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Birmingham Anglers Association

Viewing 1 to 13 (13 Total) The River Teme and the introduction of Otters
RiverNovice Total Posts: 373 Joined: August 21, 2018	I'm curious to know if any one still fishes the Teme for barbel ? The BAA has some well known stretches on the Teme and it was very popular with barbel anglers many years ago I was wondering if any one still fishes for barbel on any of those stretches . I know years ago it was well known for the number of barbel that were caught each season from the Teme . Then it all changed when Otters were introduced and barbel numbers rapidly declined and its no longer the river it was once . You only have to talk to Lawrence Breakspear a well known and respected barbel angler about his views on the introduction of Otters in the Teme all those years ago and he will tell you Otters have decimated the barbel numbers to the point that very few still remain in the Teme and its all down to the introduction of the Otter and not down to angling pressure . I see on various angling forums that the odd barbel is still being caught from time to time . So hopefully the Teme is starting to improve over time and the barbel will return in numbers ? Tags: Posted on September 25, 2020 at 9:53 AM

onelastcast Total Posts: 820 Joined: July 4, 2015	Re: The River Teme and the introduction of Otters To blame just the Otter is naive. There are too many other quite reasonable attributal factors why the Teme has suffered, not least floods angling pressure, water qualty,and above all poor habitat management , they all play their part. If you think that constantly taking without giving back is the way to go, then of course it's not, that us why most respectful anglers do not broadcast locations, 'Lol' certainly doesnt tell. The number of Barbel that used to enter the Teme were countless, the Otter did not kill all those, the evidence would be obvious. Look at the demise of the male Barbel, still large females can still be found, isolated spinsters, because there simply is not enough males to spawn. Ask yourself WHY? Also remember the Teme had a healthy head of Barbel when there were Otter, in the river living side by side. However the painful truth is the Otter is indigenous the Barbel is not, the Otter is here to stay. Posted on September 25, 2020 at 2:32 PM
RiverNovice Total Posts: 373 Joined: August 21, 2018	Re: The River Teme and the introduction of Otters The original question was about the reintroduction of Otters has had on the Teme . Talk to people like Shaun Nurse , Steve Pope and Trevor West and any other well known barbel anglers about the mass reintroduction of Otters in to the river systems right across England and the effect it has had on barbel populations across all rivers . Rivers like the Windrush , Kennet , Dorset Stour and many other rivers . It appears that the smaller rivers have suffered most . You only have to look on social media , Face book , Barbel fishing world and you will see time and time again what people are saying about the demise of barbel populations due to the reintroduction of the Otter in to our river systems . Yes barbel numbers were already in decline . The mass reintroduction of the Otter was the final nail in the coffin . There was even a petition started asking the government for Otters to be controlled some time ago Posted on September 26, 2020 at 10:02 AM
Tonythefish Total Posts: 19 Joined: July 21, 2016	Re: The River Teme and the introduction of Otters Have fished the Teme, my favourite river fairly regularly,, over the last four years. Have noticed a definite decline in Barbel numbers caught.. Have fished the river three times this season, and caught three Barbel ranging from 1lb 8oz to 7lb. There are still a good number of decent chub, over 3 lb to be had though. Seen one Otter in those three visits, at Doddenham, he surfaced at the end of my rod, crash dived when he saw me, then swam to mid river, lay on his back looking at me then away down river. Feel privileged to have, shared this moment, with this truly wild creature. In all my visits to the river, I have found no evidence of fish carcasses, on the bank. I don't think the otters take as many fish, as people may think. I think the Temes decline is more complicated, with water quality, abstraction, habitat destruction, and predation all factors to consider. Don't think the prolonged floods back in February, did it any favours either. I have mentioned this before, but the Teme always had a lot of streamer weed, in it, but it now seems to have vanished, leaving quite a barren river. Would love to know how, the water quality now, compares to forty years ago. The Teme will always look a beautiful river, but below the surface, things aren't how they should be. Hope this thread stimulates, some sensible discussion. T C. Posted on September 26, 2020 at 12:16 PM
RiverNovice Total Posts: 373 Joined: August 21, 2018	Re: The River Teme and the introduction of Otters Yes Tony all sorts of factors have been contributed as to why the Teme is in in present state that we now find it in Go back as far as the floods of 2007 and the more recent floods and then add pollution in to the equation . Then add the reintroduction of Otters not only in the Teme and all the others rivers and it seems that a lot of the smaller rivers have suffered more than the bigger rivers . My point being and a lot of well known barbel anglers would agree , That the final nail in the coffin was the reintroduction of Otters in to a already declining number of barbel not only in the Teme but other rivers as well Posted on September 26, 2020 at 1:45 PM
Terry49 Total Posts: 37 Joined: June 21, 2019	Re: The River Teme and the introduction of Otters Most interesting chaps, i fish the middle Severn and this year hardly any streamer weed is present i think the hard prolonged floods have scoured the river bottoms hard, hence destroying the weeds exsiting habitat. The damage this has done i think along with other factors is showing with catch rates this year ? Barbel as we know need that weed for many factors, no weed no ??? Posted on September 26, 2020 at 4:41 PM
