The grass carp originated in Asia/China and is like no other carp in appearance. Its scaling closely resembles that of the chubb, with a rich golden brown colour. The grass carp's eyes are set lower than other carp and its mouth is noticeably smaller.
Called a grass carp for its love of aquatic weed, this fantastic fish was introduced into the UK on the advice of local water authorities. Intended to be a measure to control soft weed growth, our climate was not warm enough for them to gain enough size to make a difference.
Although the bulk of the grass carp's diet is aquatic weed, it loves to bask just below the surface and will readily take food floating on the surface. This is probably the best method of selectively catching grass carp, as being a new stock fish they are very timid alongside a good stock of king carp. This means that they will rarely get to the bait before the other carp.
Being a timid fish it will fight ferociously when hooked, and will give it everything it has got to evade capture.
For this reason special care must be taken after banking them. The fish must be fully recovered before being released, sometimes this will involve getting in the water with the grass carp and moving it back and forth to push fresh oxygenated water through its mouth and out through its gills.
Use common sense while handling this shy creature i.e. no loud noises and bright lights etc.
If you intend to fish for this species for the first time, then it is advisable to seek further info from books, tackle shops or baliffs etc.
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