CornaCarpio's Carp Culling Capers!

As my name suggests, and as some of you know - I like catching carp! They are a great sport fish and are great fun on ANY gear, in my humble opinion. Not only do they provide a great fight, but when they are on the bite, you are every chance to get a big haul of 20, 30, 40, sometimes even 50 (or more) fish! What's more, is you're doing your bit for the environment as well.

I am based in metropolitan Melbourne and Gardiner's Creek (henceforth 'the creek') is my local haunt. There's carp and eels in there, but I exclusively target the carp. I also have family in the western part of the state and would include Taylor's Lake and the Wimmera River as two of my favourite places to fish - they also happen to be riddled with carp! (I do occasionally get by-catches of cod, yellowbelly and redfin).

My plan was to win the TBX 'Carpafun' competition today with my first and only entry. Unfortunately, things didn't quite go to plan. I didn't even get a bite. So now I have to resort to reliving former glories by posting 'old' carp pics (but not too old - all carp were caught fairly recently).

I will update them with newer pics when the chance arises.

Nice little mirror from the creek (6th Jan 2018):


Nice carp caught in 40 degree heat (6th Jan, 2018)



Nice little haul from Rocklands the other day (2nd Jan, 2018):

 

That mirror in the first pic is carp no.1537!

 

After having a horrid time trying to catch a carp in suburbia last week, I headed to the western part of the state - more specifically Taylor's Lake (near Horsham) with my Dad to slay a few carp! Conditions were perfect, with the sun out and more importantly, hardly a breath of wind all day.

Unfortunately, for my Dad at least, I committed an unforgivable faux pas by 'forgetting' the yabbies (it was an honest mistake - I thought I packed everything), but I remembered the corn at least! My Dad got really grumpy after about only an hour when our rods were going berserk with little carp, and he wanted to go home, but said I could stay on the proviso that I drive into Horsham and get him more smokes and beer So it was an easy choice to make - I took an hour off fishing to get my old man his 'necessities'. And I must say I'm glad I did - ended up with about 35 carp all up (caught more in the fading sunlight after the pics were taken), with 2-3 specimens in the 50cm+ range. And I even caught one of those Redfin things (on worms).

It was a great day out, even if my Dad was a little grumpy. We have another trip planned tomorrow when we're going to use 'proper bait' to catch a 'proper fish'



Catch of the day


All in a day's work


This wasn't on the menu, but I'll take it...


So much serenity

 

I did exactly this Bender! My Dad was EXTREMELY grumpy I forgot the yabbies as bait...so I suggested Carp (fillet). He's a bit old school...never used Carp as bait and I guess he's not about to start now. After my brief drive into town, the carp was off the hook and the few worms we had were back on.

Also, I find Redfin entrails are really, really good carp bait, especially for the big ones. I didn't try that on this particular occasion though.

Side note: my Dad might be extremely grumpy again tomorrow - half of the yabbies have escaped out of the polystyrene box we were keeping them in. I've just stepped on one and found about 4 out the back porch. Couple of them have dried out already

 

Headed out to Taylor’s Lake again yesterday with the old man in tow with some ‘proper bait’ this time. The weather was very propitious, we literally couldn’t have asked for a better day. It was hot and the lake was like glass – there was no wind at all. I was expecting to back up from the day before and continue on with my multi-carp catching caper and thought a big bag was a given.

We tossed the rods in. Naturally, I opened a can of corn and put two rods in with corn – my Dad put two rods in with the yabbies we forgot yesterday. We waited. And waited. A couple of hours passed and we haven’t even had a bite. The bait was still on all our rods when we checked them. ‘How could today be so different from yesterday?’ I thought to myself. That’s the vagaries of fishing I suppose.

After about an hour or so, my Dad decreed that I had to strip my rods of corn – and put on worms – as at least that would bring other species into the mix, but still there was nothing, the bites were not forthcoming. An hour or so more passed (without a nibble) when we noticed small fish jumping, which we assumed were carp, but on closer inspection, they appeared to be redfin. Dying to catch a fish of any kind – even redfin – I did something I haven’t done for a very long time. I put on an ecogear lure (from when I was a trout enthusiast) and ran it through the schooling redfin. It didn’t take long before I had my first fish of the day – even if it was a redfin. I’ve never been a huge fan of them. The fight was lacklustre but I was happy just to catch something. A huge school must have swam through close to shore. I got 10-12 in a relatively short space of time. One was nearly edible and I had an even bigger one get off as it got tangled up in one of the lines from my bait rod.

