very long for weight ,dark ,not usually much over double figures with slightly elongated head compared to stock fish whenever i have caught them they where the only carp in the water and low in numbers.and of course all fully scaled.
"Wildies" tend to be long and lean, their head usually a bigger proportion to the rest of the body. Those commons have a pronounced "shoulder" behind the head which is not usually associated with wild carp.
the top one has the right sort of build but looks lighter than the few that i have seen also there is a slight gold shade on the wrist of the tale....close but i dont think they are pukka wild carp,which incedently fight like ghost carp on steroids.
It would be very unlikely to find the true wildie these day, what you need to remeber though is that a wildie is only a variety of the king strains we now catch, th wildie was the original import which my anchestors the monks kept and bred in stew ponds for the table, once the king varieties, the more recent imports, were intoruduced into UK waters and indeed the old wildie stew pond, the strain was then poluted, thus the old wildie was no longer, wildies are the allegely true British introduction, probably brought over originally by the Roamns, but most certainly continued introduction by the monks, the king varieties however were seperated from UK waters by time, and these were genetic modified varieties, modified by man to produced a scaless variety (the leather) for the table) other varieties, linears, mirrors, line carp etc are genetically on their way back to fully scaled common status, some lose their water and become fully scaled mirrors, but even these will eventually revert back, the true wildie variety has hugh shoulders and is torpedo shaped, i`ve caught one or two over the years, but the last one was nearly thirty years ago, you would know the difference, believe me. the koi is also another variety of cyprinus carpio, buit in this case genetically modified for its looks. I would be speptical of any true wildie being caught in the UK these days, plenty of long learn common around but the phenotype of the wildie is distinctive, you really have to see one of these things and feel it fight, yes they certainly are wild, the closest I`ve come to them are the long lean commons of the St Lawrence.
I agree, the chance of finding any wildies today is very slight.
I caught my last at the Priory Pool in the 70s.
As for the difference, you will know,believe me if you do connect with a wildie, the power and speed, in particular the speed is something you never, ever forget. Fish of 6lbs sometimes, 8lbs was a real monster and, having fished for them through the l960s and l970s I have never seen one in double figures. One of those would be something else, assuming you managed to land it. On the tackle of the time, Mark4 carp rod, Intrepid Elite Reels and 10lb line you would have had an experience never to be forgotten. The Elite was a better reel than the Mitchell as it had a roller in the pickup. The clutch however was reluctant to give line and tended to do so only following an aweful squeal.
Still, what great days they were. No carbon rods, just the magic of split cane. No crowds, no bivvies, no fancy baits. Most fish from the Priory came to floating crust fished in the margins after dark.
If you find a pool that holds true wildies do keep it to yourself after telling me.
Might be true in your respective areas, but I know several waters in Sussex that still hold wildies. Some are fishable, some not. If you want to see some you could do worse than go to Bodiam Castle and feed the ducks in the moat - the carp will soon show themselves. There are a few easily spotted Koi carp, but there is (or was) also a large head of wildies ranging from a pound or so up to maybe eight pounds.
The lack of a hump behind the head is characteristic of the wild strain, as Neil says. Wildies tend to have their greatest depth where the head meets the body; the back then slopes away from this point towards the tail. Other features to look for are a blueish tint to the head, back and tail, and a yellowy-gold to the flanks, whereas the king common is often (but not always) more orangey-gold. However, colour is a very subjective thing and should not be considered in isolation. Another feature I've noticed is that the tail lobes of a wild carp tend to be more pointed than on the rounded tail of the king carp.
The last true wildie I caught was in October; I cannot find the photo at the moment but when I do I shall put it on here.
I agree, the chance of finding any wildies today is very slight.
I caught my last at the Priory Pool in the 70s.
As for the difference, you will know,believe me if you do connect with a wildie, the power and speed, in particular the speed is something you never, ever forget. Fish of 6lbs sometimes, 8lbs was a real monster and, having fished for them through the l960s and l970s I have never seen one in double figures. One of those would be something else, assuming you managed to land it. On the tackle of the time, Mark4 carp rod, Intrepid Elite Reels and 10lb line you would have had an experience never to be forgotten. The Elite was a better reel than the Mitchell as it had a roller in the pickup. The clutch however was reluctant to give line and tended to do so only following an aweful squeal.
Still, what great days they were. No carbon rods, just the magic of split cane. No crowds, no bivvies, no fancy baits. Most fish from the Priory came to floating crust fished in the margins after dark.
If you find a pool that holds true wildies do keep it to yourself after telling me.
ahh, the Interpid Elite, a step back into the golden years of real carp fishing, BC (Carp Society), margin crust after dark, no bolt rigs, Mr Clay you have a lot to answer for, boy have things changed. My last wildie was also around 1970 from the Chapel pool in the grounds of an old Monks training school would you believe.
Here you are - only a small one, but a true wild carp nonetheless. I've had them up to four pounds from that particular pool (which must remain nameless in accordance with the owner's stipulation).
I might have it wrong but I was always taught that wildies were a lot lot darker than commons and they only grow to around 5 or 6 lbs but they fight like stink
Colour varies according to environment; I've had king commons from clear waters that were almost black, and wild carp from muddy field ponds that were relatively pale. The above example came from a clay-bottomed Sussex pool which colours up after rain; it is never truly clear, though it does become more transparent once the suspended sediment washed in from the surrounding fields settles.
yes colouration various cakey as Fred says, nice fish Fred and caught on real carp tackle.
Jim Gibbinson claims to have caught a 15lb wildie, an unusually large fish of course, I`m sure I`ve seen a photograph of it somewhere, I think my best was about 4lb, well just under actually
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