Carp Record Broken?

[Philip Inzani]

This does seem to be quite a common line of thought that wildies where long thin commons that never reached huge weights and only selective breeding made them bigger. I heard that Mirrors where selectively bred to have less scales to make them easier to prepare for the table
but I do not know for sure.
The thing that I have trouble getting my head round on this Wildie issue is that There are some European waters that probably fit the same criteria as the one Rob mentions for his water in the North i.e rarely if ever messed with but they still produce absolutely massive fish. I think the race of the Carp itself plays a huge role in the potential size it can attain. I am not convinced that all the original Carp where sleek streamlined Chub like Wildies but I am keeping an open mind.

 

[Ron Clay]

I would love to try for carp like that.

I once found a little lake about 30 miles North of Jo'burg it was only about 2 acres but contained about 30 mirror carp up to about 10 kg or so and one fully scaled carp about 6 kg. I hooked that carp one day on floating crust. It shot off like a torpedo and I lost it in the snags at the top end. It was one of the few SA carp I caught that really fought. The mirrors used to come in like bream. Maybe it was one those fish that were reverting to the wild strain?

 

[Rob Brownfield]

Philip, I read somewhere a long time ago, that the strain of carp the monks ate were bred to be on the small side as there religion did not allow *excess*. In other words, they could only take for the table what they could eat. A 20lb carp would be too big and there would be waste. How true this is i dont know, but its a romantic thought.

I guess there are genetic freaks in nature that produce a large animal (basketball players?) so I gues its possible over hundreds of years that carp size can go up with each generation. I will have to look into this one.

 

[Paul Williams]

Ron,
Can i ask you a favour? will you talk English please....i have trouble getting a picture of a 10kg carp in my head....and if you ever buy me a beer it's a pint )

 

[Ron Clay]

Sorry but I lived most of my life where the imperial system was non-existant.
10 kg is 22lbs near enough

 

[Malcolm Bason]

If I buy you a bloody beer, Paul, it'll be a half!!!!! ;-)

 

[Paul Williams]

RULE BRITANNIA!!!! ? s d, pints, quarts, and good old lb oz......every time we have changed we have been ripped off! it doesn't have the same ring does it a scraper double in k's is a good twenty in lb's and 38/26/36 also gives a good picture....long may it be so! )

 

[Paul Williams]

Pegleg,
Only when it's my throw!! )

 

[Malcolm Bason]

38/26/36 also gives a good picture....long may it be so! )

You don't like skinny un's then Paul? LOL

 

[GrahamM]

And a yard of ale!

 

[Paul Hawkins]

Maybe the Black Queen still lives!
Or the four foot common?
Did I read somewhere that big Rod rescinded that story?
Both fish were reported to live in Redmire in the 70's for those of you who don't know what the hell I'm talking about.
And whatever happened to Martin Gays big Common(48Ibs odd)was that completely dismissed eventually?

 

[Carp Angler]

The photo of that fish in the weed in Redmire looked absolutely HUGE.

Didn't Martin Gay's commons come from Canada?

 

[Philip Inzani]

Black Queen, hooked by Yates, near miss by Carver....yes I liked those stores as well but do I belive all of it ? Hhhhhmmm well I think there may well have been some big fish in there but I think we all know that water can have a very distorting effect on things, you can rarely guage the depth of the fish so it could be a skinny long'en rarther than a beer barrelled whopper but I like the sort of romance of it all.

Rik, the picture of the common....I really dont know, there is very little other than a bit of weed to gauge its true size by but I read an interview by Chris Yates where he said that if it weighed 120 pounds he would not be surprised!.....Maybe those Chinese Blue Carp where imported earlier than we thought! (-:

Actually I love these type of monster stories, its one of the things that makes fishing so great for me.

 

[Ron Clay]

What I love about the new record is that it was caught on sweetcorn. Personally I've caught more carp, and other big fish, on sweetcorn than any other bait.
I wonder what the boilie barons think about all this. Surely they will not take it laying down, to be outdone by sweetcorn!!
Maybe a joint statement by the boilie makers trade association will be expected soon.

 

[GrahamM]

Artificial sweetcorn. And sponsored at that.

 

[Philip Inzani]

Hey Ron I think we agree on something....is this a first!?

I also catch loads of fish on sweetcorn and for me its just about the most instant bait there is. I have used it in a number of different countries for fish that I am certain have never seen it before yet they always go mad for it. I have even watched fish pushing Bolies aside to get at a few grains that lay between them. Only downside is that its supposed to blow after a while but then again I still see that some of the big Ouse Barbel are coming out on it so maybe it has a longer life than we imagine. One things for sure as we have seen at MidKent I am certain that on waters hammered by bolies if someone goes in there with sweetcorn, chances are it would not have been used for ages and they could have a right result. Definatly not an "old hat" bait.

 

[Ron Clay]

There have been people who have said that I actually introduced the use of Sweetcorn to the UK. Personally I think it was **** Walker about 1974. Prior to then, no one seemed to use this deadly bait. I certainly was using it in South Africa for several species in 1967. As you say Philip it is a most intant bait. Tony Miles biggest carp was also taken on sweetcorn.

 

[Paul Williams]

Sweetcorn has always been a crap bait for me!! i acknowledge that many fish are caught on it though!!....perhaps it's time i persevered more with it!!

 

[Rob Brownfield]

Bloody sweetcorn, I keep getting pestered by 3 pound Perch on the stuff!!

 

[Philip Inzani]

Ron just testing my "useless knowledge" but am I right in thinking Tony Miles fish was is first 30+ taken from Orchid on float fished sweetcorn ? If so then it just shows that even at pressureed day ticket venues that must have seen loads of sweetcorn use it can still score.

Paul...Crap bait ? I am really surprised! I would have thought it would be ideal for venues like the Lugg for example. I did quite well on the Wye with it but obviously you are going to be in a better position than me to say from a practical point of view. I am interested though why you dont rate it...was it lack of action altogether or lack of action fropm better fish ?