I personally know of two different carp of over thirty seven pounds

However over the past ten years, the stocks of the River Thames have changed out of all recognition. Carp are now a major species with a large number of fish present with some, I believe, over forty pounds present. I personally know of two different carp of over thirty seven pounds. One of these was taken from the non tidal river well over five years ago. This fish, I suspect, is now well over the magic forty pound mark.Why there are so many carp in the Thames is a complex issue. Possibly it is linked to the demise of other species such as roach and dace. On stretches that regularly produced match winning weights of dace approaching 401b, a match winning weight of less than 41b is now most likely. On other sections once famed for big bags of roach we have a similar story. In fact most smaller species have declined whilst larger species like chub, bream and carp have thrived.There have been many theories put forward for these changes including;1.1ncreased cormorant predation on smaller fish. There is no doubt that the cormorant population on inland waters has increased as they have been forced to leave their over fished coastal waters in favour of richer inland fisheries. I once counted over sixty of these birds on one small Thames island.2. Flow rates have been reduced due to greater water abstraction. In the Summer, the Thames can be more like a series of lakes than a flowing river. Naturally this favours traditional still water species including carp.3. Higher nitrate levels due to more extensive use of modern fertilisers. These nitrate levels do not favour high roach fry survival rates.4. Other predators and spawn eaters such as the arrival of the Chinese Mitten crab. These are present in large numbers in the lower river.5.Carp have also been stocked from various sources. In 1968 several thousand small commons were introduced into the lower river from Gunnersbury Park boating lake. I believe that the Thames Angling Preservation Society has also stocked with carp from various sources. These fish have been added to a natural stock of carp that have been recorded as early as mid eighteen hundreds. My grandfather used to catch them in the 1930s. However it is clear that stocks have been added to over the recent times.In truth, I suspect that it is a combination of all the factors that I have listed plus others that we do not know about that has lead to the explosion in the numbers of carp in the Thames. No matter what the cause, carp are now a well established part of the Thames fish population and a main player in what we can expect to catch.To illustrate how common they have become I want to recall the time that I had to do a rod review for “David Halls Coarse Fishing” magazine. I had been sent by Shakespeare a 12ft ultra thin light weight match rod – it was without doubt a roach anglers answer to a prayer. I could not wait to get it on the river and put it through its places. I went down to the Tidal Thames to fish one of my old roach swims that in the past had been capable of producing 501b plus bags of roach. I fished the swim with light tackle to trot a piece of wet bread through the swim which was in perfect condition. I had bites and started to catch bream – not your typical 21b to 31b fish of old but much heavier fish going to just over 51b. I fished on and started to build up a respectable bag of bream when my float disappeared again and the rod locked up as I hit a carp. It took me nearly an hour to land that 141b 8oz carp on such light tackle. There was not a roach or dace in that bag, just bream and carp. I must admit that since then I have always been a bit cautious about using too light a tackle on the Thames.Location is one of the most critical factors in catching Thames carp. It is possibly more important than tactics and bait. Any still water carp specialist starting river carping will need to learn the art of reading the river. As a rule of thumb the most reliable swims tend to have some feature. Swims near houseboats are a particular favourite of mine. These boats provide both shelter and often food. Large slacks, lock approaches, eddies and overhanging trees have often produced carp. Location is further complicated as the fish tend to be nomadic. However they often return to the same swim later in the season. We have studied photographs of carp to discover that repeat captures occur miles apart. Some repeat captures have occurred on sections separated by good sized weirs. I suspect that they travel through the locks rather than jump the weir.I use a wide range of baits for Thames carp but in Summer I mainly rely on birdfood boilies. These have a rather loose weave construction which helps the flavour to release. This is very important in rivers as it is moved down stream by the current to form a flavour trail for the fish to follow. In the Summer it is important to use hard baits to avoid too much damage from mitten crabs. This is particularly important on the lower river which has seen a great influx of these little monsters. The mix I use has 500g of Richworth red menace base mix, 3ml of Eastern Promise flavour, half a teaspoon of Sweet Fusion palatant with the same quantity of Dairy Fusion palatant. Normally I find that four large eggs are sufficient for the mix. Basically I place the eggs in a bowl and whisk them up before adding the base mix and other ingredients. I work this into a stiff past before rolling it into rather imperfect balls. Mine have flat parts to stop them rolling. The faster the flow the flatter I make my boilies. The boilies are then placed in boiling water for about six minutes.I normally prebait with these boilies and a few pounds of trout pellet every night for a week before fishing for Thames carp. I am a great believer in prebaiting whenever possible for Thames carp.In winter when it is very cold I still use the same bait but do not cook it. I use it as a paste. This allows the flavour to leak more quickly in the colder water. Again the bait is hair rigged. Another trick that I use is to mould Aquattract around the paste. This Richworth product is made from zoo plankton and is a deadly attractor. In very cold water I believe that it does more than just attract the fish but starts the fish feeding. It is certainly a deadly combination with the paste in cold water.As regards tackle and tactics, I normally use 2.51b test curve rods in the summer. These are fished with baitrunner reels loaded with 121b b.s. line. The terminal tackle is a conventional semi fixed lead of between 2 and 4oz depending on the flow with a hair rigged boilie. Bite indication is with bite alarms fished with swingers. I realise that this is very much traditional still water tactics but it must be remembered that in summer the river can be just like a series of lakes.Winter fishing can be entirely different affair, particularly when the river is carrying extra water. In times this tends to push the carp into slacker water. Again conventional tactics like those described earlier can be used but I prefer to fish with hair rigged paste baits. I have used these to great effect over the past few winters. I leger these baits with a powerful quiver tip rod. Bites in colder winter conditions tend to be fairly positive at the best.Last winter, I found a good slack by some house boats and prebaited it with the paste. When I first tried the swim, the water was running clear yet fast following a flood. I had to wait nearly an hour before I had a bite. This bite was positive but more like a roach bite. However as I stuck into it I knew that it was no roach. The rod bent right over and I was fighting a good carp which I managed to steer clear of all the snags. It was a nice mirror of 221b 4oz that was quickly followed by another of 211b 8oz and another double. Two twenties and another double in less than four hours fishing I thought was good! Although a good catch, this was not outstanding as this type of catch was repeated several times on the river last winter from other swims by friends of mine. My friend Roger Baker had a catch of two big twenty pound plus commons and a third common that did not make the twenty pound mark. At present we have a little competition to see who can be first to catch three twenty pound plus carp in a four hour session. Conclusions: I am still convinced that in the near future the Thames will produce its first fully authenticated forty pound plus carp. Thirty pounders are certainly becoming relatively common. However the river does not hold just a few big fish – carp numbers are showing a great increase to the extent that carp are now a main species in many sections of the Thames.

As I said earlier, Thames carp can be caught on most standard still water rigs so there is no need for a major investment in new tackle. However, location is a major problem. House boats, weed beds or any feature offering protection from the main flow are all well worth investigating. For a little extra work the rewards can be terrific.