fishing for carp while they spawn?

[Dick Dastardly]

I didn't realise that carp were so good at maths .

 

Ive only ever tried it once (for my degree) but it amazed me 1. That it actually worked!! and 2. how acurate it was!! The carp on the water I monitored spawned a day after the "thousand degree day" was achieved.

[Oldfellah]

Ive only ever tried it once (for my degree) but it amazed me 1. That it actually worked!! and 2. how acurate it was!! The carp on the water I monitored spawned a day after the "thousand degree day" was achieved.

 

Very interesting Budgie, however it is generaaly recognised that the 'magic' temperature to trigger the commencement of spawning activity is 18c with the water being at this temperature or above for at least a week prior to spawning starting in earnest. In my lake we have seen a stop/start spawning this year due to fluctuating weather conditions..........water temperature not daylight hours dictated whether they spawned or not.

 

With regard to length of day (or daylight hours) there is no evidence that it has an impact on spawning, however some research has indicated that it can influence the speed with which a carp reaches sexual maturity.

[Dick Dastardly]

Very interesting Budgie, however it is generaaly recognised that the 'magic' temperature to trigger the commencement of spawning activity is 18c with the water being at this temperature or above for at least a week prior to spawning starting in earnest. In my lake we have seen a stop/start spawning this year due to fluctuating weather conditions..........water temperature not daylight hours dictated whether they spawned or not.

 

With regard to length of day (or daylight hours) there is no evidence that it has an impact on spawning, however some research has indicated that it can influence the speed with which a carp reaches sexual maturity.

 

 

No all the recognised authorities I have read (biologists not anglers) recognise 20 degrees as the crucial temperature.Available daylight has no bearing on carp at all only the indigenous cyprinids.No such thing as "stop start spawning" once they go they go! regardless of deteriorating conditions (one of the reasons that not all spawnings are sucsessfull) The "stop start" behaviour is not the actual act of spawning itself but the build up "courtship" if you like that preceeds it.Once again due to our unsuitable weather this is relatively normal behaviour!

 

Not heard/read anything about daylight affecting the speed of reaching sexual maturity,cant really see how this could be? but would be very interested in hearing more.Do you know the authers of the relevant papers?

[Oldfellah]

No all the recognised authorities I have read (biologists not anglers) recognise 20 degrees as the crucial temperature.Available daylight has no bearing on carp at all only the indigenous cyprinids.No such thing as "stop start spawning" once they go they go! regardless of deteriorating conditions (one of the reasons that not all spawnings are sucsessfull) The "stop start" behaviour is not the actual act of spawning itself but the build up "courtship" if you like that preceeds it.Once again due to our unsuitable weather this is relatively normal behaviour!

 

Not heard/read anything about daylight affecting the speed of reaching sexual maturity,cant really see how this could be? but would be very interested in hearing more.Do you know the authers of the relevant papers?

 

The 18c minimum temperature is the accepted level within most fish rearing/breeding/fisheries area's whether in the UK or here in France. Also it is the 'kicking off mark' that is recognised by places like Sparsholt as the temperature necessary for cyprinids to start spawning.

The stop/start spawning activity is exactly what we are seeing this year in France with the dramatic changes in weather and temperatures this spring seeing spawning start at the end of April and now, the start of the second week in June, still seeing spawning activity re commence as water temperatures have crept back up to above the 18c mark. I have carp that have totally recovered from spawning and carp that have yet to spawn which is rather unusual 6 weeks after the start. As you will know, not all carp spawn at the same time even in ideal conditions but this year has seen it dragged out more than usual.

 

The subject of daylight having an effect on carp reaching sexual maturity was briefly mentioned in a Sparsholt publication as an area of research being undertaken, however no source for that was given. It is a fact that carp in places like Israel and Egypt reach sexual maturity after 1 year whereas in Norther Europe it takes 3 or 4. It appears that research has indicated that it is daylight hours rather than temperature that causes this difference. I have a friend who was a senior lecturer at Sparsholt so could ask him about it.

[poledark]

The stop/start spawning activity is exactly what we are seeing this year in France with the dramatic changes in weather and temperatures this spring seeing spawning start at the end of April and now, the start of the second week in June, still seeing spawning activity re commence as water temperatures have crept back up to above the 18c mark. I have carp that have totally recovered from spawning and carp that have yet to spawn which is rather unusual 6 weeks after the start. As you will know, not all carp spawn at the same time even in ideal conditions but this year has seen it dragged out more than usual.

 

Agree 100% with this, exactly mirrors what I have seen on my lake, even down to the fluctuating temps

 

Den

[Dick Dastardly]

"The 18c minimum temperature is the accepted level within most fish rearing/breeding/fisheries area's whether in the UK or here in France. Also it is the 'kicking off mark' that is recognised by places like Sparsholt as the temperature necessary for cyprinids to start spawning.

