🐟 Carp
The UK's most widely stocked specimen fish, prized for its size, strength and long fight. Common, mirror, leather, F1, grass, koi and ghost carp are all the same species or close hybrids, distinguished mainly by scale pattern and colouring.
Identification
A deep, broad-bodied fish with two pairs of barbels either side of the mouth (one short, one longer). Common carp are fully scaled, mirror carp have large irregular scales scattered over an otherwise bare body, and leather carp are almost scaleless. Colour ranges from bronze-gold to near-black depending on the water.
UK habitat
Found in still or slow-moving water across the UK: lakes, ponds, canals and slower river stretches. Prefers warmer, weedy margins and silty bottoms where it can root for food. Most UK day-ticket and syndicate fisheries are stocked specifically for carp, often with named, well-known individual fish.