Grumpy’s Crucian Conundrum PtII
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2022 7:16 am
You’ll recall Grumpy’s previous post; having discovered a little Essex lake with reported crucians, he set forth to investigate. The accompanying photographs showed a couple of fish with very dubious parentage, two common carp, and one that did indeed look like a real-deal crucian. At least one of the fish was a brown goldfish, possibly two.
Well, this was a good opportunity to fish together for the first time, so a rendezvous was made and we set forth. Set in amongst a housing estate, on a noisy Saturday afternoon with kids (and the local hoods) running around, you can see where the goldfish came from! The little lake was a very overgrown affair and quite fascinating as a result; trees gone over, sticking out the water and little swims cut in here and there. Sadly, there was the usual litter and the swims we chose, next to each other, had an abandoned mattress behind us. But all was not what it seemed and there is a whiff of hope in the air. Under previous management this little pool had been abandoned in favour of another larger lake. The mattress in fact was evidence of an effort by the new team to tidy the place up; having been pulled from the water that week. With a little care and attention, this intriguing place could be lovely.
Fish were very evident. Grumpy tackled up with a stick of rhubarb floppy glass rod (previously described) but which was in fact perfect for the job. He coupled that with a Trudex. I decided to try out a new Abu Legerlite 123, which at 11 feet four inches met Grumpy’s recommendation for a shorter rod that could handle a carp. A little bit of groundbait and a handful of pellets and my swim was soon fizzing like a cauldron.
I was glad to have chosen the stronger rod and 6lbs line as this fish soon led me a merry dance:
Over the other side of a sunken willow, Grumpy was (not enjoying) catching baby rudd every cast, despite ever bigger pieces of bread. Eventually however the ‘crucian’ appeared and we quickly identified them as ‘Crustings’ and ‘Gruesomes’ but not crucian…mostly brown goldfish I reckon but a whole range of hybridisation I expect:
That second one shows just how difficult a job this identification lark is but a quick scale count of both doesn't get beyond about 28.
Meanwhile, on my side of the tree, the fizzing reached a crescendo and this carp got so excited he travelled the whole pool with its tail out the water:
Right on last knockings, after a few more Crustings and Common Carp, Grumpy announced, “What about this then?” At first look, it seemed to tick the boxes for GISS (General Impression, Size and Shape), so we popped it on the card I had brought along and did a (glasses off, close up) scale count – 33 – perfect (it needs to be 32-24). Mouth shape, eyes, ridged back (Grumpy spotted that one), all looked spot on. We couldn’t properly check the dorsal, as it was quite torn, but again the books say that is not unusual in a true crucian:
Just to be certain, we sent the photo on to Professor Carl Sayer (EDIT: via Norfolk Tinca, thanks Bernard!) and the word came back, “As pure a crucian as anything”. So there we have it. It is a mixed bag for the fishery. On the one hand it looks like the energy is raised to clear the place up and, done sympathetically, it will be a charming pool to fish. On the other hand, I can’t see how the true crucian that remain can maintain a strain for the purists, such is the fate of a thousand little pools in Essex...
Well, this was a good opportunity to fish together for the first time, so a rendezvous was made and we set forth. Set in amongst a housing estate, on a noisy Saturday afternoon with kids (and the local hoods) running around, you can see where the goldfish came from! The little lake was a very overgrown affair and quite fascinating as a result; trees gone over, sticking out the water and little swims cut in here and there. Sadly, there was the usual litter and the swims we chose, next to each other, had an abandoned mattress behind us. But all was not what it seemed and there is a whiff of hope in the air. Under previous management this little pool had been abandoned in favour of another larger lake. The mattress in fact was evidence of an effort by the new team to tidy the place up; having been pulled from the water that week. With a little care and attention, this intriguing place could be lovely.
Fish were very evident. Grumpy tackled up with a stick of rhubarb floppy glass rod (previously described) but which was in fact perfect for the job. He coupled that with a Trudex. I decided to try out a new Abu Legerlite 123, which at 11 feet four inches met Grumpy’s recommendation for a shorter rod that could handle a carp. A little bit of groundbait and a handful of pellets and my swim was soon fizzing like a cauldron.
I was glad to have chosen the stronger rod and 6lbs line as this fish soon led me a merry dance:
Over the other side of a sunken willow, Grumpy was (not enjoying) catching baby rudd every cast, despite ever bigger pieces of bread. Eventually however the ‘crucian’ appeared and we quickly identified them as ‘Crustings’ and ‘Gruesomes’ but not crucian…mostly brown goldfish I reckon but a whole range of hybridisation I expect:
That second one shows just how difficult a job this identification lark is but a quick scale count of both doesn't get beyond about 28.
Meanwhile, on my side of the tree, the fizzing reached a crescendo and this carp got so excited he travelled the whole pool with its tail out the water:
Right on last knockings, after a few more Crustings and Common Carp, Grumpy announced, “What about this then?” At first look, it seemed to tick the boxes for GISS (General Impression, Size and Shape), so we popped it on the card I had brought along and did a (glasses off, close up) scale count – 33 – perfect (it needs to be 32-24). Mouth shape, eyes, ridged back (Grumpy spotted that one), all looked spot on. We couldn’t properly check the dorsal, as it was quite torn, but again the books say that is not unusual in a true crucian:
Just to be certain, we sent the photo on to Professor Carl Sayer (EDIT: via Norfolk Tinca, thanks Bernard!) and the word came back, “As pure a crucian as anything”. So there we have it. It is a mixed bag for the fishery. On the one hand it looks like the energy is raised to clear the place up and, done sympathetically, it will be a charming pool to fish. On the other hand, I can’t see how the true crucian that remain can maintain a strain for the purists, such is the fate of a thousand little pools in Essex...