There's a lot to love about crucian carp. You've all heard the cliches- the naff "bars of gold" descriptions, which is why I wanted to start this blog with a simple picture of one of these unique fish. They're cheeky, dainty mouthed creatures- or at least the little Devon runts I'm used to are. At Marsh Farm however, they take on a different character altogether.
On arrival, conditions looked more suited to rounding up animals and building a sodding ark than spring crucian fishing. After about an hour without a sniff I was already steeling myself for a long, damp wait when the tip flashed under. The fight was funny- a circling, almost fluttering feeling through the blank. After seeing a rounded, yellow-gold fish roll, I knew it was a crucian- a big one!
Bloody hell, it looked big. Over three pounds? The scales settled on 3lbs 7oz exactly and I approached something approaching delirium. "It's like a crucian, only bigger!" were my exact words I think.
With the pressure well and truly off, it was time to party. The weather was horrible, but by gently yet regularly feeding two lines, the bites slowly increased. Tench arrived too, like this thunderous Tinca just three ounces shy of six pounds.
Now, any of you who know me well will also know I am to the world of specimen hunting what Emile Heskey is to quality finishing. I find multiple rod fishing using up excessive amounts of time and bait is not only boring, but quite soulless. I could get used to this "ultra light" specimen fishing however, with one rod, fine presentation and careful feeding. For perch, roach, rudd and crucians you can't beat a bit of classic, light float fishing with baits like worm, caster, hemp and pellet. I love a long rod for this, a 15ft Hardy Marksman to be precise, along with a centre pin and fine pole float set up.
It takes me back to my match fishing days in fact, and I always learn from anglers like my pal Russ Hilton, whose pole fishing skills seemed tailor made for the fishery. Any fool can pile in bait and sit on three rods- it takes real skill to coax a peg to life and build a mixed net. I'm not sure I've ever witnessed one angler slay a swim for so many tench as Russ on wednesday afternoon. Even with the fishery insisting we emptied keep nets at four hourly intervals, there were some impressive bags. Russell also added his own specimen crucians, taking two over three pounds like this cracker:
Some glowing crucian pics don't tell the whole story however. Like the 4am departure from Exeter, or sheltering for dear life under my father's green 1970's umbrella, a piece of kit older than I am. And then there are the fish. Crucians are wily things at the best of times- but old, cagey fish well accustomed to fishing pressure are even more so. A lot of them seemed to be "one hit wonders" -a quick dip or lift on the float, a missed strike and a long wait until the next knock. But I ramble; and I'm saving all the other twists and turns for an Angling Times special on this delightful species.
One last twist in the tale could be yet to come however. When the rain finally abated, we noticed several good crucians roll on the surface- and one or two gulping. We also spotted dozens of hatching buzzers. Shucks like this littered the surface at one point.
Could this be a rare recipe for crucians on emerged style buzzers or dry flies? My instincts tell me it's possible- although perhaps more tenable on a clearer fishery. Perhaps next time! I also wanted to thank all regular followers and friends for their recent support. I've been absolutely blown away by the response to "Flyfishing for Coarse Fish"- with orders coming in from as far afield as Finland and Canada. I'm already running out of first edition copies in fact, so if any of you had your heart set on a signed copy do give me a shout (or an email at info@dgfishing.co.uk).
After a brief but unsuccessful try for crucians on the fly at Tiverton AA's Little Yeo Fishery on the journey home last week, I decided to return with more conventional tackle. I'd been hoping to spend a morning with my Dad for a while, since we hadn't fished together in ages. Rather than attempt something way too serious for a Sunday morning, we decided to go tiddler bashing and pretend it was 1991 all over again, a time we'd get up early to fish cute little ponds for just about anything that was willing to pull a float under. It's strange, but in the midst of an era when many of us are keen to catch PB's and get deadly serious, I often find the opposite hankering- a desire to feel like a kid again and return to a world where happiness was dropping a bait by some lillies and feeling a crucian carp juddering on the line.
I like fishing with my old man. He still favours a wicker creel over products with names like "specialist accessory system". He knows more about the ingredients of a decent sandwich than modern baits. He might not have taught me how to become a world champion angler, but he definitely taught me to enjoy fishing- a lesson that is the same whether you're three or thirty three. I'm not sure I know anyone else who gets so much fun out of a few hours on the bank- and that is never truer than when the fish are cute and the bites plentiful. It didn't seem to matter what we threw at them and we even snared a few using little pieces of ginger cake. One or two oddities also joined the party, like this golden tench:
In the end we were supremely lucky with the weather- thunder on the horizon, downpour in Tiverton, but we seemed to be in a little oasis of sunshine. My new pole got a great work out, even if I only needed to use the top 4 all morning, for scores of pretty crucians, along with the odd roach, skimmer and tench. The best bait for hitting bites seemed to be worm section though- perhaps the crucians take this just a little more emphatically? They were like peas in a pod too, not big but very scrappy on light gear. Favourite quote of the day: "They must all be related- it's like Tiverton down there!"
A very welcome day then, because even fishing can become like work rather than play if you're not careful. Other than my first books, the other vital bit of development for me this year is the process of taking my coaching badges. Having guided for a while now, I really wanted to make it official and get the certificate, which is pretty much vital if you want to take kids as well as adults fishing. Even if you've worked for years with youngsters, you simply have to get the right qualification- I believe it will be CRB check number seven if not eight in my professional career!!! On the concluding day of the course, everyone had to perform a live session, which was good fun. One of my giant soft pike came to good use with an exercise on landing and fish care- but perhaps the funniest and most original demo belonged to John Clare, who did a night fishing lesson by blindfolding his student, a hapless Simon Gurney!:
And on a final note, those of you with Sky Sports might want to tune in on Friday evening. After a successful day's filming, I'll be in the studio with Keith Arthur to discuss some of the finer points of catching coarse fish on the fly- and hopefully also get a word in about the new DVD which is available on my own site as well as Amazon now. Really looking forward to this. Here's a skimmer, taken on a little bead head shrimp during a practise session on the Bridgwater to Taunton Canal:
