brackish water carp

just been to look at a lake that i havnt seen for years, i know it had carp in about 8-10 years ago and thought i would go and have a look round to maybe have a dabble during the winter for some easyish fishing.

now to the point, the lake is very close to the sea so i tasted the water and it tasted of salt water but not as strongly as the sea would taste. is it possible that their is still carp in here or do you guys think the influx of sea water will have wiped out the carp.

i didnt see any fish (carp or otherwise) but that doesnt mean they are not there.

just how brackish can a carp handle.

carp get caught regulaly in brackish water, the tidal thames is a good example of this, Bill Rushmere use to write about brackish water carp in one of the old angling mags, of course its dependant on the size of the salt wedge of course, not sure of the exact salt to water ratios, but carp do appear to adapt quite well and are quite hardy

? tasting the water?are you mental !!! /forum/smilies/sick_smiley.gif

Tidal Medway housed a few biggies when I fished it - but this tended to be at the tidal limits so I cannot testify to the salty taste. I think they are also prevalent in the tidal Trent - perhaps our film makers/stars may advise.

Poshers

Ive fished Allhallows a few times on family hols and its very near the sea with just the sea wall in between and every year the sea hit the wall and floods the lake and according to the locals the carp love it

must admit they are some of the most hard fighting carp in the country

I fished a river were I was within sight of its mouth into the sea and was catching Carp. The salt levels were actually one of the most important location aspects as the Carp would move with the tide as the rising salt levels would push them further and further up stream as it came in. One drought year thousands perished as they were pushed up as far as a sea barrier and literally suffocated in the salt as they could not get further than the wall.

So going back to the question, they can handle brackish so I would not worry if there is a bit of sea water going in…maybe ask around and see what if anything people are catching in there now.

cheers for the replys guys, nobody else fishes the lake so cant ask anyone about catches.

im gonna keep an eye on it for a while and if and when i see a fish i will have a little dabble.

i will let you know (if yer interested)

we are always interested

Hi, first of all.. if this is really brackish only water carp will be there. And what is more then sure they will grow much quicker then in stillwaters. Two conditions must be fulfilled - amount of food and temperature. Lets say chemical and environmental conditions must be accepted and far from lethal! /forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif

freshwater species grow quicker in brackis waters as they commit less energy to regulate the osmosis - which as far as I remeber is around 10% metaboli energy used! The ions concentrations in water and fish body is less different and that is the source of energy savings.

There are many well known brackish waters around Europe with plenty of freshwater species living and breathtaking growth rates. See zander in Holland, pike in south Sweden Baltic, bream on German and Polish coast, roach, perch almost everywhere. Gdansk Bay is unique mixture of species - perch, rudd, roach, pike, zander with herring, codlings, seasonal garfish, crucian carp, common carp and rare whitefish!

Concentrate yourself on locating potential fish presence, look for signs of feeding, spend sometime by the water - carp are very offen showing off with jumping.

Stay informing us about the progress! Good luck. M

Big carp in Christchurch Harbour by all accounts.

Stonar's slightly saline..... they've even caught bass from in there!