Black Currant bushed thin out new growth

Not an expert, but fruit is supposed to grow on new wood, so I would leave them.  I've had my blackcurrant for 10 years now and have never pruned the middle out. 

I usually cut off round the edges once the fruit has finished, because the bush was very straggly.

In fact last year I cut it right back and no fruit on it this year!    oooops!

As I understand there are major differences in the growing habit of currants !

Red and white are grown on a leg and the goblet is correct .

Blackcurrants however grow in a totally different manner ,and you ownly need to prune out really old wood !

look at how you take cuttings ,on red and white you rub off all buds that will be underground ,on Black you want several underground 

Quotes from Ken Muir;
Although blackcurrants crop on the older wood they bear the best fruit on the previous Summer's wood. This is achieved by heavy pruning and heavy feeding..
When bushes are fully grown 3 to 4 oldest branches should be cut back to strong side shoots or to the base. Any weak or very low growing shoots should be removed.
(So basically remove some of the old wood every Summer after fruiting to allow new shoots for fruiting wood next year.)
 I did the wrong thing last year by giving the bush a 2/3 haircut of new wood. Although I've got a massive crop the bush is taking over so I'll have to chop out a few old branches this year and gradually scale back!!!!


 

I have always cut out between a fifth and a quarter of the oldest wood each year, following on from my dad and my grandparents and we have always had bumper crops so we must be doing something right!