Steve Catlin

New member
I have been fishing a lot lately and have found that most of the venues are full with all stands taken, lines every where. I have gone to a lot of trouble to prepare a rig, bait up, get it to the right spot only to have it reeled in by the guys next to me. At one stage a guy hooked a 6kg barbel on light tackle and managed to mess up about 12 lines as the fish was all over the place. I am not unreasonable when someone has a fish on the line it is bound to happen. I have found it just about impossible to fish with good results amongst the masses, I need to find places where it is quiet and I have enough space to fish unhindered. Any suggestions?
 

Kosie

New member
Steve dit kan nogals frustrerend wees. Probleeem is dat as so n plek op die ope forums gedeel word dit juis die selfde probleem daar gaan veroorsaak. N ou moet maar tye kies deur die week buite vakansies wanneer daar die minste mense gaan wees. Anders gaan jy maar self na die private eienaars van n stuk water toe moet gaan en met hulle iets probeer reel. probleem is daar is altyd die een ou wat n plek opneuk vir almal. Mense wat vis uithaal, rommel strooi, lyne in die water afbreek, gesuip raak en lawaai en dan hulle vriende en hulle vriende en hulle vriende oor nooi. As n ou so plek kry moet n ou seker wees dat jy dit net met mede spesie hengelaars deel wat ons fauna en flaura oppas. Maar die ope forums waar almal kan sien is nie die plek nie. Die karp spesie hengelaars het baie geleer deur trail and error ons moet nie die selfde foute maak nie, ons moet deur hul foute leer. Ek dink om by n spesie baber hengel club aan te sluit en saam met die ouens te begin hengel is n ou se beste bet. Dis al hoe ons kan verseker dat die tipe van inligting gedeel word maar dat dit niein die verkeerde hande val nie. Maar dis net my opinie. Ek wil ook graag voorstelle hoor by die ander, ek is ook konstant opsoek na beter spots.
 

Steve Catlin

New member
I agree with the Barbel Specimen club, that would be a great experience. I hear what you say regarding private fishing spots and you are right. Dis nie altyd moontlik om saam met n paar ouens deur die week te gaan nie maar ou moet seker n plan maak. Ek dink die beste is n paar nag sessies in die week dan kan jy regtig hengel.
 

Mission Man

Senior Member
a specimen barbel angling club would be a great idea, as i've found the problem is trying to get a farmer who has sufficient water front that is willing to allow this.

i think my problem is that i'm looking for the contact details of such a farmer in all the wrong places.
 

nobbles

New member
Its a waste of time to fish with that many people, no big fish will come out with all that noise and commotion around. We are looking into starting the barbel speciman society again. If you guys are interested let the CatFish Africa guys know. the more names we have on a list the more power we have to make this happen. The bank angler was keen on working with us to start it up again and we can still achieve this.

Personally i dont even out a bait out when the dams are full. I wait till all the day anglers go home than i look to bait up. I usually only put bait out at dusk anyway so dont mind watching and reading the water till a proper gap opens up. But all i beg and plead at ll the dams i fish to get permission to fish other areas. Big fish are not going to be any where the crowd. Even this weekend, i was told that the club in pmb has been kicked off there old grounds at albert falls and now has half of the camp site a t pelican bay. So now a small camp site just got cut in half. So the only option is to go on bended knee and beg to be allowed to fish the old club waters alone and away from the soon to be extremly over crowded bay with heavy boat activity.
 

Mission Man

Senior Member
nobbles wrote:
If you guys are interested let the CatFish Africa guys know. the more names we have on a list the more power we have to make this happen. The bank angler was keen on working with us to start it up again and we can still achieve this. 
Well you can definitely put me down and my brother in-law.
 

Kosie

New member
My hope is that Catfish Africa will start to grow now, its what we need, the sooner the better. Thought its allready up and running? It cant die?
 

nobbles

New member
Thats the aim Kosie, we want to build catfish in this country to the point we are selcting spring bok's. This is a local fish and deserve the attention afforded to "bait species(lol)" like carp. With your guys support we will grow this amazing sport and get stronger and stronger.

The bank angler has the catch club, or you get a certificate for your catchs. But the society ded back in the 90's. but rest assured this year is a big one for us and we will have either a combined one or our own by year end. There are big plans in place that hopefully will work out for us all.

CatFish Africa is the company we have started to cover the lack of decent Barbel specific tackle in the country, and through the proceeds we make we are looking at re-investing all of it back into the sport to make sure it grows and is not forgotten again. It will be a great day for me personally when some of the carp guys stop calling our beautiful catfish pests. We have barely scratched the surface when it comes to what we understand about this beast and im sure in the years to come we will see many fish coming out at sizes that we thought where impossible.
 
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