In Search of Gold ? Crucian Carp

Wendy Perry 2 · May 29, 2007

Excellent read Lee, and i agree they are a stunning fish to catch. In my local lodge there are a few Crucians, i had one at 2lb a few week ago,i didn't know it was a Crucian the guy in the next swim told me.

Neil Maidment · May 29, 2007

Nice read Lee, well done to both you and Mike. That's a long trek but they're worth it.

I've not yet fished Marsh Farm (too far away at 20 miles!) having preferred to fish Yateley's Summer Pit (still a fair trip at 6 miles!!). Seriously tho, a midweek trip to Marsh Farm is planned in the near future.

I bought a pole specifically with the Crucians in mind and have had some excellent fish to 3lb 7oz on it. The Yateley Crucians are "old warriors" and typically quite dark in colouration. They were relatively easy to locate (small lake and some recognised areas) but were often very difficult to catch. I used to live even closer to the Yateley complex so fished it an awful lot!

Lee Swords · May 29, 2007

Glad you enjoyed the read but seriously MY thanks goes to Mike withoutwhom my PB would still be at about a pound and a quarter!

Thanks Mike!

Steve Spiller · May 29, 2007

Nice piece Lee, well done to both of you those are some cracking fish!

Michael Townsend 3 · May 29, 2007

My pleasure Lee.
We now need a big 'Slimey Locomotive'

Mark Wintle · May 29, 2007

I am puzzled by the 'half inch over depth bit'.

For reasons known only to themselves but partly due to their upturned mouths, crucians actually go past vertical to feed. Imagine one of those big crucians 10 degrees past vertical. Its body is pushes the line and bait out of the way. For this reason the crucian experts of Ringood, and they've been catching them for more than thirty years reckon that two to three inches overdepth is much better than dead depth or even just an inch. Bear in mind the bottom is far from table top flat anyway (especially in the Ringwood gravel pits that have loose flints everywhere) and the extra couple of inches makes all the difference.

I wish we could fish 0.09 - we use 0.16 - 0.18 but then our bonus fish include big tench and double figure carp. Never found them that hook shy either; a 16 or 14 is OK. As for shy bites, Neil Maidment will confirm that when we fished Witley Park, early on the bites were the usual tiny dithers but if you could really get them feeding, and many did, the bites turned into rapid, easy to hit, sailaways. I just wih I could remember how we got them really feeding, could have been sticky-mag?

Fishing with Neil last week on Todber manor I caught crucians fishing in a weed bed; the bottom was covered in dead reeds yet I got crucians on punched meat amongst the muck.

Gold fish feed differently, only feeding at an angle that is well short of vertical.

pcpaulh · May 29, 2007

Nice one guys, some great fish!

Poshpaul (Angling Trust and PaSC) · May 29, 2007

Great article, wonderful fish. Well done.

Neil Maidment · May 29, 2007

I didn't get those Witley Park Crucians going well too often but when I did, it was usually after heavy loose feeding with maggot. I can recall getting through over a gallon when I won a match there with just short of 50lb of Crucians. I'm not sure Witley (of many years ago) is a good example, it was stuffed full of fish although quite localised. I seem to remember MW winning a match with 64lb+ of "gold".

The Summer Pit is usually very clear but weedy in some areas. There are a couple of swims with great viewpoints up a tree and I've sat and watched (more than I've fished for) the Crucians, it was fascinating stuff.

I've seen them up-end as Mark describes and also intercept freebies through various depths. I've even seen them take floaters. Probably the most successful method for me has been to fish over a light bed of hemp and pellets, using 4-6ml pellets on the hook, fished about 6ins overdepth.

I've occassionally caught them after introducing groundbait but that usually attracted the Tench (nice, but not that welcome when you can see some positively huge Crucians wandering in and out of the swim).

They are usually a great challenge to fish for and very rewarding. Just occassionally they seem to feed without a care in the world and you can have golden day to remember.

Matt Brown · May 29, 2007

Mark, I've found 1/2" overdepth to be the best compromise. Being on the bottom the bait is more stable than if it were off it and I feel bite indication is much sooner than if there were more line overdepth.

