Saturday 21 July 2018

Small River Carp 2


For the sake of the species hunt I’m going to count common and mirror carp as two species - I have to, there’s not many more species in there. Perhaps there’s also a leather, but I haven’t seen one.

The problem with bait ‘n’ wait is the commons greatly outnumber the mirror carp, it would be a numbers game - besides, stalking individual fish on floating bread crust is much more fun!


First up I spotted a koi (another species I need) and freelined a bit of bread crust down to him, I didn’t however spot the little common with him that nailed the bait - still a carp on the bank is a great start!

I located the koi and it took about an hour to convince him to take a bait - cracking fight but as he went over the net the hook pulled - despite a desperate lunge my prize slipped back into the shadows.


Half an hour later I spotted my target, she hit the bread with a splash and tried to rip the rod out of my hand. Again the hook pulled at the net - but this time she was a second too late. Species 16!

A beautiful but slightly spawning damaged mirror carp - brilliant! The sun was too high for carp now, but I did manage a chub off the top before heading for home - I’ll be back for that koi...

17 comments:

  1. Great results so far Brian, I’m trying for a roach tomorrow on my little small bit of river.

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    1. Cheers, shame I lost the koi, it was literally over the net - can’t wait to get back and have another crack at one. Good luck with the roach, look forward to the report.

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  2. i thought you had a black n white koi years ago,but maybe it was one of your mates.as for carp,i did see some lumps last season on a wide bend on that 'new' bit they opened up.

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    1. Had the black n white, a couple of orange ones and a ghost over the years - but trying to get one on this season’s list. Seen a few but they’re spooky...

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  3. didn't realise it was just this season.think pike is gonna be your hardest on the small river!

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    1. Pike and tench, have seen both in the past - but not for a long time, hope there are still some in there...

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  4. still one catfish in there too,well,two,cos i saw a pic of one before those 2 were put in..

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    1. I only knew of one catfish, but that’s gone now. But who knows what will end up in there? There was a giant gourami in there last year although it didn’t live long.

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    2. i saw a picture of one cat 4 years ago,then 2 were filmed being released last year.one was caught and then taken away by the ea.a lot of cormorants about this year.

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    3. I think it was the older one that was removed, been in there at least 6 years. Saw the film of the two being released but pretty sure it’s not this river. But I bet there are still some mysteries lurking about...

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  5. Some great catches! I've never thought of trying out small river carp fishing, but it does look like something I should definitely do some time.

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    1. Great fun, especially targeting individual fish with a bit of floating crust.

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  6. oh,it was.i've walked the whole river many times,and i know the exact spot.P.Park. to clue you up.the pic i saw could've been 5-10lb.the other 2 were much smaller.

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    1. Yeah I know the spot - and I’ve taken my iPad with the video loaded - it looks very similar, I can see why people are convinced. As some fish get poached more are added, you never know what you might find...

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    2. especially at the mouth.just checking out your t shirts and noticed the cloned fish.sadly the one i've seen on the river has been covered up with something boring.

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    3. There were 10 cloned fish at one time but they've all gone now - but they have a habit of reappearing :-)

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