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First crucian carp could rewrite British record books

Angler Martin Chew landed his first ever crucian carp at RH Fisheries Weston Park, with the fish set to be reviewed as a potential British record.

by Aidan Bordiuk |

Updated on18th May 2026 at 11.07am

Catching your first fish of a new species is always memorable, regardless of size, but to potentially break a British record with your maiden capture is the stuff of dreams for any angler.

That’s exactly what happened to Martin Chew while fishing a lake-exclusive booking at RH Fisheries Weston Park, when his first ever crucian carp produced a fish that eclipses the current British record set in 2024.

The capture, weighing a remarkable 4lb 15oz, is now being reviewed as a potential new benchmark, with an official claim set to be submitted and verified.

The monster crucian!

"I got invited on this trip through a friend who comes here every year for a lake-exclusive social. While I was excited to get my teeth into the bigger carp that reside in the lake, I was also aware it held good crucians. Having never caught one, I said to my mate I’d love to get into some of them, and I intended to bring a float rod along to have a go if the carp slowed down," Martin told us.

"As it turned out, I didn’t actually end up bringing any light tackle and never really gave it a thought once I started getting my teeth into some of the gorgeous carp that live in the lake," he added.

While standing in his swim, looking out over the lake, Martin noticed some unusual activity on his right hand bobbin. Rather than tearing off like the others bites he had witnessed, the bobbin slowly dropped back twice. Instinctively, he struck and there was a fish on the end, but it felt much smaller than the carp he expected.

"I couldn’t really feel anything until I got it close in and saw the lovely bar of gold on the end. I was made up to catch my first ever crucian, but I never in my dreams thought it would be a British record contender!"

"I was more made up with this than the 35lb common I landed the night before, what an honour to catch such a magnificent fish. Shortly after, my left-hand rod rattled off and started taking line. To my surprise, it was another crucian, albeit smaller, but still a gem with its dark markings."

A true monster in every sense of the word!

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