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Posts Tagged ‘Crucian carp fishing’


There’s a lot of thrashing around in the reeds at the moment as tench and crucians get a little jiggy with it!  Yes it’s spawning time folks and the fish tend to be a little preoccupied when it comes to spawnification. 🙂

In bloom and full of spawning fish

In bloom and full of spawning fish

Nevertheless some fish have finished, whilst others are still rampant.  A sudden drop in temperatures probably wouldn’t cool their ardor either. With the thermometer dropping from about 18c or 19c to just a miserly 12c it was a bit of a shock to the system, particularly as by 11.30pm it had plummeted to about 5c or 6c.  Fortunately the SAS training kicked in and Geoff and I brushed off the inclement conditions to try for a few more crucians.

It was a good start with a small crucian coming to the net within a few minutes.  Sadly it then went quiet for a while.  However a few more followed as the evening wore on.  I was having a bit of trouble landing some of the fish.  Both the tench and crucians seem particularly aggressive fighters at the moment, tearing off at break neck speed for the reeds.  I must have pulled out of possibly 8-10 fish, mainly tench but certainly 1 crucian.

Luckily a few were subdued and I ended up with 4 crucians including a nice brace of ‘2’s at 2lb 6oz and 2lb 3oz, plus a couple of feisty tench.  As with my last visit I opted to stick to white maggots but also tried reds, firing out an almost constant trickle of bait.  The maggots were flavoured with Ocean Pride and this time I also used a small amount of OP groudbait and some crushed pellets.

As usual I was plagued with infuriating, unhittable bites.  The float would rise, dip, sway and bob.  No matter at what stage you tried to hit a bite, it failed miserably.  Without a doubt, in my opinion, some of these if not most, are line bites.  Fish moving through the swim and perhaps feeding, just pull the float around.  Sometimes a perfect sail away bite fails to connect with anything.  Its quite mind boggling really but all adds to the experience and there’s never a dull moment.

2lb 6oz Bar of Gold

2lb 6oz Bar of Gold

Geoff bagged the fish of the day; a nice crucian at a smidgen under 2lb 11oz.  Well done that man.  We are hoping that once spawning has fully finished the fishing will be electric and we’ll be there to see it.  Fingers crossed.

Just about the only virgin you're likely to see around here!

Just about the only virgin you’re likely to see around here!

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Well after a sojourn across the waters to sunny Spain “Y Viva Espana” in search of my long lost golf swing, I returned to Blighty hoping the weather had warmed up. Whilst away we kept an eye on the forecast back home and I noted that the temperatures were up but mixed in with some pretty heavy rain. Still, those conditions are not necessarily a bad combination.

Las-Colinas-golf

Las-Colinas-golf

Work has also been getting in the way of fishing lately, still that’s the nature of the beast. Work pays the bills and allows me to fish, not the other way around unfortunately! So at last it was back bankside at Marsh Farm. Tench and Crucians were the target species and we were pinning our hopes on the improved weather conditions spurring the fish into a bit more action. And so it was to prove.

We had a two day session planned. Well when I say two day I mean 2 evenings really, fishing from around 6.30pm to 11.30-12.00. Crucians tend to become much more active as the light fades, so fishing into darkness can make a huge difference to catch results. I have caught a few clonkers during the day but in all honesty they are few and far between. There’s something quite pleasing about watching an isotope on the float at night. It’s almost calming and hypnotic. Well unless it never moves that is, then it’s blooding infuriating!

Geoff, Kevin and I have been using some of the Sonubaits green groundbait recently which is proving very effective at pulling the tench and crucians in. Geoff in particular has had a couple of pretty good sessions. So both Kevin and I opted for the same groundbait and it worked over these two sessions. I had a number of baits at my disposal; luncheon meat cut up into very small cubes and flavoured with the Lone Angler sausage sizzle (they go together so well), prawns with an added boost of Ocean Pride and a couple of types of soft hooker pellets.

Sausage Sizzle flavoured Luncheon Meat

Sausage Sizzle flavoured Luncheon Meat

I find plumbing the depth vital for crucians. You need to try and get the bait just resting on the bottom so bites can be detected easily and quickly. Crucians are very frustrating fish to catch. They toy with the bait if they are in a finicky mood, which is around 99% of the time! You get lots of false bites, bump off loads of fish and generally they do your head in. Oh what fun!

5lb 7oz

5lb 7oz

Anyway, as the light slowly began to fade so the float began to dip and weave. Soon it buried and a hard fighting tench was beaten to the net. A few others followed, each one desperately trying to reach the sanctuary of the reed beds. I was using a 4lb mainline and similar hooklength, to ensure I could keep them out of too much trouble. Bites came thick and fast and all of them turned out to be tench. There were a few decent ones in there, topped off by a 5lb 7oz fish. As the 11th hour approached a crucian finally put in an appearance. Not a huge fish by Marsh Farm standards but at 2lb 7oz a very welcome sight. I missed around 15-20 bites, lost around 6 fish and bumped a few off. By the end of the session I’d had 8 tench and a crucian.

2lb 7oz

2lb 7oz

The following evening was less eventful. A full moon seemed to affect the fishing. However as the evening wore on some action did transpire. I ended up with several tench to 5lb 1oz and a male fish of 4lb 13oz, which is certainly one of the biggest males I’ve caught from here. Luncheon meat and prawns seemed to be the preferred bait. Kevin, Geoff and Danny also managed a few with Geoff probably taking the lion’s share over the two days. All in all a pretty successful and rewarding couple of sessions.

