Fifteen-year-old Archie Green banked his first-ever crucian this weekend, banking a fish even the most seasoned anglers would be proud of. After trying for over three years to catch a crucian, the teenager finally succeeded, resulting in a specimen that came remarkably close to the current British record.
Archie usually favours float fishing, but after speaking to the bailiff and watching YouTube videos, he decided to try a Method feeder to tempt a crucian and it worked. On his very first session using the new approach, he hooked into an enormous 4lb 8oz bar of gold!
Speaking to his dad, Jim Green, he told us how dedicated his son has been to catching a crucian, with the pair unaware at the time just how big the fish was.
CRUCIANS CAN BE QUITE RARE THESE DAYS, BUT NOT AT THESE SUPERB VENUES!
"Archie loves his fishing, and he’s been determined to catch a crucian for the last three years since we started spending time on the bank together," Jim told us.
"He’s tried float fishing, but the roach and rudd in the lakes we've been visiting have been intercepting the bait before the crucians could get to it," he added.
"After doing some research, he decided to try a Method feeder with corn on the hook, but the roach were still beating the crucians to it."
In an attempt to deter the roach, Archie decided to try a yellow 8mm Parker Baits Magic Bean Wafter to make the bait larger and more durable, while still mimicking the corn he’d been told the crucians in the lake are regularly caught on.
"On his first cast with the new hookbait, he hooked a much better fish. After playing it tentatively, up popped a cracking crucian, he was over the moon," Jim said.
"It was great to see how excited he was, and it made for a really memorable session on the bank together."
"We weighed the fish a couple of times and settled on 4lb 8oz and at the time, we didn’t think too much of the weight."
"The phone signal at the lake is really poor, and when we got home, a friend of ours said it was a good fish and suggested we consider sending it to Angling Times."
"After checking, we couldn’t believe just how big the fish actually was. Neither of us could believe it—especially as it was his first one!"
THE BEST SPECIMEN RODS ARE IDEAL FOR CATCHING BIGGER FISH!
