Carp Lowlands, Central Europe

Northern Pike

Esox lucius

A toothy ambush predator of northern weed beds, famous for explosive strikes and slime. Pike sit motionless in cover and lunge at spoons, spinnerbaits and large flies passing within range.

Common Carp

Cyprinus carpio

Widespread, wary and powerful, carp cruise shallow flats rooting up the bottom and are a growing target for sight fishing and European-style bait tactics. A hooked carp makes long, stubborn runs.

Zander

Sander lucioperca

The zander is Eurasia's glassy-eyed, fang-toothed perch-pike — in China mainly a fish of Xinjiang's Irtysh and Ulungur waters and stocked reservoirs — that feeds hardest at dusk and after dark.

Prussian Carp

Carassius gibelio

The Prussian carp is an established invader in Alberta — now common in the lower Bow River and irrigation canals, and spreading in southern Saskatchewan. It is constantly mistaken for crucian carp and goldfish by Alberta anglers. Under Alberta rules it must NOT be returned alive: do not release it, never move live fish, and check current provincial rules.

Asp

Leuciscus aspius

The predator of the carp family: a streamlined hunter that smashes into bleak shoals at the surface with an audible splash. It lives in big central European rivers and is taken on fast-fished lures at dawn. Also spread through the Baltic margins and Dutch rivers.

Chub

Squalius cephalus

A bold, greedy river fish found all over Europe, famous for eating almost anything from cheese paste and bread to crayfish, slugs and small fish. Chub haunt weir pools, bridge shadows and overhanging trees, spook easily in clear water, and give a hard, dogged fight on light coarse tackle.

Ide

Leuciscus idus

The ide is the big silvery shoal fish of Europe's large rivers and, as the winde, the Netherlands' number one river fish. It is NOT the same fish as the guide's amur ide (Leuciscus waleckii) — this is the true European ide, L. idus; its golden form is the ornamental orfe of garden ponds.

Common Bream

Abramis brama

The common bream is the number one stillwater and slow-river fish of German lakes and canals. Its shoals graze silt beds at night for bloodworm, and a well-fed swim can produce for hours. Deep-bodied, slimy and dark bronze, it is the benchmark lowland coarse fish.

Roach

Rutilus rutilus

The roach is Europe's most-caught fish by numbers and the benchmark 'specimen' coarse fish — a 2 lb roach is a fish of a lifetime. Red-eyed and red-finned and always in shoals, it is everywhere from canals to reservoirs and feeds all year, including in mid-winter.