A big crucian is at the top of many anglers’ bucket lists, and with so few venues containing true crucian carp, they are becoming increasingly rare to catch each year. Any capture over 3lb is a superb fish, and anything that breaches the 4lb mark is the fish of a lifetime, so imagine the shock when Dave Owen banked a handful of these fish in one trip, making for a session he will never forget.
Dave had booked a 48-hour stay at Sutton Pool in Shropshire, a venue known for producing some very special crucians, in hopes of breaking his personal best of 3lb 6oz. Instead of fishing the way many others do, he opted for a clever change of tactics, resulting in a red-letter session he could have only dreamed of.
"The first fish of the trip was a 3lb 1oz, but then the floodgates opened and I ended up beating my personal best four times over. I landed a total of six crucians weighing 2lb, 3lb 1oz, 3lb 8oz, 3lb 11oz, 3lb 14oz, and my new PB of an incredible 4lb 3oz," Dave told us.
"I decided to try something a little different from the norm, choosing to fish spots that are normally overlooked, and it definitely seemed to pay off," he added.
"Rig-wise, I used a couple of approaches. One rod was set up with the ‘in vogue’ Method feeder, while the other two were fished in a completely different style."
"I went with a ‘mini’ scaled-down carp setup—small lead clips and tubing, a 1 1/2 oz lead, and a 3-inch coated braid hooklink."
"On these, I used an 8mm wafter on one and a single grain of maize on the other, both finished off with a 50-pence-sized PVA mesh stick. With each cast, I also introduced a Jaffa-sized ball of groundbait and 20 grains of corn."
While fish fell to both methods during the trip, it was the scaled-down carp rig that fooled the biggest fish, a similar tactic to the one that helped bank the British Record crucian last year.
IF YOU ARE FISHING OVERNIGHT, YOU NEED ONE OF THE BEST FISHING BIVVIES...
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