Fish Specials - The Carp

Common Name - Carp
Latin Name - Cyprinus Carpio
Family - Cyprinidae
Weight - > 70 lbs (British Carp) European Carp may reach > 90 lbs.
UK Record - 67 lbs - Mirror Carp (Conningbrook Lake, 2008)

The Carp is by far the most powerful of the fish in British Waters. There are four types of Carp, which are, Common, Mirror, Leather & Crucian. The Common Carp is the original type which was originally brought to the UK by monks for food in the 1300's. Since then, the Carp has been introduced into virtually all of the UK's rivers and stillwaters.

The Common Carp is a fully scaled and can be almost black in colour, although a deep bronze is more common. The Mirror & Leather Carp are strains of the Common bred in Asia.

The Mirror Carp is identified by large scales which only cover parts of the body and is now by far the most seldom caught of the Carp in British waters. This is due to its fast growth rate, making it the most preferred when stocking waters.

The Leather Carp are generally scaleless however some fish do have a few scales. They also tend to have a smaller more rounded tail than the Common & Mirror's. Leather's are the slowest growing of the big Carp.

Carp can be caught on boilies, bread, meat, sweetcorn, tiger nuts, tares, maggots, worms, dog biscuits, trout pellets, cheese and meat pastes. Carp are generally bottom feeders but during in times of hot weather they will feed on the surface and will fall for floating crust or dog biscuits.

Crucian Carp, are very small compared to the others and is mainly a stillwater fish. The Crucian has no barbules unlike the Common, Mirror & Leather which have 2. The British record currently stands at 4 lbs 9 oz. The Crucian is a member of the Goldfish family. Crucian are very shy and therefore quite hard to catch, but will take maggots, casters, worms, bread and sweetcorn.