Basingstoke Canal Angling Association

Member Paul Renaux reports catching a rather unusual carp in the canal, on the stretch near to Ash Vale Railway Station.

Believe it or not, there are quite a few of these hybrid creatures in the canal, but they are very rarely caught!

Hi there, well how about this one!

On the first day of the 2007/2008 season at approximately 09:15, I caught this ‘albino carp’ weighing in at 4 pounds and 12 ounces.

I caught him using a maggot feeder, a size 16 hook, and 4 maggots on the hook.

The fish took the bait when I was just starting to reel in, to re-cast. He began heading towards the bank at first, and then he drove off left and right, repeating the manoeuvre several times. He gave a really good fight which seemed to last an eternity (but which was probably about 3 minutes!).

I wasn’t actually fishing for carp, so this was somewhat unexpected. In fact, this was my very first carp on the canal.

Many thanks also to the BCA Warden who saw me catch the fish, and who took the photo for me.

Unfortunately I didn’t get her name.