Anglers were amazed, when large adult signal crayfish began crawling out of the water at Braybrooke’s Jeanes Pond this week, a young family collecting over two dozen crays, which had found refuge in the wet grass on the banks. Like a scene from a horror movie, they advanced up the bank waving their claws ahead of them in defiance, able to inflict a painful nip to anyone attempting to stop them.

In this image three signal crays can be seen in close proximity

Signal crayfish were imported from northern America and Canada to this country as a food source in the 1970’s and kept in ponds to breed, but as can be seen from the image above, they can easily escape, then travel over land following ditches down to streams and rivers. Like the grey squirrel, another North American invasive species, they carry a plague which is deadly to their smaller native British counter parts. When on the move migrating to a new home, adult signal crayfish can travel over damp grass hundreds of yards over night, which could be a threat to the local River Cut, where some crayfish have already been caught.

I caught my first one this year in Jeanes on punched bread and have had several since, causing me to give up fishing the pond, as they take over the swim feeding on the groundbait in a swarm, throwing up fine bubbles as they march along the bottom. They are an abhorant sight that turns my stomach, when they wave their bright red claws. Their tail, which is the tasty part, is very powerful and can propel them rapidly along the bottom, while allowing them to jump across the ground.

The law on catching this invasive species is ambiguous, as they all have to be killed, when landed, but you cannot catch them for food without a license from the Environment Agency. The young family were taking their captives home to eat, unaware that they were breaking a law.

The Braybrooke Club contacted the Environment Agency about the wayward signal crayfish, who said that this is a common phenomenon at the moment, with many lakes and ponds suffering from greatly reduced levels of disolved oxygen in the water. This can cause fish kills, while the crayfish have the ability to escape their environment, as long as their gills remain moist.

Actual size of an adult Signal Crayfish

The Braybrooke Fishing Club are talking to the Environment Agency about controlling the numbers of crayfish in Jeanes Pond with special nets stationed around the banks. The low oxygen levels were impoved with pumps loaned by the EA, which aerate the water.

On my last visit to Allsmoor Pond a few weeks ago, a four pound common carp almost made it to the sanctury of a lily bed to my left, but heaving on my 40 year old Shakespeare pole, I managed to pull it back into clear water to be netted. Putting the 11 metre pole away at the end of the session revealed a 200 mm crack running up from the fourth section joint. The pole had been bent double at the time and had I expected the crack of doom as the carbon collapsed, but it had survived yet again, battling fish that it was never designed for. Over the years, industrial superglue had brought the pole back to life. I had affection for this pole, as at a discounted £250 in the mid 80’s, it had paid for itself in matches on the Grand Union Canal.

A friend suggested a Preston Edge Monster pole, designed for catching carp from the margins of commercial carp fisheries, which at 10 metres was under £200. Just think what my original Shakespeare pole would have cost today? Coming with two top two sections and for me, new fangled puller bungs fitted, for better control of large fish, The friend was a friend indeed, as he also set up the top sections with two variable strengths of elastic. I was itching to try out the new pole and where else, but an afternoon visit to Allsmoor again.

The clocks had gone back that weekend and I new that three hours would be the limit on an already dull day. It had been a cold start and I was not encouraged by the lack of surface activity, when I arrived at noon, but a mix of my favourite sweet, spicy ground bait, put out in a line toward the lily bed, soon had fine bubbles rising from the mud. This side of the pond is very shallow and I fished out to 8 metres, with my 4 x 14 antenna float set just off the bottom at 60 cm, a size 14 barbless hook, holding an 8 mm punch of bread.

The new pole is very light, but stiff and the first slow sink of the antenna brought a small rudd splashing to the surface in response, the pole breaking down quickly to the top two sections to swing in the rudd.

These small rudd are par for the course on this pond and it wasn’t long before a dark stain of mud coloured the fished area, as I worked hard to get through them.

At least they were getting bigger, more feed keeping them coming. After twenty minutes of rudd and gudgeon bashing, the pole arced over as a carp tested the heavy elastic. The carp headed straight for the lilies and I held it back against the elastic, until it turned away. This was not a big fish, but these autumn carp are not lethargic, once a hook is set and I held it away from the baited area, until it rolled on the surface and I pulled the pole back to the top two letting the elastic do the work.

A solid pound and half common carp.

I was back to swinging in the rudd for a while, bubbles were increasing in my part of the pond and carp were waking up. I was in again, this one running back and forth against the pressure, until it gave in and turned over ready for the landing net.

The light was going fast and I was having trouble seeing the antenna, watching for the dimple on the surface, as it disappeared, followed by the line. The rudd were predictable and not fussy.

I scraped up the last of my groundbait and put it in, following with the rig on top. The float was gone immediately and I was playing another common, that dashed about stirring up the black mud, before coming to the net.

The carp were in the swim, but so were the rudd, getting to the bread first each time.

Checking my watch it was close to 3 pm, when the float slowly sank away without tracking off to the side. I lifted and the pond erupted as I hooked a bigger carp, that panicked at least another pair feeding close by. These fish zoomed about, while I followed the hooked carp, as it headed back towards bull rushes to my right, the pole’s biggest test yet against a fully charging carp. The elastic was stretching close to its limit and I feared for the hook hold, but this fat common was soon in the net.

I had poured a cup of tea and crammed the last of my sandwich quarters into my mouth, when the float went again and another decent carp was standing to fight instead of running. It felt like a big crucian carp, the way it bucked and dived, rotating in a circle, surfacing and diving. I did not feel that this was well hooked and let it go where it wished without too much pressure. A flash of gold said crucian to me, but once in the net, I was not convinced. Yes it had a tiny barbule either side of it’s mouth, it was deep but too long, although the colour was right and the scales large. Comments on the back of a postcard please?

My tea was now cold and it was time to pack up. No doubt I could have caught more, but I had proved my point, the new pole has put me squarely into the 21st Century. It is worryingly lightweight, but also strong. Highlight of the session, apart from the pole and the fish, was a kingfisher that flashed, iridescent blue along the length of the pond, there and back twice in ten minutes.

I had started with an 8 mm punch on a size 14, but as the light faded, switching to a 6 mm punch on a 16 gave more positive bites. A small hook for carp, but it works in their hard mouth.