wildies

i have access to a small, shallow private stillwater. i think that they may be wildies. they have been there for a very long time, they average at about 4lbs and they are streamlined. there is a mix of commons and mirrors. is there a way of telling whether or not they are wildies?

It has been debated in the past (not necessarily on FM) whether "wildies" exist as such. People with a great deal of experience in this have been unable to prove that such a variety exits. There have been waters that have held carp for hundreds of years where all the carp are small, lean and fully scaled, usually with a maximum size of about 12 - 14lbs, and these are usually described as wildies. But mostly carp that are lean and small, possibly stunted, are the result of a more modern stocking often given away by the presence of mirror carp.

It boils down to opinion rather than scientific test on whether you call your fish wildies. I have traced a carp population in Dorset that originated from one stocking in 1957 and then spread through a number of waters; possibly an old variety as they seldom exceeded 14lbs and were always (almost) fully scaled. Whether you'd call them wildies I just don't know.