 

Indigenous cyprinids yes but NOT carp.Ask your mate at Sparsholt and Im sure he will clarify this for you.

[Oldfellah]

"The 18c minimum temperature is the accepted level within most fish rearing/breeding/fisheries area's whether in the UK or here in France. Also it is the 'kicking off mark' that is recognised by places like Sparsholt as the temperature necessary for cyprinids to start spawning.

 

Indigenous cyprinids yes but NOT carp.Ask your mate at Sparsholt and Im sure he will clarify this for you.

 

The 'Sparsholt Guide to the Management of Carp Fisheries' (an excellent publication) actually states that the magical 18c mark is the necessary kick off temperature for spawning to start. Naturally as the lowest temperature at which carp will spawn it is no suprise that they will also spawn at much higher temperatures also. At my fishery we saw the 'pairing up' process starting as the water temperature hovered around the 18c but only had heavy spawning activity when the water was at 23.7c......this doesn't mean that this higher temperature is necessary for spawning and I imagine that if it had stayed around the 18c mark things would have happened exactly the same. When the temperature dropped to 17c after cold northerly winds in early May all activity ceased and has started again when the water reached 18c and stopped when it dropped below. I take my water temperature twice daily so can be clear on the facts.

Interseting debate Budgie and I suppose we can agree to differ on our conclusions.....whatever, my carp are spawning heavily again at the moment, the 4th time since the start of May !!!!

[PurePompey]

I very much doubt that is the case henda. The water was way too cold mid may for spawning (depending on where you are in the country and your weather of course).

 

Around here they gathered to spawn very early in the year due to the warm april we had, then they buggered off again as thecold and rain came and chilled the water off again.

 

They've been spawning here for little over a week so maybe another week to go at the outside.

 

If you set off now, you might get back from the boillie shop just in time to catch em on the post spawning nosh up!

 

P.S. If you fill out your profile (age location etc) it might help people tailor their answers to you a little better.

 

 

Ok i'm new here so take it easy on me but i have to reply to this post. During may my daughter fished a junior match on one of my clubs waters and came a respectable 3rd with a good bag of silver fish. Whats this got to do with this topic? you may wonder, well most of the older kids were purely fishing for the carp and most blanked, a very unusal situation for this time of year so the head balliff took the water temperature and the reading was 20 degrees c. We both stayed on a little while after the match had ended to observe the carp and sure enough they were pairing of and crashing in the margins of one of the islands and did so for a number of days after. Then we had a cool spell and people fishing for the tench reported catches of the carp. This went on and still is one day they feed next they don't. Basically the unsettled weather we are getting at the moment is triggering spawning when warm and stopping them when it cools of due to the raise and drop in water temp (agree or diasgree it's happening in my area).

 

Now as for fishing for the fish during this period i feel it is down to the owner of the water they can quite easily close during this period as does our club on our premier water. People who love to fish will always fish whilst their allowed at whatever time of year if the fishery manager feels that his fish won't be harmed being fished at this time then so be it if he finds they are then it's up to him to protect his living. Now i know i'm going to be crucified for these opinions but thats the way it is. I fully agree that we could all do are bit to protect the carp and fish for some of the other fish but we also all know that you can quite easily take a greedy carp on any occasion so if your fishing for the other species on a particular day during the spawning period and start catching carp will all you on here that have slated the originator of this topic stop fishing, go home, and pack up fishing altogether for however long it takes for the carp to stop spawning??????????

[henda11]

but the thing is, not all carp spawn at the same time..

[Dick Dastardly]

but the thing is, not all carp spawn at the same time..

 

No your right sometimes they dont and I have no idea why!

 

To avoid confussion though an individual carp can only actually spawn once in the wild.Even at Sparsholt in heavily controled enviroment they can only "force" them to actually spawn twice in a year. It is this strange "stop start" courtship as I prefer to call it rather than actual spawning (ie releasing eggs and milt) and this strange buisness of "split" spawnings that I believe leads anglers to think that individual carp are spawning more than once.Also just look at it logically-how long does it take for carp spawn and milt to develop? Ive never seen anything that sugests they can "save" some has anyone?

 

Shame Bruno's not posting on here at the moment.

 

If what you say about 18 degrees is right Oldfella then that makes the "thousand degree day" principle false..strange as not only as Ive said tried it (and it was true much to my suprise) but also taught to me at Sparsholt!

 

Despite my involvement in a French fishery I havnt really been able to really study the spawning/temperature ratio there and Luke just doesnt find that stuff as interesting as myself! I have found a big variation in spawning times between French waters though put have always put this down to their diversity size,altitude,depth etc