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Crucians only

W

Wayne Williams

Senior Member
Hello,
in my local small Stillwater pond/lodge we have every species in but how can I attract the Crucians only.
is there a bait that they go for over other baits, I know it won’t work now but I’m thinking ahead to Spring/Summer
Please be gentle.
 
On a local small lake ( Greenbank Park in Liverpool ), we found the best bait(s) where pinkies or squats, using a very light float set-up, fished off the bottom 2 to 3ft of water in a 4ft deep swim, if the bites stopped, we altered the depth up or down till they came back. 4 or 5 baits thrown over the float every 2 -3 minutes. Strike at the smallest knock on the float. Hope this helps a little.
 
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I caught a lot of very big Crucians at Marsh farm when it first opened fishing double caster under a small pole float. There was no cover at the time so I created my own. Two 9ft rod tubes were connected by 3 rows of 3 dustbin bags. My 'pontoon' was then floated out from the margin and staked in place with rod rests. The crucians would swim round the lakes margin and come straight under the dark cover I created. I fished the pole float along the outside edge of the plastic and fish would be landed to either side according to which way they ran. It worked so well a week later some of the Tench Fishers made their own with 6ft tubes. I found that they liked cover as close in as possible even as shallow as 2ft. The Casters were fished as close to the bottom as possible. The bites varied from tiny movements on a greased bristle tip pole float to wonderful runaways that pulled the elastic out. If I fed too heavy or fished too far out Tench would often move in. I think that the casters made the big Crucians swallow the bait further and gave better bites and I think for numbers of fish they are hard to beat. Others caught on all sorts of bait but never the numbers.
 
Hi Mark,
I read this earlier today when I was trawling through old threads, very envious of you being near Marsh farm, it’s on my fishing bucket list for this summer or next depending on the current situation and if day tickets are available.
 
When plumbing up I found a depression in front of every swim on Harris when the complex opened. I used to plumb up and then put the pontoon over the depression. Not sure if a pontoon is allowed these days though. The Bailiff said that when they dug the lake the margins were too shallow for keepnets. They bought in a digger and it took a bucket out directly in front of every peg which made sense. It was a shock to me how close in those crucians would come if you sat back a bit and kept quiet. Go over the ledge which was not too far out and you caught too many Tench. In the early days there were large numbers of 3lb plus crucians that were relocated (from Johnsons I think). These days the day ticket lakes, when open, do plenty of 2lb plus crucians with the odd 3. If going next year I would take a normal rake with me to gently rake the margins not too far out every couple of hours, I'm sure that would increase catches.
 
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Hope you get a few, this is what they used to be like. You can see my pole in the background I never used it at length. It had to be ready if a better Tench was hooked and ran too far. Normally it was 4 sections of pole or less. If you have a long rod it should be ok
20200425_092650.jpg
 
GAS member and fished Marsh a lot Wayne. Float fishing close to pads with caster or sweet soft pellet good, although a simple soft pellet paste over mini pellets has worked well for me as the light fades. If fishing at range, a method feeder best with buoyant artificials the best baits in my experience. Not sure this will achieve what you want on your local crucian water, but at least something to consider when you visit Marsh.
 
Regarding visiting Marsh farm when the government allows, I have a small camper van and coming down from Manchester we are going to make a few days of it so I need to start looking for local (to Marsh farm)for overnight parking/camping
 
Marsh Farm day ticket holders cannot fish overnight when the fishery gates are locked. See the Godalming AS website for opening/closing times and rules. Not aware of any overnight parking spots nearby, but Apollo Angling on site may be able to advise. They are also the best point of contact for when the current suspension of day tickets will be lifted.
 
Wayne, 're your original request. I have a local water with some cracking crucians. They will take most baits, but as you say, so will lots of species. I found a couple of baits which were particularly attractive to the crucians. Both were fished under a pole float just touching bottom. First, small cubes of spam and secondly tiny pieces of Soreen maltloaf. Don't know why, but they love it.
 
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