CornaCarpio's Carp Culling Capers!

Headed out for a relatively short session today, as I will be working into the wee hours tonight.

The first spot yielded a Goldfish that didn't even know it had been hooked! I caught it on a running sinker, but on reflection, I think he had a go on my float as well. I had a bite that only briefly pulled the float under and I suspect it was him.

The second spot (my go-to) yielded another Mirror Carp. There seems to be a fairly high concentration of them in the creek. As is often the case, I caught it on my 'abandoned' rod. I could see the line swirling about from where I had wandered off to. The carp in the creek - in this particular location - are very shifty. The water is only waist deep at most, and if they know you're there, they won't bite. You almost have to go into hiding to catch them. The elevated banks don't make things easy. Anyway, it put up a great fight. It headed with the current down a little channel only a couple of feet wide, but I managed to tire it out after getting it to swim against the current for a while. My second Mirror in as many outings! This one was a little bit smaller than the last one, but still put up a great fight and came in at a respectable 60+ cm.

CC
Should I be worried my Carp are getting smaller?

 

Headed out to my "micro-carping" spot today for a change of pace and scenery. Much to my dismay, there was not many Carp around! I could virtually see to the bottom in one of the ponds, and couldn't see any Carp swimming around at all! In another pond, I could only see two, but they were very reluctant to take my bait. In the largest pond, the Carp were out of sight, but the juvenile Redfin were out in force! I suspect that these series of interconnected ponds may have dried up since I fished them last year! Worrying signs for me, as it my 'go-to' besides the creek and nearly always good for a Carp or two.

CC
I too, am "concentrating" on "other species"

 

Got this Mirror after a fairly luckless weekend.

Headed to my 'go-to'- again (all be it on the 'opposite' side I usually fish) , but forgot my polarised sunnies, which may have been a blessing in disguise, as I can get a bit inpatient when I see Carp approaching, but not taking, my bait. This time, I didn't have that problem - just chucked the line in and hoped for the best. Got him pretty much straight away (within 5 minutes), but as is usually the case, I think I scared off all the Carp in the swim after capture. The fight was fairly tame by creek-carp standards, but I'm not complaining, at least I got something! Went about 68cm. Not exactly a trophy fish, but not too shabby either. Think I might have to find another spot this summer to up the ante!

+1

 

Blender...if the creek dries up over summer I will be able to catch millions of trophy Carp with my bare hands! And beat you into oblivion! (if I haven't done so already).

CC
Bring on the drought!

 

Well Blenders dream of drying out the creek is only 40-50cm off fruition. Unfortunately for me, this makes the Carp even more spooky, and even if it didn't, there is probably only one (or two) 70cm+ models in my preferred fishing hole (another mirror, btw). Early on, I could see that I probably wasn't going to land one, despite getting a few 'touches'. But it was a great day. Day off work and the sun was out. Drastic times call for drastic measures. I wanted to try somewhere different, so I continued peddling west along the creek, then the Yarra (which I overlooked), then through the tan to a little lake called 'Albert'. Now I've heard Albert is home to trophy-winning Carp of well over 1m who snatch anything off the surface and can be caught with relative ease by just sight-casting from the shore. Last time I was at Albert Park Lake was 8:00am on a Saturday when I was an avid Parkrunner, burning around the course in an astonishing 19 minutes (give or take 6 seconds). Now, thanks to an acquired soft tissue injury in my posterior called bursitis, I'm lucky if I can ride around the lake in that time. And things didn't get off to a good start. As I cycled along the Northern (?) side, all I could see is reeds and about two feet of water "not good for fishing" I thought. I nearly circumnavigated the whole lake before I even saw a fish, and even then, I'm not sure it was a Carp (looked like a Cod/Yellowbelly - but probably was a Carp). The one or two fishos in the approximate same area gave me some sort of confidence that 'this is where the fish are'. The (possibly) Carp soon disappeared after I set up shop. I had two rods in - one float and one running sinker, with bread as the bait. After 20 or so minutes of not so much as a bite, I couldn't help but think 'corn or worms might be the go here'. Unfortunately, I had neither, so had to stick it out with just bread. Finally, my rod twitched ever so slightly (classic tell tale signs of a large Carp) I didn't strike straight away, but waited for another 'bite' before striking. I was on! 1m + Carp coming up! The aerobatics (x2) quickly confirmed it was a Rainbow Trout. Don't get me wrong, I love catching Trout. When I was kid I desired nothing more than to catch one, but found it notoriously difficult - I only caught one during my teenage years with Gillies spinner from Lake Fyans, but I came to catch a PB Carp, and couldn't but help to feel a little 'hollow'. But in spite of that, it was a good day, I tried a new spot and caught a 'new' species of fish - my first one since I got one in Cato Lake (Stawell) last summer. A stockie but a goodie. He did a good job of demolishing the bait. I cut the line as close as I could to the hook. I hope he survives to grow a little bigger.

The meter Carp will have to wait.