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Mention
Crucian Carp venues to anglers in the know, and all
you are likely to hear is Marsh Farm and Yateley's
Summer Pit. Now I for one am no fish biologist, and
nor do I want to come across as trying to sound like
one, but there must surely be more waters with pukka
Cru's kicking around in. Looking back to when I was
about 16, I was fortunate enough to land what I
still believe to this day to be a pukka fish from a
deep pit near my Cambridge home. This fish weighed
2lb 6oz, but apart from another of 6oz caught the
same day, was the only one I have ever caught from
there.
This
season I really wanted to go back and catch another
to make me 100% sure whether I had caught the real
deal or not. Unfortunately though, my Cru tactics
were a little crude to say the least, and I soon
found myself revisiting waters that I have stayed
away from for sometime. Commercial fisheries really
aren't my cup of tea, but it has to be said, if you
want to test light rigs with fish that are used to
seeing it all, they can be eye opening. Before the
start of this season, I had never fished with a pole
float. Originally I didn't see it being difficult,
but I never realised just how much changing your
shotting pattern can change things.
I
soon found that the only way I could hit bites, was
by dotting the float down to the last millimetre.
This opened my eyes a great deal, and even though I
was only catching shy biting Bream, Roach and the
odd 'cruciany' looking fish, it was teeing me up
perfectly for a crack at the crucians. I also
managed a first with a 2lb Golden Tench.
Friend Chris invited me to coarse fish
another one of his waters, and even though this
proved fruitful with many fish, whether or not they
were true crucians, I'll never know. Some of them
definitely weren't that's for sure. The scale count
on the smaller fish I caught during the day added
up, and so did the other checks, but like others
have said, without DNA testing you'll never be sure.
So
what of the Pits I fancied? Unfortunately I was
totally Tenched and Carped out on every occasion. I
didn't give them a serious go to be honest, but I
did learn enough at the commercials to have a very
good crack at them next year. I'm sure the
importance of using pole floats will become very
clear. All I need to get used to now is using split
shot smaller than an ants head! |
