barbel bubbles (?) - turning them into barbel bites

[nige_LS7]

yesterday over a 5-hour period on the Nidd,  I had trails of tell-tale bubbles coming upstream to my bait and going past it over a 5-hour period on and off  ... these were large-ish bubbles in a straight line, which I've been told is fairly definitely barbel on the bottom coming upstream to my feed. Occasionally it looked like a few fish were in different parts of the swim, but mostly just one or two trails at any one time, and sometimes the bubbles really were right on the location of my baits, but I wasn't getting any takes, they seemed to be wise to my hook/line (the only tentative bites I had was when the bait was further away and I couldn't see whether there were or weren't any bubble trails. Those two slight takes resulted in meat nicked off hair before I reacted - chub most likely culprits? )

anybody ever been in a similar situation and did you change anything, resulting in bites?

 I wonder if I need some putty on my long hook-length to keep it on the bottom in the flow? maybe a slightly longer hair? a smaller hook than my 12? maybe I need a back-lead too well above the feeder, so the line doesn't spook them - interesting that I wasn't getting line bites or feeder knocks, even though the bubble trails were right on top of me in a tight swim- does this mean they were all too aware of my mainline up from the lead?  The only thing I was changing yesterday was the bait - tried all kinds. At the weekend I'll ring the changes on the rigs too.

Maybe  I also fed and cast over too wide an area, though like I say the 'fish' did seem to be right on top of my bait a lot of the time.

[darren67]

good chance of it being an otter,dont always see em,lots of activity on nidd

[rushy]

Sounds to me like you've got a bad case of the BBB Nige, ..............Barbel Blanking Blues

As a Barbel newbie I would forget all the back leads, front leads, putty , hair length etc.

If you land a bait within the rough vicinity of a Bertie on the Nidd and be patient , it will take it eventually

Like Darren says , Mr Otter could be the culprit

[johnboy66]

NO I don't agree if it was an Otter after 5 hours under water don't you think it would of popped it head up for air, and surely me or Nige would of notice.

I was there when Nige showed me the bubbles and there where very strange I`d not seen before and I`d been river fishing for 30 years, little bubbles in a long line about 1 meter in length on top, and no there weren't gas bubbles either.

[rushy]

Jun 17, 2015 19:20:19 GMT johnboy66 said:

NO I don't agree if it was an Otter after 5 hours under water don't you think it would of popped it head up for air, and surely me or Nige would of notice.

I was there when Nige showed me the bubbles and there where very strange I`d not seen before and I`d been river fishing for 30 years, little bubbles in a long line about 1 meter in length on top, and no there weren't gas bubbles either.

Well that's that sorted then Johnboy , it obviously wasn't an otter

Could it have been a Morrisons bag with a hole in it or maybe Cabbo had thrown one of his old shoes in there which were fermenting or something ?

If I see the bubbles tomorrow, I will have a look and let you know my first hand opinion.

Do you have any tips on differentiating between a fish splash and a 3 tonne cow in the swim next to you

[johnboy66]

yeah you may laugh Rusty,

maybe it was when the cow dumped in tha river and it was tha gas coming off

when trying to help a mate out fishing I don't expect slide remarks, I know I maybe not tha most expert person but I like to do my bit I thought you would be tha first to give your knowledge and Barble experience to those that need it.

poor Nige thought he was on a winner and I`d nether seen it before in tha 30 years I`ve been fishing, so Rusty because your an expert get down there and explain to us all and tha world will be a better place

plus I want to see photos a 10lb Barble out of tha Nidd

I`m at Hammerton tomorrow so keep of my swims or they`ll be more than a splash lol

all best JB.

[nige_LS7]

yeah, these were definitely fish, and my google reading tells me that like their cousins carp and tench, barbel can do this when scouring the bottom. Over a 5-hour period there was never more than about 6-7 minutes when the lines of bubbles didn't come upstream, often quite fast till they got to the main area of bait, then slower. sometimes there seemed to be a few fish, with separate lines of bubbles a few feet apart, but never loads.

Otters would show eventually - and they don't usually return to the same swim for so long unless there's a holt nearby (so they would show). Altogether I'd say over the 5 hours there were at least 200 'runs' of bubbles, maybe more (I'm estimating based on an average of one 'run' every 2 mins or so) ... which tended to be a bit larger when the fish was going upstream faster, smaller bubbles when it was virtually stationary, presumably snaffling my feed.

the bed was soft in this peg, not gravel or stony, and have read that barbel are the most likely culprit. .... but maybe I just want it to have been barbel, eh?

a highly respected barbel man  with a LOT of experience has just told me it is most likely to be pike - but would pike return to a swim every few mins over a 5-hour period? and would there be a few of them together at some times?  Certainly might explain why I hardly got a nibble from anything else.

(By the way I had krill-glugged some of my bits of meat and pellet that I fed, forgetting that the last time I did that I swore never again, cos that day at Topcliffe in March I had a violent run, made firm contact, and after about one second the pike (presumably) bit clean through my mainline taking the krill-glugged meat. So this again could back up the expert's pike theory).

