Those distinguished fish.

[john step]

Something like this Derek ?
picture url
Sorry it's upside down- same on camara-- no idea why ???

There are tench in my locale that have a genetic red spots and a stripe or two. They are perfectly healthy. In fact I saw one in Nth Yorks like that last year which had been originally stocked from Lincolnshire.

The one in the picture just might be a more pronounced colour variant of this type and not diseased at all? The colour of the red appears similar. I did hear once it was something to do with the colours that cause those golden tench.

 

[103841]

I’ve caught nothing that deserves a mention here but my local estate lake has had some golden tench put in. Going to have a go at catching one next week when the weather has calmed down.

 

[108831]

My mate caught a roach 1-1 if I remember correctly from the canal at Leighton Buzzard,a whopper from there,it was orange all over and it was definitely a roach,not an orfe,it wasn't infected either,just a pigment issue of some kind,I was stunned it survived to get to that size and age.

 

[108831]

I’ve caught nothing that deserves a mention here but my local estate lake has had some golden tench put in. Going to have a go at catching one next week when the weather has calmed down.

Lovely fish them,I've had quite a few over the years,best of luck in catching one...

 

[103841]

I do have a contribution that I’d forgotten about.

The almost black tench in the estate lake.

 

[Philip]

Sorry about the image as its a photo of a photo (it was before the digital camera age ) but that little common was in parts jet black. It came from a small Crystal clear Trout stream. I had a black linear Mirror as well & really regret not taking a photo.

Heres the spot they came from..you would never guess there were Carp in there. I suppose its easy to conclude that it was the water clarity that led to their colouration but I suspect it may have been more to do with their age. Dispite their size I think they were very old fish and in all probability never caught before as the few other anglers were only interested in the Trout. I recon they had been left to grow old & "grey" in peace...well at least until I turned up.

 

[barbelboi]

Seen one or two like it Mark but not as bad.
No idea what causes it???

This is one I caught at Marsh Farm whilst crucian fishing some 10 years ago and the pics were looked at by a marine biologist who believed that the discolouring is attributed to stress (often during the spawning period), not serious and usually disappears after a period of time.

 

[barbelboi]

Could be from the exertions during spawning?

My thoughts too.................

 

[Mark Wintle]

hemorrhagic septicemia is the name of one possible tench disease that looks like those in the pictures.

 

[john step]

I fished the Tagus river that runs through Toledo Spain and the carp are almost black.

 

[flightliner]

This is one I caught at Marsh Farm whilst crucian fishing some 10 years ago and the pics were looked at by a marine biologist who believed that the discolouring is attributed to stress (often during the spawning period), not serious and usually disappears after a period of time.

View attachment 5625

Maybe the pik of mine on its back was another sign of its exertions Jerry !

 

[Alan Tyler]

I caught a small roach once that looked different to any other I've seen; it looked like something from an antique print. For a start, its body had a sort of squared-off cross-section, a bit like big gudgeon get, only deeper; and its top lip was reminiscent of General Hindenberg's moustache; not a smooth curve, but with a rounded-off corner as it went from snout to side. And thicker/fleshier than the standard-issue model.
If roach could hybridise with carp, that's what its face resembled, but there wasn't one single feature I could see that stopped it from being a roach; just an old-fashioned one. Not seen one like it in the intervening fifty years.

I also caught - twice in a fortnight - a tench with a big black mark on one side - is that unusual?

 

[barbelboi]

Maybe the pik of mine on its back was another sign of its exertions Jerry !

Maybe it saw the slime on your hook length from all those snotties Mick - that'd stress any self respecting tinca out..............................

 

[Philip]

Not all large carp are bloated, I recall a fish caught by my son that was iirc around 30lbs, it was in perfect condition not bloated was a mahogany colour fought like a demon, it was the best looking mirror I have ever seen. This is the fish



I also remember when I finished fishing the Trent and started fishing a much smaller river, the Barbel were to my mind better looking being sleek and streamlined with their weight carried in their breadth not their belly.

That is a fantastic looking fish. I think Carp can be some of the most impressive looking fish around. At least there is some variety in how they look with different scale patterns and so on but of course some people just want to focus on the negatives. Yes some drop a gut but thats true of humans too. If you ask me Roach all look pretty similar aside from the odd variation or exception...you can catch a dozen in succsession that look like clones of each other but they never get bad press...its very strange !

