6 January 2011

The lakes to run with Murray Cod

| johnboy
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Jon Stanhope has the thrilling news that 23,000 young Murray Cod (fingerlings) are being dropped into Yerrabi Pond and Lake Tuggeranong!

“The release today of the Murray Cod fingerlings is the latest part of this program and we intend to stock Golden Perch fingerlings later this year.

“The release of fish into our lakes gives Canberrans greater opportunities for fishing closer to home, takes pressure off native species in our non-urban rivers and streams better protecting threatened species in the wild, and improves the biodiversity of our lakes.”

Since the mid-1990s the ACT Government has released more than a million fish into the Territory’s lakes and dams.

In four years they’re supposed to be over 1m in length.

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Disinformation said :

Look on Youtube for “Matt Hayes Carp Fishing” There are about 8 or 9 episodes which will transform your fishing knowledge and success with these fish.

Thank mate, I’ll check out the videos. Much appreciated.

Disinformation said :

Interesting. Since specialising in targetting carp for fun, nine months ago, my fishing buddy and I have taken over 400kg of carp from LBG. Biggest are 5.84kg. Smallest has been 320 grams.

That’s a lot of fish, Disinformation. What do you do with them all? Can’t imagine anyone eating one carp voluntarily, much less 400kg of them.

amarooresident33:22 pm 10 Jan 11

peterepete said :

Sounds like something bad is about to happen. Reckon they have a plan and they are just waiting for the right moment before they take over – quiet before the storm. Remember you can only kill a carp by taking its head off – like a zombie.

CARPOCALYPSE!!

Disinformation2:39 pm 10 Jan 11

Interesting. Since specialising in targetting carp for fun, nine months ago, my fishing buddy and I have taken over 400kg of carp from LBG. Biggest are 5.84kg. Smallest has been 320 grams.
Selecting the right time, best place, prebaiting with burley, burleying the selected fishing area and fishing the hookbaits accurately on top of that area with knotless knot hooks makes all the difference. Look on Youtube for “Matt Hayes Carp Fishing” There are about 8 or 9 episodes which will transform your fishing knowledge and success with these fish.

Sounds like something bad is about to happen. Reckon they have a plan and they are just waiting for the right moment before they take over – quiet before the storm. Remember you can only kill a carp by taking its head off – like a zombie.

Switch wrote: “Re: Scarcity of carp: on a bike ride last weekend, I was resting at the bike bridge over Yarralumla Ck, near Scrivener dam. There were at least 30 huge carp just sitting in the sunshine, not moving, in the water on the northern side of the bridge. Doesn’t sound like they are rare and endangered enough to me yet.”

Bloody hell. I was wondering if I was hitting the right spots. I’ll get my tackle together and head down there this arvo to smite them hip and thigh. Well, whatever the carp equivalents of hips and thighs are, anyway.

Thanks for the tip. Much appreciated.

Out of interest, I see a decent number of people dropping a line in Yerrabi…whats the catch rate there, anyone?

Re: Scarcity of carp: on a bike ride last weekend, I was resting at the bike bridge over Yarralumla Ck, near Scrivener dam. There were at least 30 huge carp just sitting in the sunshine, not moving, in the water on the northern side of the bridge. Doesn’t sound like they are rare and endangered enough to me yet.

lilmisschatterbox9:51 am 07 Jan 11

LSWCHP – my uneducated guess is that the post on heavy rains leaving the carp overfed would be right. Mr Chatterbox has only taken up fishing in the last year, and only knows what he gets from youtube and other net based sources and there has only been one time he has fished in LBG and didn’t come home with at least one ugly carp.

Not sure if timing matters but he usually drops his first line about 5.30ish and home by 10am at the latest. If I have been absorbing info whilst feining attentiveness at masculine topics of little interest, apparently stick to the juicier corn brands such as Edgell. And creamed corn is good for attracting the carp but not filling them up.

Mr Chatterbox (and Lil Master Chatterbox) maintain that although they are terrible pests, they are great fun to reel in.

Good luck.

“And while I’m at it, I’ve seen several other anglers catching redfin on lures the same time as me, but I’ve never seen anybody land a carp. Just people packing up and shuffling off empty handed like me.”

Well, LSWCHP, great to hear you are getting so many redfin and also that you are unable to catch carp. It would be great if carp numbers are down. Last year and the year before I certainly didn’t have any trouble catching big carp in LBG, and lots of other fisherpeople were doing likewise.

Lack of Carp is great news IMO.

In the late 80’s early 90’s we used to set up a few lines down on what is now the Kingston foreshore development using whatever bait we had available at the time. We never caught anything the size of Volkswagons (they all lived in the concrete ponds just below Scrivener Dam) but we’d regularly catch carp the size of skateboards or a bit bigger – we used our boards as platforms to ‘tow’ them back home.

Filthy looking creatures the old carp, the only thing we ever did with them was cut them up and use them as bait to catch yabbies.

amarooresident34:20 pm 06 Jan 11

I don’t know about Lake Tuggeranong, but Yerrabi Pond should be relatively carp free, unless some dick has released some on purpose.

In regard to the LBG carp, I’d guess all the recent rain has probably provided them with more food than they know what to do with, so maybe they are simply well fed and don’t need to chase korn kernels. Or they’ve been washed down the river and are now somebody elses problem.

And while I’m at it, I’ve seen several other anglers catching redfin on lures the same time as me, but I’ve never seen anybody land a carp. Just people packing up and shuffling off empty handed like me.

“well, in four years the 6 fingerlings that survive to maturity might be over 1m in length, but the other 22,994 fingerlings that get eaten by carp won’t be so lucky”

Hmmmm…..

I’m an experienced coastal angler, but a few months ago I decided to try the local waterways as I haven’t been able to get down to the beach very often lately.

So far, despite my best efforts, all I’ve been able to catch is Redfin, which seem to be in plague proportions. For example, I took the kids fishing twice in the last week, and we got nearly 50 redfin on Monday and another 25 or so on Wednesday. So no problems there.

However, several attempts to eliminate a few of the famed LBG carp have been dismal failures. I’ve used every bit of advice I can find on the internet re bait (corn, bread, worms), burley, rigs (light) and location (Kingston foreshores, Lennox Gardens, a few other places) and I haven’t got a single bite or seen a fish rise or jump. I’m quiet, I don’t smoke and I don’t use insecticide. All attempts so far have been in the evening.

I’ve also had no luck in Lake Ginninderra. I haven’t tried Lake Tuggeranong yet.

Anyway, this seems to contradict the conventional wisdom that LBG and our other lakes are seething with ravenous carp the size of Volkswagons. My experiences certainly don’t align with the the “Throw in a hook with a corn kernel and you’ll catch 20 carp in 5 minutes” folklore.

Am I just unlucky and/or inept and need to persist, or have carp numbers in LBG and other local waterways actually diminished recently?

Shouldn’t they dump a whole lot of poison in the water first to kill all the carp, then restock?

well, in four years the 6 fingerlings that survive to maturity might be over 1m in length, but the other 22,994 fingerlings that get eaten by carp won’t be so lucky.

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