CornaCarpio's Carp Culling Capers!

Went out to Lilydale Lake today to try and arrest my form slump and resurrect my summer of Carp fishing. A preliminary internet search did inform me that the fishing can be 'notoriously difficult' at Lilydale Lake and that certainly proved to be the case! Didn't get a bite for the whole day, apart from a wayward Eel, which took a liking to corn kernels!

I didn't get a good photo of it, 'cause I had my phone tucked into my footy shorts on a rather hot day, which left a bit of sweat condensation on my camera lens, creating a very 'foggy' photo!

 

Finally broke my 'drought' down at the creek and landed this 60cm+ sucker!

I haven't been to my 'local' section of the creek in Burwood for ages because - a) I haven't caught anything there for a long time and b) they are notoriously finicky in that section of the creek. Today was no exception - I could see them swimming around, but they were seemingly not interested in my bait. My bread was a bit stale and I did have trouble keeping it on the hook, so I tossed a bit in as burley. The Carp didn't seem to have too many reservations about my 'free' offerings. Nothing frustrates a fisherman more than seeing a fish devour your burley but turn their nose up at your bait! I considered going home - fishless - several times, but each time I did, something would happen - like a Carp taking 'my' bread off the surface. As an elderly passer-by told me 'a fisherman's eyes are always hopeful'. Eventually, my rod buckled over and I landed a very healthy 60cm model. No record breaker, but a fun catch nevertheless.

I don't know why I traverse metro Melbourne trying to catch a Carp when I can just hop on my bike for 5 mins!

CC
Back on the board and back to basics!

 

She might have overinduldged in the Australia Day festivities...

 

Went out to Lilydale today to try an catch an elusive Lilydale fish. I started off at the outlet and then tried a few places around the lake itself and didn't get so much as a bite. Once again, the lake was living up to its reputation. During my travels I ran into a kid with a Lilydale Secondary uniform on who was fishing with a handline. After I told him I was just interested in catching Carp, he suggested I should give the creek a go 'near subway'. After about 3 solid hours at the lake, I decided to heed his advice. When I found 'Subway' (the restaurant) and the creek nearby, I thought he was having me on. The creek was very narrow, and I couldn't see the Carp swimming around, as he claimed. I couldn't even find a suitable section to fish, as it is very overgrown. Anyway, about 200m down from Subway, I found a slight opening in the bushes and decided to chuck a line in before I caught the train home. I was there for about 15 minutes and had kind of 'zoned out' before I realised my rod was bending down violently over the reeds. I sprinted (fell) down the bank to try and grab my rod and nearly fell into the creek in the process. I could tell straight away it was a decent sized fish. This all seemed to happen as a Thai man was walking past who couldn't believe it When I eventually landed it, he promptly got me to take a photo of him with my fish! It kind of worked out well though, 'cause I 'lost' my phone in all the commotion and had to use his phone to call mine so I could find it!

It came in at about 68cm and was taken on corn kernals. Put up a great fight as you'd expect from a fish this size. My first one from the Olinda creek! I am eternally grateful for the kid who gave me a very specific location to try - a little bit of local knowledge goes a long way!

CC
Gaining momentum!

 

Headed own to the creek today after work in balmy conditions. As usual, there were Carp everywhere, but I had to work hard for this one. He succumbed to bread under a 1/4 inch float.

 

Tried the creek today, but as is usually the case these days, the Carp were not interested. One by one they would sniff my bait and ignore it. 'Twas a nice day, so I hoped on the train at nearby Glen Iris station and got off at Burnley. From there I cycled to Albert Part Lake. Upon circumnavigating the lake, I saw a school of Carp darting around. Some of them were in the vicinity of 70 - 80 cms. So I promptly chucked a line in and was promptly on! I reckon I got this one within 5 minutes! 'This might be my day' I thought, but it was not to be - didn't even get another bite, but I guess that's fishing.

APL is a tough place to fish, it was even hard positioning the rod with so many joggers and walkers around. I had it right parallel to the footpath with the bail open - and it's a good thing I did - otherwise I would be going for a swim! There was a school of Carp where I was fishing, but this proved to be a double edged sword. Good because I knew they were there, but bad, because everyone that walked past my rod would stop and gawp at the Carp, which no doubt spooked them a bit. Having said that, its also not a bad time to fish APL. With all the rain we've had recently, the water level is up slightly and this means there is more water above the weeds, making it easier to fish.

Super-stoked I caught my first Carp at APL, but at the same time, a little disappointed it wasn't a 80cm+ monster is the lake is renowned for!


CC
On a side note, I did see 2010 Premiership star and 2011 Brownlow medalist Dane Swan running around the lake trying to keep some semblance of fitness up!

 

After a hard day of work - and after checking the weather forecast - which predicted significant rain for tomorrow (today) and for the rest of the week, I decided I basically had to go fishing. My hands were tied. So, I hopped on the treadly had headed down the creek to one of my 'tried and true' spots that I have not frequented for a while. From there, the session followed a fairly typical course: chucked the rods in got, got bored after about an hour, was thinking about going home, heard the 'zing' of the reel, rod buckled over, reeled in a 'typical' 60cm Carp.

Although the Carp was nothing spectacular in terms of its longitude, the fight was anything but. I thought I had hooked a 120cm monster at one stage! As I have done many times before, I couldn't believe how 'small' the fish was when I finally saw it. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I truly believe Carp to be the best freshwater sport-fish (on ANY gear) there is. Their fighting qualities, particularly in a narrow waterway such as Gardiners Creek, seem to give them an added zeal and tenacious fighting quality.

CC

Side note: headed to APL on Sunday. Saw some absolute thumpers swimming about (70-80 cm) but couldn't even tempt a bite.