RiverNovice Total Posts: 373 Joined: August 21, 2018	Re: The River Teme and the introduction of Otters Terry I think you will find its down to pollution of some kind that is being washed in to the rivers during floods that is killing of the weed growth ... At the moment there is a problem with the River Wye with the lack of weed that has been killed of in and around Hereford . There is evidence to suggest that is all down to the number of chicken farms in and around Hereford with the amount of chicken poo that is being washed in to the river and its been suggested that is what is killing of the weed in the Wye Posted on September 26, 2020 at 9:03 PM
Terry49 Total Posts: 37 Joined: June 21, 2019	Re: The River Teme and the introduction of Otters I didn't know that with those farms, everything is at a tipping point i feel....what will be done, well i guess we all know the answer to that one ? Posted on September 26, 2020 at 10:42 PM
TEMESTER Total Posts: 27 Joined: April 26, 2019	Re: The River Teme and the introduction of Otters I am in complete agreement with river novice on the otter discussion. Having started fishing theTeme in the early seventies and continuing to the current day I have witnessed many changes. In the early seventies there was an abundance of fish of many species but no Barbel present. However, there were otters but there were plenty of Dace, Roach, Grayling, Chub, Gudgeon and Perch. During this time there was plenty of fishing pressure including many club matches. Later on in that decade thousands of Barbel worked their way upriver and were soon first in the food chain and thrived in ideal conditions for them. There was also a sharp decline in the otter population partly due to a certain faction of the countryside traveling fraternity. One day when fishing at Lindridge I was able to dissuade a couple of youngsters from using the family shotgun on an Otter which appeared in my swim. There was then the golden period on the Teme when large shoals of Barbel, Chub and Dace made it one of the best small rivers in the country. Streamer weed was to be found in many of the faster swims. This supplied food and cover for the fish which were still in great numbers. It seemed to me that as the Barbel took up residence they probably hoovered up the eggs of the Dace and other fish and there was a rapid decline in fish fry. This is what happens when the ecological balance is disturbed. Adding Otters into the mix could only make it worse as there is not enough food to go round, hence the need for Otter fencing at many fishing venues as they have to search further afield or starve. We could blame so called do-gooders for this but was it also do-gooders who put Barbel into rivers where they had never been before? Sorry this was a bit long winded but having fished this beautiful river for fifty years the modern agricultural methods along with other ecological management lead me to despair. Posted on September 27, 2020 at 11:22 AM
mrfishy Total Posts: 91 Joined: August 23, 2020	Re: The River Teme and the introduction of Otters I like you Temester fished the Teme from the late 1970s. Back then it seemed the fishing was hard, with a mixed bag of fish up to 20Ib a good catch. Grayling, dace, trout, chub, salmon parr and massive gudgeon (No they were not small barbel....) We caught our first Teme barbel in 1979/80 . In 1982 it seemed the river stocks altered over the term of a year with us taking large catches of barbel up to 9Ib, chub, bream up to 6Ib + roach over 2Ib.Large salmon regularly showed themselves. The river suddenly became alive with fish along the Eardiston to Eastham stretches. I suppose one logical thought is these fish migrated on mass from the Severn to create a sudden boom. This continued for some years. Vital bankside habitat was lost in mid 80s at Eardiston. I see there is a great photo of some young lads fishing at Eardiston with a nice catch of trout, grayling, dace and chub.....similar to me and my catches from the seventies. The cyclical nature of a river and angling itself perhaps? Posted on September 27, 2020 at 12:40 PM
RiverNovice Total Posts: 373 Joined: August 21, 2018	Re: The River Teme and the introduction of Otters Its the same old story of mans interference in the balance of nature .It has happened time and time again over the years with out given it a thought as to what the long term impact it would have on the ecological balance on any of our rivers . It was the angling times who introduced barbel in to the river Severn back in the fifty's . Years ago Zander were introduced in to the river systems . Zander are not a native fish to UK waters . Then you have Mink that were released from Mink farms and have had a impact on native wild life species . Signal crayfish is another non native species which were introduced in to our rivers . The list is endless and now we have the threat of global warming leading to more floods . Then you have the problem of whats being released in to our rivers by water company's and farmers . It seems that man will never learn . When man interferes with balance of nature Otters were in our rivers for hundreds of years before being nearly wiped out . Then some body started a program of reintroduction of Otters back on to our rivers a few years ago and now barbel anglers are up in arms because of the impact Otters are having on dwindling numbers of barbel being caught in our rivers . If man had not interfered in the first place with balance of nature .Then we would not find our selves in the mess we are in now . When it comes to the state some of rivers are in now Posted on September 27, 2020 at 2:14 PM
Lee Total Posts: 86 Joined: June 8, 2015	Re: The River Teme and the introduction of Otters If man hadn't interfered then they'd have never been a barbel in the Teme in the first place. Posted on October 11, 2020 at 11:22 AM
bin Total Posts: 270 Joined: August 1, 2018	Re: The River Teme and the introduction of Otters Well said lee my thoughts exactly. It’s was man who introduced barbel in the first instance.....it’s is a shame about the Teme though I use to love fishing against my mate around the knighwick area to see if he could match me ....chub against barbel.......it’s never in my opinion been a contest river as it’s very Peggy , a lot of pegs hold no fish at all ,but the ones that do were solid.....a great river and I’m sure if you was pleasure fishing you could still have a good day...... Posted on October 15, 2020 at 10:56 AM

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