Windhoek barbel

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Andre1979

New member
Greeting from Namibia! With winter upon us the trips to the Atlantic coast had to be postponed till better times. However, an avid fisherman cannot stay away from water, beer...and Captain Morgan with Coke - my personal favorite.

So I went to Avis dam in Windhoek, got myself some frogs and look what I caught:

 
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No, the girl didn't bite on the frogs. But she surely enjoyed what followed; after the barbels were smoked:

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and rolled into err...rolls. If there are some Japanese food connoisseurs amongst you, or you ever tasted the unagi roll (smoked eel), well barbel tastes 95% the same. And since me and my woman love Japanese food, and don't get any smoked eel in Windhoek, I had to find an alternative.

So there you go, the home made bait for the ladies:

 
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MAN

Senior Member
3 nice barbel you got there!!!!!!!:fbashThose sushimi looks just like it came from a restaurant,i wonder what they really use????????!!!!!!!!MMMMMMMMM
 
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Andre1979

New member
Man, i am telling you, the Japanese food in the restaurants in Windhoek is sh*t. Morover, it is awfully expensive if you think about it. Especially the rolls, where rice is the main ingredient, and a very cheap one. You will be VERY surprised, how easy it is to make your own rolls. It is a good alternative to a braai, thats for sure.
 
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deisel

Sealiner
it really does look great but i might have eaten the foil around fish instead of the actual meat, lol i geuss the dam is clean and it doesmt resemble out jhb croc river stinkers hahahaha,, nice one mate great idea there with the sushi
 
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Andre1979

New member
Contrary to what most folks think, barble doesn't tast that bad. Actually, if you drain the blood out (cut off the head) and take out the big blood veins inside (there two, if i recall correctly, along the spine) and smoke the whole thing, then trust me, you'll love it. Cuz the smoke kills any mud smell there might be left. Oh and the sea barbels, i think those are really worth smoking. Gotta try it one day. Trimming off the nasty spikes of course.
And the thing i like the most about barbel - no bones! Well, if you fillet it correctly. Compared to a carp - barbel is really way better!
 
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deisel

Sealiner
there are no set rules ate ill be at the vaal this weekend aswell but ill target big grass carp i wanna try purge one and chow it the meat looks very firm and white
 
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deisel

Sealiner
bru they eat anything from dough to maize to tiger nuts, they are a bit harder to catchin winter and are normally around in the early mornings, im surprised you have never caught one there the dam is plagued with the buggers
 
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Andre1979

New member
Diesel, you would be surprised how picky the barbels are. Numerous baits were tried with no luck. Chicken liver rotten and fresh, carp head, fish filet, sardine oil, mackrel, even a pilchard. NOTHING! The only thing guaranteed to catch a barbel at Avis dam in Windhoek is a frog. I've never caught any barbel on dough and sweet corn. But time and again the frogs deliver. And i tried it myself with good results. The only problem is to get the frogs =)
Oh, and the early mornings thing...well i went to the dam from 6 in the morning till 15 o'clock and caught only 1 fish, at around 9. So next weekend i went to the dam from 8 till 13, and caught 2 fishes from 9:30 till 11. So my guess is that in winter, before the sun is shining nicely, the barbels tend to be sleepy. Once it becomes a bit warm the fish start on their feeding routine i'd say from 9 - 9:30 till 10:30-11, and that's a sweet hour when most of the catches can be made. During the day the barbesl also hunt, but less actively. So one can spend hours without any catch. That's why frogs are so useful. These critters stay alive and move for hours, even with a hook in the body. Ideally with a good cast you don't even need to touch your rod till there's fish on it. Killer bait, that's all i've got to say!

p.s. Only after posting this reply did i see that the topic deviated to the discussion of grass carp. D'oh!
 
Naruto

Naruto

Sealiner
MOT wrote:
Do you guys think the barbel wil be biting this weekend in the vaal ?
Click to expand...
Are you talking about the river or the dam? The dam is overrun with the grasscarp. Don't know if they are in the river (yet).

Deisel, are you still trying to find out if grasscarp taste good? lol!
 
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Andre1979

New member
Wikipedia says that grass carp eat up to 3 times their weight, daily. I'm sure it will not be a hassle to catch them! Just feed the place, cast ther and wait =)
Once you catch it, fillet one of the fishes along the spine, fash the fillet thoroughly, the less slime and blood, the better the taste, leave the scales on, put the fillet in a plastic orifice, put about half a handfull of salt, the bigger are the salt cristalls - the better! Leave it ovenight or for 24 hours, depending on the thickness of the fillet, and your taste to salt, put it under press. Then, take the fillet out, shake off the salt, and hang it in a cool dry place for a few days, depending on the thickness. Once the fillet is dry, you've got yourself one of the best beer snacks in the world. If the fish is under 25 cm, you don't even nedd to fillet it. Just take the gills and guts out, wash it and put some salt inside. This is called VOBLA, and once it is dried and ready for cunsumtion, you will forget that billtong even exists =)
 
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marno

Senior Member
Talking about Grass Carp, you can also catch them on loodkoppies when dipping on their feeding bubbles.  Here's one I dipped in the Vaal on a loodkoppie.
 

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