Roach & Rudd
The coarse fish caught most in Britain is the highly adaptable roach.
Orange fins, reddish eyes and silvery scales distinguish the roach from the similar rudd, which have reddish fins and orange-yellow eyes.

The upper and lower jaws of the roach project equally, whereas the rudd’s bottom jaw is slightly longer. For the roach the front edge of the dorsal fin is above the pelvic fin base, whereas the dorsal fin starts well behind the pelvic fin base on the rudd.

Roach usually reach a length of 8" (20cm) and may attain 14" (36cm) – roach weighing more than 3lb (1.4kg) are relatively rare. Rudd are normally slower growing than roach and commonly reach 8–12" (20–30 cm)

Tench & Golden Tench
The unmistakably coloured tench was probably introduced into Britain from Europe hundreds of years ago. Thickset and deep-bodied, the tench is dark bronze green, olive green or brown above with a yellow sheen below. The eye is red and all the fins are large and rounded. The scales are small and well embedded in thick, smooth, slimy skin – in medieval times headache, toothache and other ailments were treated by applying tench slime.

Of all the carp family, tench are latest in their spawning time, often July, as water temperature must be at least 18 deg. C for two weeks. Tench weighing up to 4lb (1.8kg) are not uncommon and can reach double that size.

The golden tench is a cultivated variety and sometimes has greenish markings or spots.

Perch
The perch is a predator and feeds on small fry and small roach and rudd. The perch is distinguished by vertical dark stripes or bars on its green-grey flanks and dorsal fins.
Perch were once among the commonest fish in Britain, until the 1970’s when most were wiped out by perch “ulcer disease”. Before then perch up to 8lb (3.6kg) are recorded but now rarely are found more than 3–5lb (2.3kg).