When i first arrived i baited up about 4 swims, but I only ended up fishing one of the others for 15 mins, cos the BUBBLES seemed to promise so much over the whole session, and I just didn't see similar  signs of "action" anywhere else I had baited!!  

[Eddie]

Probably just the silty river bed, or maybe gudgeon, failing that a submerged west ham fan lol!
Seriously, in terms of fishing, I wouldn't read too much in to it, you'll catch barbel when they are in the swim and feeding. Just a matter of right place and right time.

Eddie.

[nige_LS7]

Hammers at Hammerton yeah, could be (or Michael Jackson and his monkey in a very old stupid  joke. That's why they call it Monkey Moorton)

I've learned not to get excited by static bubbles from a silty river bed elsewhere. But this was definitely upstream movement in long lines - you could follow a 'fish' progressing up the swim, turning slighty, stopping on the loose feed from a previous cast.

But yeah you're right, I won't worry about it. Bubbles were sometimes quite large (as large  as from a bottom-feeding carp at say Moor monkton, but more bubbles, and more movement) but could be anything ... but why wouldn't they have taken a hook bait or a bit of it at least? No Nige, best stop thinking about it now before you get obsessed!

On Saturday i'll start on Johnboy's un-bubbly peg instead. Unless it's full of live cow or someone else is there, having beaten the first train to Hammerton (yeah right).

[keepitreal]

Could be bream (there are more in the nidd than people realise). I fished a swim on the Nidd last season and had fish bubbling in the swim, after two bream I realised they were the culprits and went elsewhere!

[nige_LS7]

Jun 17, 2015 22:44:57 GMT keepitreal said:

Could be bream (there are more in the nidd than people realise). I fished a swim on the Nidd last season and had fish bubbling in the swim, after two bream I realised they were the culprits and went elsewhere!

   Interesting idea, but this certainly wasn't what you'd really call a 'shoal', just one fish at times and sometimes a small handful.

   Anyway this is in danger of being an obsession. Trying not to think about it till the weekend now!

[chrisobrien84]

I've always understood these bubbles to be Otters, and I've had a few surface while fishing too to prove it.

[nige_LS7]

Jun 18, 2015 9:06:49 GMT chrisobrien84 said:

I've always understood these bubbles to be Otters, and I've had a few surface while fishing too to prove it.

  Because I've seen otter bubbles too and had otters surface in my pegs (on the Ouse) and know what to look out for on the banks, I can say I'm fairly sure this wasn't that type of situation.

  For example, though I was mainly fishing on a small crease in medium current, the only bit of slack and overhanging willow that i'd  fed was the only bit where the bubbles would stay still for a while, say  ten to twenty seconds at a time - whatever they were started arriving after i'd baited up, and were definitely interested in my feed. 

and if it was otters that kept coming back to my feed, that would presumably be cos the feed was attracting fish ... but I had no bites  (though I did just wonder if whatever it was was after crayfish which were in turn on my feed? You start imagining all sorts)   But when I looked up & down the river over the five hours I was there,  I'd have expected them to show some activity there too and not just be in one 20-yard swim for about 5 hours. the bubbles literally went  no further upstream than the last bit of feed in that same peg - I know cos I went one and then two pegs upstream for 15 mins, spinning a little shad for perch, and did not feed those other 2 pegs, and the bubble 'runs' up the original swim did not change during those 15 mins (I was curious so I popped back a couple of times) or after.

(says he, trying not to think about it till the weekend)

[grford77]

Jun 18, 2015 9:06:49 GMT chrisobrien84 said:

I've always understood these bubbles to be Otters, and I've had a few surface while fishing too to prove it.

+1 or gases escaping from the bottom. I have personal watched many barbell feeding and never seen them produce bubbles like you have described. My bet would be on one of our fury friends.

[nige_LS7]

But gases from the bottom don't come upstream in a straight line, each bubble further upstream than the last, unless something on the bottom is going upstream in a straight line


like I say I found a bit about barbel bubbles by googling  and this thread from a barbel forum in particular has people describing  what I saw when feeding them more or less what I fed

barbelfishingworld.yuku.com/topic/7582/Do-Barbel-Bubble#.VYK0J_lViko



This poster on there has seen the bubbles moving upstream to the feed:

"I could see a line of quite large bubbles(50p size) coming up stream towards where the bait was. A couple of mins later ...wack, Barbel on.

I'm sure this was the Barbel moving up stream towards the bait (a couple of handfuls of pellets).

Steve:D


And this one has seen the static bubbles from on top of the feed:

Posts: 1057
Jul 6 05 11:01 AM


"I've witnessed lots of small bubbles, when they get their heads down over a bed of hemp and caster. When fishing close in it can be very evident.
Suppose it also depends on the nature of the bottom, over which they are feeding i.e. silt, sand, gravel, etc?"
Neil


Meanwhile in an actual BOOK all I found was this sentence "In rivers, barbel also send up bubbles..." (he's just been mentioning carp & tench bubbles on still waters before that)  John Bailey in a book called 'Fishing'  (great title John, how'd you come up with 'em?) 2008


(still trying not to think about it, obviously. And definitely not writing this while supposed to be making notes on a meeting. Oh no, not me.)