"I’m so glad I didn’t wait for warmer weather to start my crucian campaign" - Scott Poulter

“I’m an angler who fishes for a variety of coarse species, and I’ve learned from some big-name carp anglers that if you do the same thing as everyone else, realistically your results are likely to be the same as everyone else’s too. 

That’s always struck a chord with me so, with that said, I decided to resume my crucian fishing a little earlier than usual this year with a couple of short evening trips after work. I felt that after a mild winter there might be a chance they could switch on early, so I decided that rather than spend the last weekend of the traditional season chasing dace on the river, I would target the crucians at my local lake in Surrey. 

Sadly my first trip was a blank, but on March 14 I returned and had a change of fortune. My tactics were relatively simple – I fished Method feeders to a spot just shy of 30 yards. A lot of guys on this water Spomb beds of bait out and I have done this myself in the past, but given the early start to my crucian campaign I didn’t want to overfeed them, so I just recast my feeders every 30-40 minutes to keep bait going in. This was made up of Dynamite Baits Swim Stim groundbait mixed with CC Moore Tuna L030 liquid and mini pellets. My hookbaits were critically-balanced white, fake casters. 

Straight away I had a 2lb 12oz crucian but the best came just after last light. The bobbin on my alarm rose again and I struck into something that felt heavy from the off, but the fight didn’t have the speed or power of a tench. 

The fight was fairly undramatic, but as I drew it over the net I got really excited as I was hopeful this one was the high side of 4lb. When my scales read 4lb 3oz I was like a dog with two tails! It was a new personal best by a mile! 

I’m so glad I didn’t wait for warmer weather to start my crucian campaign. It just shows that if you’re curious about something, give it a go. You could just catch the fish of a lifetime.”