The River Angler

Striking Gold.

(Although primarily a river fishing blog, I do fish lakes during the spring.  This is a tale of some of those adventures in search of the magnificent Crucian Carp.)

One of my fondest memories as a boy was being taken fishing, on just a few occasions, by my now deceased dad.  He wasn’t really a fisherman, but for some inexplicable reason liked to take me fishing occasionally.

He took both my brother and I to a local lake in Horsemonden a few times, where my Uncle was the game keeper.  I remember vividly the water almost erupting every time we threw some bread in, as the resident carp fought for the food.  We would catch lots and lots of small carp on bread crust, but nothing much bigger than a couple of pounds.

Then one day my Dad took me to a small pond in our village.  It was just known as the ‘Mill Pond’ and was owned by a man that allowed the local kids to fish there for free.  My Dad accompanied me on my first trip here and cleared it with the owner, after that he wasn’t allowed back!

The lake was beautiful.  Tree lined on both sides and at the dam end, which was really the only bit we were allowed to fish, big beds of lily pads dominated.  The lake was basically triangular in shape. The thin end was shallow and weedy and the lake got deeper as it approached the dam end. Even at the deep, dam end of the lake, I think there were only just a few feet of water. In the far bottom corner was the mill stream that would have turned the water wheel at one time.

My fishing at this stage was pretty basic, as I was probably only about 12 or 13.  Still, over the next 3 years or so my experience grew as I discovered how to fish for myself, whilst referring to as many books as I could afford, to enhance my meagre knowledge.  This is where I learnt of things such as link ledgering and float fishing and creatures like tench, carp roach and rudd.  I also read about these beautiful, golden fish called crucian carp.  All of these things were really just pictures in a book and seemed beyond a mere boys reach.  But that was soon to change.

Much of the fishing early on was on the waggler, fishing maggots.  We would float fish all along the dam wall, catching roach, gudgeon and rudd.  I had read in one of my many books about using sweetcorn and that to catch crucian carp it was best to present a bait into lily pads, if they were present.  Now at this stage I didn’t even know that the lake held crucian carp, but the book said that’s where crucian could be found, so that was good enough for me!  It suggested using a light link ledger.  So I set up a couple of shot on a piece of line and cast into the gaps in the pads.  I was using a couple of pieces of corn on a moderate sized hook.  For the life of me, I can’t remember what rod I used.  I seem to remember it being a glass fibre float rod of some sorts.  I can recall that I had a Mitchell reel, possibly a 310 or something along those lines anyway.  And so this pretty much completed the set up.

Crucian Carp

Well, low and behold it didn’t take too long to get a bit of action.  The resulting fish turned out, quite remarkably, to be crucian carp.  I think the first time I saw one I was quite awe struck at its sheer beauty.  I knew immediately what I had caught by all of the descriptions and photos in the many books that I had by now read.  However none of the photos or descriptions did these magnificent creatures any real justice.  They were just beautiful.

I ended up catching quite a few of these crucian carp and also roach to over a pound.  I can’t remember catching any carp or tench.  One day I managed a crucian carp of truly humongous proportions for a young lad.  It went 2lb 15oz and was a very, very big crucian at the time.  Of course I now felt like a real specimen hunter just like Dick Walker!  Oh boy, did I have a lot to learn.

3lb+ Crucian

There the story of my crucian exploits ended.  I moved onto fishing rivers and then spent about 10 years fishing for carp before eventually returning to my real passion, fishing the rivers once more.  But a few years a go I read about a place called Marsh Farm near Godalming.  It seemed this was a day ticket water that held a good number of big crucians.  On some of my fishing exploits to places such as the Itchen, I had numerous chats with fishing acquaintances that had fished this so called crucian carp Mecca.  I heard stories regaled of big bags of 2lb fish and even 3lb+ crucians.  This all seemed to good to be true.

Eventually I made the trip one June.  It was a beautiful hot summer’s day.  I visited the shop for some bait and the day ticket and to hopefully get a bit of advice.  I then wandered along to one of the three lakes on the site and fished a peg in the area that the guy in the shop recommended.  I made up some groundbait and decided to fish a waggler, about a rod length out.  I threw out a few balls of groundbait and fished corn on the hook.  I’d been there a while when some bubbles started fizzing on the water surface.  They were coming up in a large area around my float.  To say I was excited at this development would be an understatement.

Eventually the float disappeared and after a dogged fight, a beautiful golden crucian lay in the net.  More were to come.  In all about a dozen fish followed that first one.  The biggest fish, quite amazingly, went 2lb 15oz!  Yes the same size as my biggest crucian caught almost 25 years before. I did a few more sessions that season, with limited success.  Nothing came close to that initial session though.

So we move on a season and again I decided to target the lakes at Marsh Farm, but this time throughout the close season.  I had better success this time.  I caught quite a few crucians and tench from both of the main lakes on the complex.  I had also started to learn how to fish the lakes more effectively.  How to free bait, how to present the hook bait and where to fish were soon refined.  I also realised that presentation needed to be a little less clumsy.  I scaled the tackle down to 4lb mainline and a 3½lb hooklink. I was reluctant to go much lighter due to the size of the tench in the lake.  They go to double figures with 3-5 pounds being the average and they fight like stink.  Hook size depended on bait and floats were wagglers often up to several AAs.  I now realise that this was still too clumsy, but more of that later.

3lb 11oz

I had managed numerous crucians but nothing over my PB.  However whilst fishing for rudd, roach or anything that would come along on a particularly tough day, using an 18 hook and a single caster, I hooked into something a bit bigger than the usual stamp of rudd.  The fish swam round in circles in front of me and felt really heavy.  It eventually surfaced just out in front of me and I could see the burnished gold flanks of a huge crucian carp.  I’m pleased to say that this wasn’t one of those heartbreaking stories of the hook pulling just as the fish reached the net.  This one made it in safely.  It looked enormous.  I popped her on the scales and she went 3lb 11oz.  I was gobsmacked.

