SEPTEMBER 2007092

Can you really create the ultimate lake with proper, homegrown monster carpin just by following a few simple rules? Ben Gratwicke proves you can…

Words: Ben Gratwicke. Photography: Ben Gratwicke, Simon Scott and Kenny Gates.

Originally they would have all come froma few strains! All round top guy, Davo

Davidson with a classic Dink!

A classic linear from the Galacianstable. A little patients and this

will be making headlines!

Imust start this article beapologising for the completecock up on the photos in the

last article, someone atCARPology got all the photosthe wrong way round and thecaptions back to front. I mean,really guys, carp do tend to getbigger but they don’t go fromscale perfect zip linears toscattered scale mirrors in theirlives unless you drop them! Sothis month get ’em right! Onlyjoking, keep up the top worklads, you do produce a greatmag. Whilst I am on this type ofsubject, I would like to thankSimon and Sue Scott and TomDowne for there help with thephotos last month. Cheers, it’smuch appreciated. Okay, downto business.

THE CARPAs I mentioned, last month thisarticle would give you the low-down on how to go aboutgetting the best out of yourfishery and to grow your ownhome grown whackers, so letsstart with one of the mainingredients the carp! Continue…

And on the 8th day Godcreated “The Carp” and in itsmany forms it will roam theworld swimming, eating andhaving its photo taken for fancymagazines and privatecollections. A creature withsuch power it will control thelives and minds of those whopursue it, and even now itspower and size still grows withworld domination only aroundthe corner!

Before the carp landed onour shores and before it madeits way through Western Europeit was a very different beast notonly in looks, but also in theway it grew and its part in manslife. Originally from thewatershed of the Black andCaspian seas the carp hasspread far and wide and isprevalent all over Europe andthe world, who would havethought a scaly mud dwellingslimy fish would become theking of the pond!

DIFFERENTSTRAINSThe Wilde was the originalfeature of the carp, a long

cylindrical body almost “chublike” and almost exclusivelycommons. Discovered first forits food potential, the spread ofthe carp moved slowlywestwards and this is where theimportant development of thehumble carp began.

Today many of the strainsrelate to the name of the area inwhich they where developedand more importantlydomesticated and this is whereour current strain variants comefrom. The domesticated versiongrows very much quicker thanits lesser brethren and moreimportantly bigger, lots bigger!

Some of the strains you mayof heard of are the Aischgrunderstrain developed in Aischgrundin Bavaria, Germany over thelast 300 years. This is a thicksetmirror strain. The Dinkensbhul oras it is more commonly known, a“Dink”, was originally from thetown of Dinkensbhul inGermany. This strain is anaggressive fast growing fish withfew scales and was formed bycrossing out the scaly fish toallow easier preparation foreating. There are lots of these inthe UK, as they are a highlydomesticated strain makingthem a great species to farmand they love to eat and grow!

The Bohemian strain, which isa leather of the variety andcomes from funnily enoughBohemia in Czechoslovakia(now The Czech Republic) andlast, but not least, the mightyGalacians, which were mirrorsfrom Galacia in Poland and werebred by an A. Gasch in the1900. These are probably themost famous strain and we inEngland know them moreaffectionately as “Leneys” – astrain of which carp angling inthe UK was built on.

There are many more variantsand today lots of the carp wesee in our carp mags are oftenunder different names such as“Suttons” “Simmos” “TheRedmire Strain” “Dintons”, butin one way or another they havederived from a few strains. Foryou as the fishery managerselecting the right fish from theright farm can be a nightmareand with such a choice outthere it is tricky to make theright decision, so let me giveyou a guide.

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6lb and a new stocking begins.

Look at how the scales are spacing out with growth.

Show me the money. 10 years on and looking good.

Same fish, but check out the colour change!

SEPTEMBER 2007094

THE SIX P’SProper Preparation PreventsPiss Poor Performance – the 6P’s, and this is so true and evenif you buy the best carp strain inthe world and they go into apoor water they will not grow aswell as they should. You mustmaximise their potential andgive them the best start in life.

So how do you get the bestout of your lake or pond andhow do you make poor waterricher? If you are lucky enoughto have a big, open, rich-weedfilled gravel pit then a lot of thefollowing will not imply. If on theother hand you have a pond orlake that is a little lacking andneeds a bit of work and ahelping hand then listen up.

