Big crucians are becoming rarer and rarer in the UK, and catching a true specimen crucian is becoming an increasingly difficult challenge. There are however a few venues dotted around the country that give anglers a realistic chance of landing one of these incredible fish.
Darren Clarke made the most of a recent trip to Shropshire banking a superb crucian, while also managing to smash his personal best in the process.
“I recently returned from Shropshire’s Sutton Pool, where I caught this stunning crucian personal best of 3lb 12oz. In far from ideal conditions, I opted to go very light on the bait front in the hope of nicking the odd bite, rather than looking for a hit of fish."
"Introducing a mixed handful of hemp, corn and small bloodworm pellets, I fished just off the marginal snags rather than tight under them."
"My thinking behind targeting this area was that the crucians had been fished for and caught close to the bank all summer, so the bigger ones may have grown wary of feeding in these areas."
"The successful rig was a 1.5oz inline lead, 5lb fluorocarbon hooklink, a single hair-rigged grain of corn and a tiny PVA stick of oily groundbait mounted above a size 14 hook.”
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