It may well be that crucians feed differently in different waters, but the tactics I learned as a kid (at my local Cusworth Hall) have travelled well to all the other venues I've tried.

ps. Aren't crucians ace?

Lee Swords · May 30, 2007

Matt dont try to explain it to the southerner....He can't even get his head around 0.9 line!

We Northern types are lightyears ahead!

Mark Wintle · May 30, 2007

Matt,

You may find that the amount overdepth needs to be varied according to the size of the fish. Little crucians might be better at just overdepth, bigger ones with more line on the bottom. With more line on the bottom the dithering hard to hit bites should become mini sailaways.

I agree they are brilliant fish - our local waters seem to be supporting more and more as they make a comeback. One Ringwood water that we thought only had a few old fish started producing a fair few between 8oz and a pound last summer which is very promising. These haven't been stocked either. The worst fish are the poxy F1's that I try to avoid.

Lee, the truth is out, 0.9 - 45lbs line? Every one of our waters with crucians has loads of carp and tench, and 'Sheffield style' isn't up to it!.

In AT yesterday Tom Pickering has a superb article - 0.16 line, 2" overdepth for crucians (Northern ones!). The interesting bit is about avoiding fishing on silt.

Gav Barbus · May 30, 2007

Can someone put me right which is a true crewey a very light coloured marsh farm fish or the dark ones Matt caught for AT ,It's amazing what a trip down south does for a pb list Lee,eezy peezy really nice one.

Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA) · May 30, 2007

The biggest crucian carp I ever caught were in a small lake near Eckington just South of Sheffield called Chapel Wheel Pond.

I fished there on many occasions as a guest of my old mate Steve Crawshaw and caught crucians to 3lbs 6oz. 2 pounders were common and I remember a catch Steve made one morning of over 20 fish averaging 2lbs.

If I remember correctly we had to plumb the depth very carefully indeed. We fished just a touch overdepth using porcupine quilled floats with an antennae glued into the top. The best bait was soft bread paste, a tiny piece just covering a 14 hook. Bites were very delicate indeed.

Steve was a master at catching these fish, and being a member of the local club, had lots of time to practice.

Matt Brown · May 30, 2007

Mark, 1/2" overdepth worked for me a Marsh Farm and they're obviously big fish.

Gav, the crucians at Marsh Farm are very light and buttery coloured but the ones are Summer Pit are dark. I think the colour can vary, as with other fish, depending on the clarity of the water. I wouldn't expect to get a variety of colours in the same water though.

Graham Marsden (ACA) · May 30, 2007

True crucians do vary in colour, like all fish, depending on the water where they're caught. This fish in the Gallery was caught from a silty pool but crucians caught from gravel pits could well be lighter in colour.

Browse through the other pictures in this gallery and you'll see head and tail shots of a true, DNA tested, crucian.

Beecy · May 30, 2007

Whatever depth they were fishing it obviously did the trick and some nice fish on the bank was the result.

I reckon all this talk about half inch, one inch, two inch overdepth is a load of rubbish anyway.

Unless you are fishing over a snooker table in flat calm conditions you never know exactly where your bait is anyway. For instance, just a slight bit of undertow can turn your 2inch overdepth into dead depth when pole fishing and holding the float still, and a bit of ripple on the water can have it bobbing about up and down.

I have never fished a peg that has the same depth to within an inch over a two foot radius of the pole tip.

Gav Barbus · May 30, 2007

Thanks chaps it's just I have caught vastly varying shades of them but they all looked like creweys to me,It would not suprise me if there has been records slipped back of this species because of all the confusion over identification .Is there any chance of putting a brown goldfish up for comparison with the true crewey.

Graham Marsden (ACA) · May 30, 2007

What I believe to be:

Brown Goldfish

Crucian x common carp hybrid

EDIT: 'My' brown goldfish deleted as I no longer believe it to be such a fish. Sincere thanks to those who put me right.

Lee Swords · May 30, 2007

Ok so that is 0.09! I stuck my deci point in the wrong spot

The point is that Northern anglers still fish a finer line than you lot!

The first time I visited Marsh farm I pissed myself looking at the average local set-up!

In Search of Gold ? Crucian Carp

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