Eventually I got a bite on my bait rod. It was a little Carp. There was a steady stream of bites after that, and I hooked a few more, but it was nothing like yesterday. My Dad had had just about enough by this stage (as had I) and dusk was rapidly approaching, so my Dad decreed that I had to throw back the yabbies that he had worked so hard to get – so I did. Not all of them survived the hot weather, so I decided to put two yabbie tails on a paternoster rig as we were slowly packing up to leave. About 10 minutes later, BANG!, the rod bent over and the reel started screaming. ‘That’s the rod with yabbie tails on it’ I said to my Dad as I rushed over to grab it. He kept asking ‘What’s is fighting like, what’s it fighting like?’. I didn’t have the heart to tell him…a carp. Even after a couple of minutes he was saying ‘a bloody carp’. I must admit, I did think it was a carp from the way it was fighting – it was a very dogged fight and gave me a real good run for my money, but it stayed low and I was yet to get a visual sighting, that is, until it was about 2m from the bank and I was the spikey dorsal fins, followed by DARK GREEN. I couldn’t believe it. It was Cod, and by the time I realised what it was I had already landed it. I couldn’t believe it (did I say that already?). We’d been there all day and hardly got a bite and within 10 minutes of whacking on some yabbie tails from some ‘cooked’ yabbies, I’d landed a PB (and legal) Murray Cod of around 58cm. My first one! Unlike the ‘little’ one I picked up on Christmas, this one was not going back (not really my choice).

Fishing can be a funny game. 35 carp one day, 4 the next – in exactly the same spot. A very average day soon turned into a very good one. Taylor’s Lake at its finest. A variety of fish using a variety of baits. My Dad now has 2 edible fish in the fridge for tomorrow. He will think all his Christmases have come at once!




What a Cod - Yabbie tails did the damage



A bit of a mixed bag



A nearly edible Reddie - I also lost one a bit bigger than this


The carp were relatively quiet today

 

I've been having a terrible time down at the creek of late. I've 'doughnutted' the last 4 or 5 times I reckon, so I decided I must try a 'new spot'. Well, its not really 'new', it's just that I haven't caught a carp there...until now. I could see small carp roiling on the margins, and they were very receptive to any bait (corn kernels) I put in front of them. I got 5 in relatively short time, all around the 30cm mark. After a while it went quiet, so rather than trying to spot and sight-fish for carp, I decided to do some 'sit down' fishing. One of my floats was getting regular 'twitches' which I kept missing until about the 3rd or 4th go. On the end of it was very fugly mirror carp, that gave me a real good run for my money.

It's always good when new spots pay off, or you catch a fish for the first time in a certain area. That was definitely the case for me today. I even got to try out the ruler I bought for the 'carpafun' competition since the cats stole my good brag mat.

+6

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“But perhaps he may be a little whimsical in his civilities”, replied her uncle. “Your great men often are; and therefore I shall not take him at his word about fishing, as he might change his mind another day, and warn me off his grounds.”

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (1813), published by the Penguin Group, 80 Strand, London, WC24, ORL, 2014 edition, p.245

 

Just the one Carp today.

I was also catching little bait fish in my butterfly net (which I use as a landing net) and decided to use them. The Redfin would not leave them alone!

Wish I had of brought a pen and piece of paper for a certain competition that's going on...I was not expecting to catch a Reddie at all.

 

"Necessity is the mother of invention"

 

Headed out today in warmish conditions. I waited a few hours and didn't get my first bite until around 6:30 pm (right when I was thinking of packing up) when the sun was lower and it was starting to maybe just cool down a bit. I got these four in relatively quick succession and missed a few as well. I love going fishing when it's warm, would have liked to have bagged a few more, but that's fishing I guess.

+4

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To a confirmed angler, this sport is a way of life rather than the means of getting a good meal. Lack of success should not spoil our enjoyment of the effort, and a full bag should merely set the seal on a satisfying outing. Fisherman may need plenty of patience, as is said, but to an angler who has soaked up his fishing lore the time always seems to run out before he is ready.

Gregory’s Fishing Guide (1967), 5th edition, fully revised, printed by Kenmure Press Pty Ltd, Wetherill and Derby Sts, North Lidcombe, NSW, for Gregory’s Guides and Maps Pty Ltd, 14s Clarence St Sydney, p.4


First carp of the day


A haul of 4 all up.