PERCENTAGEGAMEI once read a piece by Mr. Hearnwhere he said that every littlepercentage he could stack in hisfavour to catch the next fish hewould use. A percent here, apercent there, and as he rightlysaid, all these little percentsadded up. Now use this mindsetwhen you sort out your fishery.Everything you can do to helpyour little fish will help in thelong run.

One of the biggest problemswith the smaller sized waters,five-acres and less, is often theyhave far to many trees aroundthe outside and this will not

allow valuable light to get to thelake and also shield the lakefrom the wind. It is vital that yourlake gets as much light and windon the water as possible. Thelight will help warm the waterand aid the plants inphotosynthesising thus creatingoxygen for your fish and thewind will turn the water layers inthe lake over so you get a nicewarming from top to bottom inthe lake and not a warm layer

just at the top. With a regular breeze on the

lake it also aids with the mixingand exchange of oxygen andthat in turns makes the watermuch richer. A classic examplewas The North Lake at Yateleywhere the trees had grown up tosuch an extent that certain partsof the lake were graduallybecoming “no go” areas as therewas so much shade and no gasexchange. When I went in therefor the first time with thestudents and started felling treesleft, right and centre, it causedall sorts of bad feeling, BUT itwas the only way to secure thefuture of the lake as a viablefishery and I bet you in a fewyears that will be one hot fishery!

So get as many trees down orclear channels through thesurrounding trees to allow plentyof wind on to the water. If youcan only cut a few down makesure it’s on the side where theprevailing wind blows from.Another good reason to clearmarginal trees is to stop snagsforming, as much as fish lovethem you only end up withsomeone fishing in them andthen a fish will get lost, tetheredor damaged and that is notgood. I know from past lakes Ihave fished where a fish will geta damaged mouth and then find

� Take your time and do alittle research to find outwhere you can gethealthy, clean fish from.

� Ring up a possiblesource and ask forreference waters so thatyou can then ring themup and see if yourchosen farm has a good reputation.

� Ask for photos of thefish they may be sellingor find cuttings in themagazines showingstockings or fish caughtfrom lakes that theyhave stocked.

� Once you haveestablished where youwant to buy your fishfrom make sure all thefish come with an up todate health checkreference from aregistered health checksampler, the EA onlyexcept the people ontheir list so it very easy.Remember: buying farm-bred carp enables you topick the parentage andhave the exact history ofthe fish.

� Remember, these fishare going to be part ofyour fishing life for along time, so why rushto buy the first “cheap”ones that come along?

1. Make sure your land is not aSSSI (special site of scientific

interest), as this will hinder orstop you from digging a lake.

4. Plan how you want your laketo look and be realistic with

features. Design your lake to suitfishing situations and differentweather conditions.

5. Get several quotes fromdifferent plant hire firms

and ask to see past lakes they have dug.

6. If you’re going to plant trees,try to keep them back from

the water and try to keep thelake as open as possible.

7. Be careful when stocking the lake. Have a year-by-year

plan as to how many fish you are going to stock, the sizes and the strain.

2. Pick land that is in a fertilearea i.e. pastured land or

farmland. Try to steer clear ofareas of moorland, as these canbe low pH and acidic – not idealfor growing whackers.

3. Get the proper planning fordigging the lake. Don’t try to

cheat the planners or localcouncil, as this can lengthen thewhole process.

Follow these simple steps and you’ll have your own pond that rivals Dinton Pastures…

The future for the Big Grange at only 31/2lbs. These little ones where into

double figures in eight months! Watch this space…

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BEN GRATWICKE

it hard to feed. It then getscaught a lot and it looks terriblewhen a fish has a badlydamaged mouth and it’s so notright for the fish. I would ratherhave no snags at all in a lake.

NETTINGNow this one is the businessand will improve your lake noend. Each year you shouldremove unwanted silver fish likebream and roach as they will bemunching valuable food andusing oxygen your carp could bedoing with!

This is not as easy as itsounds, but there are people outthere that will come and do it foryou like the lads from SparsholtCollege. They will come and netyour lake for a small fee andfeed the students for the day. Ican tell you that is a cheap wayof doing it. The other way is toget a man like Carl Francis fromMainstream Fisheries who willnet and remove your unwantedfish. He is very good at what hedoes and will probably swap thedays work for fish – bargain!

