Wildies

[badgerman]

Hey everyone,

 

Firstly I am very annoyed, a lake local to me opens for the season today and I am stuck in work!

 

Secondly I am actually quite excited! I am going to said lake for the first time on Monday... I have never fished there before, never even knew it existed but apparently there are some pretty good stocks of roach, rudd, bream, tanch and perch... some carp as well topping 20lb but what got me interested in the first place was there is a half decent stock of wild carp! never fished for these before so am looking to bag one or two...

 

Any tips for them, bait, tactics etc...?

 

To be honest it has been such a long time since I have been fishing I'm just looking forward to bending the cane rod regardless of what I catch!

 

Anyway, tips would be appreciated!

[dant]

Hello Badgerman.

 

You're a lucky man to have the chance of catching Wild Carp although if there are Carp to 20lb's in the lake there's a fair chance your Wildies might of bred with a bit of rough in the past. As with most of the types of Carp proper they generally only remain pure if in the water as a single type.

 

I'm lucky enough to be able to fish two old estate lakes, one in Norfolk and the other in Suffolk that both have Wildies as the largest inhabitants along with a few Rudd and the odd Perch.

 

I tend to fish for them much as I would Tench on the float. Simple baits, close in, lift method with about 5 or 6lb's line. I wouldn't say true Wildy would get much above 6 or 7lb's and are exceptionally slow growing for Carp but also exceptionally hard fighting. It's difficult for me too give too accurate info as the waters I fish for them barely see a hook and they may behave much differently on waters that are fished more often.

 

Get ready for that first run and good luck.

 

Try and get some pictures if you go. I think most would be keen to see Wild Carp as they are a very rare commoddity.

[DavyR]

Not to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but according to John Bailey in his book "Casting for Gold" (published in 1991), it's extremely unlikely that there are any remaining waters in the UK that contain true wildies. Certainly if there are other strains of carp in the lake that go up to 20lb, it's even more unlikely that any true wildies remain.Many waters, on the other hand, do contain lean-looking commons that resemble wildies. They usually fight a lot harder than the big fat mirrors, too! No need for special tactics or baits, but you might want to try for them with a 6lb line and float tackle (if there are no bad snags), as that (IMO) is a lot more interesting and exciting than standard carp tactics with semi-fixed rigs and bite alarms.Good luck, anyway - and don't forget to take a camera so that we get to see the results! :camera:Whoops! I see that I've said almost the same as Dant! Anyone care to comment on whether John Bailey is/was right about the lack of true wildies?

[dant]

We must of typing at the same time Davy.

 

I should think John Bailey would be pretty well placed to hold that view and I'm fairly sure he will know of the water I'm talking about in Norfolk, he may of even fished it.

 

But having said that, I'd lay money on it that those fish in that water are Wildies as the estate lake is very old, was dug in Tudor times and is only about a mile or two from an old monastry.

I've done a bit of history research on the place and the Lord who built the first house on the site was very freindly with the local monks and even offered them a safe house in the times when Henry v11 was running amok.

The monks or the lord could of used the lake as a stock pond. Theres also very little else in the lake apart from hoardes of stunted Roach and Rudd.

 

The second water is again an estate lake in Suffolk and in this case I'm certain the fish are Wilidies as I've seen the original invoice in the archives for the fish dating from the early 1600's. Theres also very little else in this lake apart from the requiste stunted Roach and Rudd.

 

The second water is the one I'm very slowly and painfully trying to get a restoration project off the ground for. I started a thread a fair while back about it but dealing with a trust fund and trying to get them to part with cash to get rid of a load of old mud is a job for Kofi Annan.

 

Sorry to hijack your thread a bit Badgerman.

Edited May 23, 2008 by dant

[badgerman]

No worries!

 

I also shared the concern about whether there are true wildies in there, but having made a few phonecalls it seems the other carp strains were introduced a few years back, the water has not been open for fishing long... I have also seen a few piccies from last season of some of the fish caught there and it seems there are a few definite wild carp of about 5-6 pounds.

 

As I said before it would be nice to catch one as I never have before but it's not top on my list of priorities... I just want to go fishing!!! Pics will follow if I get anything of worth!

[dant]

Good luck Badgerman!

 

Catch those wilidies while you can as once the older pre-stocking fish die out you'll be left with the Common/Wild Carp strain that once they get to a certain size can be almost impossible to stop on standard float gear.

[terry t shirt]

The problem with carp is so many are stocked and moved illegally. I'm not saying its so prevallent now but there was a major problem with the odd carp being slipped into a water. Even Steve has had this happen at Wingham from the conversation we had someone had moved carp from the carp lake into the course lake. With this happening the chances of a true "wildie" being caught are slim. I'm not even sure if its recognised as a British species anymore.

[yorkio]

I'm not even sure if its recognised as a British species anymore.

 

Were they ever? I thought one of the things that made the whole business so confusing was the fact that the wildie and pellet pig are actually all the same species, ie cyprinus carpio?

[Vagabond]

Good luck with the wildie hunt, but as others have said, they are getting as rare as hen's teeth.

All the ponds where I used to catch wildies have now had other strains of carp put in, so when the true monastic strain eventually dies out, there are only mongrels to replace them.

 

The last true wild I caught was back in 1995 and since then the pond has been netted, drained and "restocked"

 

Please put a picture up if you get one - so that people will know what they look like. Gardon Hunter put up a picture last year of one he caught in France, and the initial reaction was that it was a starved carp!

[dant]

Were they ever? I thought one of the things that made the whole business so confusing was the fact that the wildie and pellet pig are actually all the same species, ie cyprinus carpio?

 

They are. Just different strains of.

 

The ahem' pellet pigs are just a strain bred on through the years from the fish that would of been classed as wildies.

 

A bit like the Roses you see in peoples garden with big bright red flowers and the vicious little buggers that you can't see as you edge through the undergrowth on a river bank trying to get to an undercut in a bank, get your leg shredded, recoil in pain, slip forwards and end up half submerged in said undercut.

 

This sadly and embarresingly has happened to me and it's just as annoying as finding out somone has slipped a rouge Carp into somewhere.