Carp, the nature of the beast.
David John Lovell
copyright ©DAVID JOHN LOVELL
Carp, the species, has order. A lake that sustains a large number of carp will have numbers of shoals, each shoal will have a leader. These leaders know each other and communicate. Very often these leaders will meet alone and spend time alone together. I have witnessed large carp communicate and move off alone together. The leaders keep order, the smaller fish follow the leaders.
Many fisheries have introduced new large carp to a water only to find a number of larger carp, including the new introducees, turn tail and die. The reason for this is that if the new fish are not welcome then stress levels among the entire carp population will rise, and stress kills fish, period. Once the stress levels reach a critical level it is all over since fish can't be calmed once this level is reached. Introducing new fish is always a gamble, and carp are very attuned to their surroundings, but this is the way of things.
Leaders will at times meet up with their respective shoals, particularly where a large food source is available, no stress, plenty for all, with the leaders joining in and feeding together alongside smaller carp from another group, which in turn will be mixing with the other smaller carp, all feeding together. Once the feeding comes to a close the respective groups will begin to form up and the leaders will then lead the groups to their respective areas of patrol, or to put it another way, their patch.
This is the order of things. On good size waters this is how carp really behave, carp do not just drift around, they move with purpose, and they know what they are doing.
When spawning, all order is gone, and it is spectacular to watch countless numbers of carp of all sizes going crazy and smashing the place up. And when I say crazy, I mean really losing their marbles. I once caught a carp after spawning with a hole reamed into its head that was over an inch deep and a centimetre across. This fish had smashed into a branch that hung into the water. It had the usual gashes to its body and split fins but the hole was shocking. It was quite happy though and swam away with no problem and rejoined the pack, which was still feeding, as the alarms confirmed.
Carp are fascinating creatures, but it is only in a natural environment that their traits, their essence, can truly be found, and you just will not see it in a garden pond or aquarium tank, because carp need their space, and freedom to roam, for this is the nature of the beast.
