Carp-Basic Knowledge

Introduced into the country as a food source by monks in the Middle Ages the carp is now one of our most widespread and popular coarse fish swimming in our waters. It is the biggest coarse fish in British waters that has tested specialist carp angler’s tackle up and down the country for many years. More recently, since the advent of commercial fisheries in the eighties, and the subsequent stockings of carp of all sizes, it has been made available to all anglers and has become the country’s number one species renowned as much for its willingness to feed and provide sport all year round as for its incredible fighting power.

Varieties
There are three varieties of the carp, the fully scaled common carp, the partially scaled mirror carp and the scaleless leather carp. These varieties originally came about by selective breeding to produce more convenient fish for the table – a fish with no scales is much easier to prepare than a fully scaled fish – and although they are very different in appearance they are just variations of the same species.

Habitat
The carp is traditionally known as a still water fish living in lowland ponds and lakes up and down the country but it is an extremely adaptable species and is equally at home in canals, slow flowing rivers and even fast streamy rivers, like the Severn and Hampshire Avon. Because it is a relatively easy fish to breed and has a very fast growth rate it is the species of choice for stocking into the thousands of commercial fisheries around the country making it now one of our most widespread species.

It breeds when water temperatures rise above 18 degrees centigrade when a large female can shed over a million eggs over a period of one to two weeks in shallow weedy water. As with all the carp family the hatchlings survive on their yolk sacs for the first few days of life until they are big and strong enough to hunt and feed on microscopic water organisms. The carp is an extremely fast growing species that in food rich warm waters can reach over two pounds in their first year.

Mature carp prefer shallow margins with bank side cover or weed beds and can often be found inches from the bank in water barely deep enough to cover their backs. In colder water they will retreat to deeper water and can become very lethargic and difficult to catch.

Diet
Its heavily under-slung mouth and sensitive barbules tell us that this is predominantly a bottom feeder that roots around in the bottom mud and silt for its food. Nothing in the mud is safe including bloodworms, snails, swan mussels and all types of insect larvae. However having said that as all carp anglers will know they will feed at all levels in the water and in warmer weather regularly come to the surface to feed. In commercial fisheries anglers’ baits are the carp’s main source of food with pellets, sweet corn, maggots and luncheon meat being arguably the top four.

Catching Carp
On commercial fisheries the pole is king for catching carp allowing you to present baits accurately alongside the features they prefer to inhabit. Line and elastic strength have to chosen wisely taking into consideration the size of carp in the water and their proximity to the snags but a light dibber type float set just over depth in the shallow margins with corn or meat on the hook will catch carp from most commercial fisheries. Paste fishing in open water also catches plenty of commercial carp as does fishing up in the water with pellets, casters or maggots.

When targeting specimen sized carp on more natural waters legering with boilies comes to the fore as the top method with many anglers using method feeders or pva bags to concentrate some loose offerings around their hook baits and make them more attractive. In the warmer months surface fishing with dog biscuits or bread is one of the most popular and enjoyable methods of catching carp of all sizes.

-Factfile-

Family: Carp family (Cyprinidae)
Scientific Name: Cyprinus carpio
Length: up to 1 metre
Specimen weight: 20lb (9kg)
Lifespan: over 40 years
Best Baits: Boilies, pellets, sweet corn, bread, particles and paste.
British Record: 65lb 14oz (29.93kg) caught in 2005 by S. Baxter at Conningsbrook Lake, Ashford, Kent.