There are many other firmsout there that will remove theeels in your lake or the crayfishas all these are eating food youcarp should be getting! Justthink, if you own a five-acre lakeand you take out 250lb ofbream, that’s 50lb less per acre,and you may take out 100lb ofeels, etc., etc. Just think about itand do the maths and you willsoon see why it is so important.This job must be done evercouple of years and you willnotice the difference I canassure you.

DE-SILTINGIf you have a lake that is verysilty, then without going throughthe massive expense of havingthe pond drained and de-silted,then an alternative is to use aproduct called Siltex – a chalkproduct which aids the breakdown of organic silt and helpswith the reduction of methanebuild up in the silt. It also helpswith water clarity by settling outsuspended solids and a wholehost of other benefits.

To use, you must put inapproximately one tonne peracre and is best used at this

level in the spring. It is not overlyexpensive either, but definitelyhelps in those ponds where youhave bad silt problems. Look upSiltex on a Google search andthere are many sites explainingits good points.

In some of the older estatelakes there were old sluices putin and these would enable thewater level to be controlled. Ifyou are fortunate enough to beable to drop the water level overthe winter then this is also abenefit, as it will allow the frostand air to get at any silt, whichin turn and help to break downmarginal leaf matter.

I think you’re getting idea: asmuch lakebed as you can leaveexposed will aid the lake as longas the fish are not left in toshallower water!

COW MANURE!Bull shit, that’s what I say, andyes, I mean it! Get some cowmanure from your local farm andchuck it in your lake, as this willfertilize your water no end. Thiscan be used at approximatelyone tonne per acre, BUT onlyuse in the early spring as usingin the height of summer or deepwinter can cause problems withoxygen levels.

Another way I have found is tohave a big pile by your lake andevery now and then shovel aload in. This way you arekeeping the lake nicely fertilized.I have seen the results of yearlyfertilizing on lakes and I can tellyou it gives the water a rightboost and creates so muchnatural food the fish pack on theweight! We use manure a lot onour farm and it enables theproduction of lots of naturalfood for our small fish.

GETTING THE BESTRight, your lake is sorted andready for your young fish, sohow do you pick the right onesfrom the batch? Well, I think ifyou have the patients then buymore smaller fish say, 3-7lbersrather than fewer doubles andlet them grow on. As they grow,you can pick out the ones thatdon’t make the grade. This isbest done after 2-3 years afteryou stock them, as that will havegiven them a chance to showtheir potential.

Keep a detailed photographicrecord of your fish and this willenable you to keep track oftheir progress. Try to be patient,as the rewards are much higher

Buying farm bred carp enables you to pick the parentage and have the

exact history of the fish.

I had to put this in again: The Big Linear from the other side. A true home grown British whacker.

if you have taken that extra bitof attention.

There are no hard and fastrules to stocking rates for aspecimen carp lake, but all Iwill say is “think” about whatsort of fishery you want? Doyou want a lake where youcan get lots of runs, or a waterwhere a few fish a year is aresult? Maybe you want itsomewhere in between?

A fishery with 450lb of fishor less per acre will enable thefish to grow well with littlecompetition for food. Overthat and they will becompeting for more than justthe naturals and need bait togrow well. So work on that asa general rule; remember ifyou have a poor unfertilefishery you need to stocklighter, but if you have a richfishery then more fish can beadded. Work out how muchbait they may receive also asthis will govern the growth ofthe fish if they have limitednatural food supplies!

Once you have stocked

your fish why not supplementtheir diet with some pellet orcooked wheat? This will givethem some added nutrientswhen they first enter the lakeand any food is a bonus whenyou’re a carp!

Be patient and buy carefully.As I have said before, ifsomeone is selling their fishcheap then there is somethingnot quite right and I bet youthey will not have the history ofwhere they have come from.

THANKSThanks to Colin for the shots,and once again Kenny Gates,as without these shots itwould be very hard to tell thetale! Thanks also to JulianGrattidge and friends forshots of his new stock.

For further info check out:www.Prioryfisheries.co.uk andfor any help with netting orgeneral lake management, callCarl Francis on: 07831 706346.

Ben Gratwicke

BEN GRATWICKE

Being stocked at about 41/2lbs.

Two months later at just under 7lb held by one of the syndicate

members on a newly stocked lake near Stoke-on-Trent. Watch

this space, as these guys have done it properly with the right lake

management and taking their time!