5lb 1oz

5lb 1oz

Possibly next week we’ll be heading to Johnson’s for a session or two. It seems that the crucians have apparently spawned there, so there’ll be a dramatic drop in anglers on the water. Ostensibly it’s a method feeder water but I have taken crucians to 3lb 9oz on the float, fished in close to the lily pads. So it may be a two pronged attack; feeder and float. I would love to top my PB of 3lb 11oz. On the feeder I’ll be using the 10mm Sausage Sizzle squabs, they are a prefect size for crucians and tench, so fingers crossed.

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After some pretty dire conditions of late, I haven’t really felt like fishing.  I don’t mind the rain per se but with these miserable temperatures of late, I have never felt so less inclined to fish.  Work has also kept me off the banks for a while too.  I mean, how very dare you.  Of course it doesn’t help when you fish with three mates that are all retarded er I mean retired (well, I think that’s what I mean 🙂 ).  The water temperature has been kept unseasonably low due to numerous nighttime frosts and combine that with a very chilly wind at times and you can understand not only my reluctance to fish but the very reason why the fish themselves are so reluctant to feed at times.

Still at long last we have experienced a slight rise in those overnight temperatures.  We haven’t had a frost for at least a week and with the gauge not dropping below 6-8 most nights and daytime temps remaining around 13 or so, it was beginning to look a little more promising.  We opted not to fish on the Tuesday evening as the forecast was again for some very heavy rain with a significant drop in temperatures again.  However Wednesday’s forecast was pretty good, so we hoped that this blip wouldn’t spoil the fishing on Wednesday.

Geoff, Kevin and I set off, probably with limited expectations but I was certainly looking forward to being on the banks again after  my enforced hiatus from my so far unsuccessful attempt at a big crucian.  We headed to Godalming town centre for some lunch.  Godalming is a lovely town, with several good cafe’s to boast of and a couple that offer very good value for money.  So after a very healthy lunch (cottage pie and er chips…uhum!) we wandered along the river for an hour before heading off to Marsh Farm.

On arrival the lakes were showing the signs that spring was well and truly underway and that despite the weather’s best efforts to convince us otherwise, Summer was just around the corner.  The trees were in full bud, the reeds were tall and green and the bankside flora was showing signs of healthy, vibrant growth.  Perhaps this was not quite as much as it would normally be at this time of the year for obvious reasons but it was at least a sign that things were improving.

Showing signs of Summer at last.

Showing signs of Summer at last.

Very unusually there was no wind when we arrived.  So I opted for a swim in amongst some thick reed beds where close in the depth is around 3 feet.  With so much cover for the fish, I just felt it had to produce.  Geoff wandered off to my right and Kevin stayed in a very good area to my left.  The sun was out, albeit just at intervals due to the cloud cover and it actually felt very pleasant.  We all felt it was the best conditions we had experienced so far this Spring.

Geoff was in almost immediately; a tench.  I missed a couple of bites on paste and after missing a couple more opted to go back to worm bait.  Kevin was steadily catching some small roach.  This sort of action continued for some time.  My switch to worm elicited instant results, when after a really good fight I netted a beautiful looking tench weighing 6lb 5oz.

6lb 5oz

6lb 5oz

Then the wind sprung up and the action slowed a little.  Eventually the wind dropped and the action continued throughout the night.  Geoff seemed to be catching tench steadily whilst Kevin and I were somewhat slower in the action.  Then Geoff reported his first crucian. shortly followed by Kevin.  They ended up with 2 or 3 each, mostly over 2lbs and one dead on 3 for Kevin.  Despite catching 6 nice tench I felt a bit excluded from the action.  I was getting lots of interest on the float.  Lots of tiny dibs and dips, with the float moving slightly from side to side.  A sure indication that crucians were in the swim and mouthing the bait in only the frustratingly delicate way that crucians can.  I had plumbed the swim several times to check depth and so ended up whittling down the bait size.  I ended up with just about a quarter of a dendrobaena worm on.  I moved the float in towards the bank slightly, after seeing a few good crucians roll close in.  After probably 20 minutes of tiny movements on the float, there was a sufficient ‘bite’ to strike at.  This time I connected with something heavy.  The fight was dogged, with the odd dive, whilst the fish plodded around in a circle.  Eventually it broke surface and the magnificent buttery gold flank glistened in the torch light.  It looked like a really nice fish and after a couple of heart stopping dives, I eventually netted her.

I was looking at a perfect specimen crucian.  She was immaculate,  just so stunning.  They are truly a beautiful fish to behold.  I popped her in the weigh sling and recorded a weight of 3lb 9oz.  I was over the moon.  It’s the biggest crucian I have had for sometime and a just reward for all of those dismal sessions in the wet and cold weather of the last couple of months.

Well Geoff ended up with 12 tench (again, I think he had about 12 the last time we were here), including several 5s and 2 or 3 crucians, Kevin I think had 7 tench and 3 crucians to 3lb and I brought up the rear with 6 tench and the 1 crucian.  Still with the 6lb tench and the 3lb 9oz crucian, I felt I’d had the moral victory, they may of coarse disagree! We left at this point as the weather had got somewhat chilly and it was nearly midnight.  Enough is enough.

3lb 9oz

3lb 9oz

Now I know that Kevin’s brother Steve is a regular reader of my blog and for that I thank him and just wanted to say ‘hello’.  Steve enjoys his fishing with his brother up on the Wye once a year and due to family commitments doesn’t get to fish as much as he once did and that’s a small price to pay for having a wonderful family.  So I hope you enjoy the blog and when you do get to go again Steve, I hope you bag a few of those stunning Wye barbel.

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