I was doing most of my fishing with my good mate Geoff and he kindly took the photos.  Geoff had also had a big crucian weighing in around 3lb 4oz.  So we had got a real taste for this crucian lark.  What we had both noticed was that often as we were having to pack up, the crucian carp were starting to roll just about everywhere on the lake.  It was so frustrating packing up with so much activity going on.  However because we were only day ticket anglers we had to be off at sunset, just when the place was coming alive.

I took the decision to join the controlling club later that winter, just so I could fish throughout the up coming close season.  This meant that for a full year’s subscription I would only get 3 months fishing.  However it did mean I could night fish throughout this period and I felt for this reason alone, the 12 months fee was worth it. And so it was to prove.  We were now able to fish as late as we wished.  Often arriving a couple of hours before sunset and fishing through to around midnight or even later on occasions.

Geoff and I commenced our crucian campaign in about mid April.  The weather was still a little chilly but getting better.  We had opted to float fish at night by using isotopes.  We would put the isotope into some silicone tubing and then attach it to an antenna float.  These are quite fine floats and very sensitive.  They take about 4BB.  After a while we discovered that this wasn’t a great method, as often the isotopes came off and also they were not really bright enough to be seen at any great distance anyway.

Early Tactics

So we then tried the Drennan insert wagglers, coupled with the Drennan night lights.  This

was a much more satisfactory solution.  The night lights were much brighter and were made to fit the floats we were now using.  The Drennan floats varied in weights, but we opted for the 2BB or the 1½AA sizes. If the crucians are being particularly tricky I have started using an even smaller float at 1½BB.  I still used a mainline with a 4lb breaking strain and a 3½lb hooklink.  Again, hook size depended on bait.  Instead of using split shot on the line, which I think causes unnecessary damage, I used tungsten heavy putty moulded around the hooklink swivel.  This eradicated breakages due the line being pinched by the shot.  Since this change in set up, I have not had the line broken once.

Insert Wagglers

It’s very important to get your depth right when fishing for crucians.  They can be one of the most delicate and finicky of feeders.  At other times they can rip the float under.  The swim must be plumbed carefully.  You want to be fishing with the bait just on the bottom or very slightly over depth.  We have found that if you’re fishing well over depth, foul hooking becomes a problem.  There’s nothing worse than landing a 3lb+ crucian, only to find you’ve hooked it in the anal fin, it really is a pain in the arse!  I’ve had to put a few big fish back and a couple of these have been decent 3’s.

As for location, any sort of drop off can produce a fish or two.  Obviously a drop off is a natural patrol route for fish, even in the early spring.  You will encounter tench as well, but they can be a pleasant distraction when the crucian fishing is a bit slow.  The weather plays a big part in where the fish are likely to feed.  Early season, the fish often stick to the slightly deeper water, but once the night time temperatures start to warm up and the lake temperature rises, then this will change.  The fish like to feed right up against the reeds.  Often they will be rolling within inches of the bank and feeding heavily.

Drennan Night Lights

When this happens, you can fish tight to the reeds, often in as little as 18 inches of water.  We keep plenty of bait going in to keep them interested.  Obviously quantity very much depends on the time of the year.  So little and often to start and increase the amount as the weather improves. However, that said, fish too much loose feed and the tench will move in and bully the crucians out.  So you need to strike a balance.  We have found that both a decent commercial groundbait and small 3mm soaked pellets work well as an attractant.  In fact as the weather warms up I will often squeeze the soaked pellets into a small ball and just use those.

As for hookbaits, I have found that early on in the season, small 6mm cubes of luncheon meat fish well.  Garlic pellets, again in the 6mm size are very effective but one of my favourite baits are dendrobeana worms.  I find these particularly good once the water temperature has increased.  So far I haven’t used paste, but I know people who swear by it and even use large hooks with big lumps of very soft paste on.  Its worth playing around with baits, you may just discover something special.

Geoff's 3lb 13oz

We had a pretty good close season period last year.  The best session was four 3’s for Kevin one evening but we all caught plenty of 3+ fish.  In fact to be honest I couldn’t tell you how many we had between the four of us.  We had loads of fish over 2lbs as well.  This really does indicate just how good Marsh Farm is.  It’s a very special place as far as crucians go.  A 2lb crucian is a specimen and a 3lb fish quite a rarity anywhere with the exception of here. This venue has also produced numerous crucians over 4lb.  The venue record currently stands at 4lb 6oz, so a British record could well be on the cards at some stage in the near future.

I really love sitting there on a warm night watching the beta light twitch and bob and then finally sail away.  It’s quite magical.  Because of the natural shyness of these fish, the bites are often very delicate.  So watching the float move and striking only to feel nothing on the end is commonplace.  They are soooo tricky.  There has been many a time where I have decided to move the float, only to feel the bait ‘pop’ out of a crucians mouth!  It’s very, very frustrating indeed.  It’s not uncommon to bump lots of crucians off as well, that’s how finicky they are.  But when you do get one of these buttery gold creatures in the net, you’ll know it was worth every bit of frustration and effort.

Just a quick update for this close season.  The fishing has been a little slow but Geoff and I have managed some good fish.  Geoff has taken around 9 or 10 crucians so far with the biggest going 3lb 2oz and 3lb 8oz and I have had a similar number with a 3lb 2oz and a PB equalling 3lb 11oz.  I seem to be good at doing that, although it didn’t take me 25 years this time.

3lb 11oz