when is a wildie not a wildie

[Torridge Cane]

Thanks for that MGs
don't think l will ever find out ,the eels have found there way there ,why not the carp ,tench and rudd ,
rudd seem to be in most ponds here
farmers in the 1900s didn't have money to waste on stocking fish .

[Torridge Cane]

I'm sure there would be a touch of the Darwinism in this as well , what ever the strain of carp ,
they adapt to there surroundings etc
you get a fish that's happy in that pond,
after 100 odd years or so, would breed true to that form
what ever it is , i'm very happy their taking the bait
never know , could be a monster lurking !!!
only fished it once after all
that's a nice fish by the way
T.C

[Liphook]

This is an interesting subject and there are some terrific 'wildies' on show above - Shaun has a monster! In the many small farm ponds common in my area a lot of the fish exhibit the shape and colouration shown in the 2nd and 3rd photos in your original post TC. The 'flat gut with golden scaling and red tail' is very prominent on our most typical local strain and these fish seem to top out at around 8lb unless the pit in question gets regular supplementary feed in which case they can nudge into double figures. Most of the 'fishing pits' I look after will be lucky to see 2 or 3 angler visits per year, many won't get fished from one year to the next. The popular waters are close or next to roads! These will get fished almost daily from May to September and many are included in the book of the club I'm secretary of. The mid to high doubles (weighed as opposed to guestimated!) that feature in some waters are most often a dark chestnut brown with similarly dark fins and have a more rotund, less elongated shape. In 40 years of fishing in this area I've yet to see a genuine 20 though of course many are rumoured! Indeed 40 years ago king carp were only found in less than 10% of waters, with crucians, tench, rudd, perch and eels predominating elsewhere. That ratio has been reversed over time and now you'd be lucky to find crucians in 10% of these little gems

[Duckett]

I don’t often set out to target Carp but towards the end of May, whilst targeting Perch with a bunch of worms, I hooked into the fish below. It reminded me of the rare Carp I caught in my youth in the 1970s and have since read other threads on here regarding wild carp, so I read this thread with interest as well. My Salter brass balance recorded almost dead on 9lb for it. What do people think?

[Snape]

I don’t often set out to target Carp but towards the end of May, whilst targeting Perch with a bunch of worms, I hooked into the fish below. It reminded me of the rare Carp I caught in my youth in the 1970s and have since read other threads on here regarding wild carp, so I read this thread with interest as well. My Salter brass balance recorded almost dead on 9lb for it. What do people think?

A feral carp I think.

[Duckett]

Thanks Snape. I have a feeling il never be certain of the difference but, feral or wild, pound for pound they make the more usual ones seem like pussy cats!

[Snape]

Thanks Snape. I have a feeling il never be certain of the difference but, feral or wild, pound for pound they make the more usual ones seem like pussy cats!

Feral carp

[Duckett]

Thanks Snape. I have a feeling il never be certain of the difference but, feral or wild, pound for pound they make the more usual ones seem like pussy cats!

Feral carp

Thanks Snape! That’s a huge help!

Phil

[Snape]

Thanks Snape. I have a feeling il never be certain of the difference but, feral or wild, pound for pound they make the more usual ones seem like pussy cats!

Feral carp

Thanks Snape! That’s a huge help!

Phil

Wild carp (Sazan type)

[Duckett]

Well Snape, I suppose at least we don’t need to do a genetic test to be certain, as with the declining numbers of pure Crucians!