I caught some Carp from the river that have been fat as footballs but they were not what I would call gut buckets either. Hard to describe but its like the fish were just very round and fat. IMO It was in their genetic makup to be like that and not like some of the overfed bloated fish we see from pressured still waters that have become fat on anglers bait. Some of these river fish were fat but not gutty if that makes sense ? ...while others were long like torpedos.

I have some photos somewhere if I can dig one out I"ll post it.

 

[sam vimes]

I caught some Carp from the river that have been fat as footballs but they were not what I would call gut buckets either. Hard to describe but its like the fish were just very round and fat. IMO It was in their genetic makup to be like that and not like some of the overfed bloated fish we see from pressured still waters that have become fat on anglers bait. Some of these river fish were fat but not gutty if that makes sense ? ...while others were long like torpedos.

I have some photos somewhere if I can dig one out I"ll post it.

There's likely to be three possiblities. My own syndicate has a couple of similar sounding fish that are often referred to as the beachball fish. They aren't particularly gutty, just pan shaped with a head and tail stuck on. Between the members, they are generally referred to as Dinks. However, when you read about different strain, such fish might be Aischgrund or Royale.

Carp Strains different varieties of carp types

 

[Philip]

There's likely to be three possiblities. My own syndicate has a couple of similar sounding fish that are often referred to as the beachball fish. They aren't particularly gutty, just pan shaped with a head and tail stuck on. Between the members, they are generally referred to as Dinks. However, when you read about different strain, such fish might be Aischgrund or Royale.

Carp Strains different varieties of carp types

Yes, the different strains will have different general charecteristics and thats why its easy for people to label a fish as a gut buckets when it could just part of their genetic make up. On some of the river systems there can be a real mix and then as they start to interbreed over time you will get all sorts of shapes coming through as well.

Some of the earlier imports into the UK were quite easy to spot as they were strains rarely seen there before. It was even possible to make an educated guess at which waters the fish would have come from..Carp from Chantecoq were fairly recognizable for example. Now things have become allot more mixed that its more diffficult to pick out obvious imports anymore.

I think also within the strains you can also get just get a fat / round individuals. Its just like human beings...you can have someone extra tall.

 

[sam vimes]

Yes thats a good point..the different strains will have different general charecteristics and thats why its easy for people to label a fish as a gut buckets when it could just part of their genetic make up. Some of the earlier imports into the UK were quite easy to spot as they were strains rarely seen there before. It was even possible to make an educated guess at which waters the fish would have come from..Carp from Chantecoq were fairly recognizable for example. Now things have become allot more mixed that its more diffficult to pick out obvious imports anymore.

I think also within the strains you can also get just get a fat / round individuals. Its just like human beings...you can have someone extra tall.

I've already said similar earlier in the thread, just throwing in the possible lineage of some of the more noticeably round looking fish. As time passes, it's getting increasingly homogenous though. So many noticeably different strains are being crossed in the hope of producing something "better". Depends on the individual fish farmer as to what "better" might mean. Some go for looks, some for fast growth. Getting a fast grower coupled with longevity and looks seems to be the grail, but not everyone seems to agree as to what a good looking carp is.

Fashions also seem to be changing. An awful lot of people loved the idea of a big, fat, pale Simmo a few years back, then there was a bit of a backlash. Gnarly old Leney types seem to be the flavour of the month. There's always a spanner in the works to be found with some strains doing inexplicably well in certain waters when others do little.

 

[Philip]

I would put the old looking Leneys as more than a flavour of the month as they have been very sought after for many years now & I can see them always having at least a cult following ..a bit like vintage tackle I suppose !

What does seem to very popular are the sort of Large plated Mirrors...go to any fish farm site and doubtless they will have photos of some young looking Mirros with large plated scales on it.

Commons seem to be out of favour a little. Fully scaled Mirrors can be fantastic looking fish however probably my favourite looking Carp was Marys Mate..a fish I beleive Thames Mudlarker who posts on here from time to time actually banked.

 

[theartist]

I also caught - twice in a fortnight - a tench with a big black mark on one side - is that unusual?

Dad's got a tench in his pond that has three largeish black spots in a perfect triangle, which it's always had and the fish is well over around 30 years old too

 

[Philip]

I have some photos somewhere if I can dig one out I"ll post it

I managed to dig one up, good example of a fat but not gutty Carp. Keep in mind I caught that from a river so its not been force fed in a bolie rich pay puddle which is the conclusion some people tend to jump to when they see fish like that.