Australia - Carp Fishing - Lake Found

Being in Sydney, Australia, gives me a lot of access to the sea and therefore some very special fishing can be done from the shore and on local chartered boats. But being a carp man I can only think about getting behind the rods on a lake or river and catching the weary old carp.

So, having looked at google maps and a lot of research on the internet (there is no real calling for carp fishing in Australia as they treat them as a pest and kill on the spot!!!), I found that Manly Dam holds a good head of carp and a bus and a short walk will get me there too!

Easter weekend and with the sun out, I persuaded my girlfriend that it would be a nice afternoon to go and have a walk around the Dam and a possible swim in the cold fresh water. Arriving I couldn’t believe the quality of the water, crystal clear with visibility of 6ft and forest clad the whole way round, I think that I fell in love straight away!

There were not many people up there and no one fishing at all which was a shame as I couldn’t really get any “real” information from the locals but upon speaking to a family they confirmed that there were carp and in large numbers, with a good head of bass and red fins, which I believe are perch!

After walking round and spotting a few good spots to fish, I decided that it was time to get out and have a look at what the bottom was really like. Wading out and discovering it was made up of sand, gravel, thick smelly black silt, large smooth sandstone areas, cow sized boulders and trees, I knew that it was going to be a task to find a safe specific spot to fish. I’m going to have to go back with a snorkel and mask and have a proper look about.

There are some areas of the lake that I know that are going to be useless fishing wise as they are either swimming areas or just too hard to get to unless you have a boat and are able to get over the other side of the Dam quickly.

Task one - DONE – I have found a lake that holds a good head of carp and is accessible on public transport. I will be back this weekend coming for a better recce and look out for signs of carp. I am getting stuff sent over from the UK as well so carp fishing Australia is one step closer!

Tight Lines and be lucky!

 

Do hand smells affect the bait?

I have often thought about if your hand smells affect the bait before cast out. When I have put suntan lotion on and not washed it all off before handing baits I sometimes have to wind the rigs back in and change them because there could be a this smell on the baits.

I remember being down my local syndicate and the angler next to me was smoking like a trooper and when I shook his hand mine smelt of smoke – so his baits MUST have been tainted with the smell of smoke. Now he was actually struggling down this particular water, it wasn’t easy but could this have been the reason?

Nigel that I fish with, makes the baits that we both use and he used to smoke and catch well, but he actually increased the amount that he was smoking and this affected the amount of fish that he caught. For the last 18 months, he hasn’t touched a cigarette and I have to say both mine and his catches have significantly increased.

Is there any scientific reason for this or is it just “our time” to catch and the long periods without fish were just a coincidence? All I know is we are catching more recently and he has stopped smoking while making the baits.

 

Another interesting article has been written by Carpology and even has Terry Hearn’s views:

http://www.carpology.net/articles/features/does-nicotine-put-carp-off

Tight Lines and be lucky!

The Start of 2015

So 2015 is already here and what a year I had fishing last year. Not only did I break my UK and French person best, helped land a mates French PB and had a lot of laughs and jokes along the way.

A southern Pit was my preferred choice water last year and can easily say that I have learnt loads of information from fellow anglers and they have all been supportive, talkative and extremely helpful. When I beat my PB I didn’t know who was more chuffed, me or the bailiff.

This year im actually in Australia on a working visa and will be trying to catch some of the weird and wonderful aquatic creatures that they have out here! My target is a hammer head, no idea why, but have always wanted to catch one.

I’m going to keep this blog up with my ideas, thoughts and feelings on different articles that I keep reading on the internet. I have even thought of a new rig I would like to try with the new Nash cling on tungsten liquid. This is a fast drying liquid tungsten which I want to apply directly to my hook, which will make the “sharp” end heavier! But have read that it smells funny so I will have to make my mind up once I get home…..This is available from Hinders and many other outlets.

http://www.hinders.co.uk/prod/nash-cling-on-tungsten-liquid

That’s all for now

Tight lines and be Lucky!

The return to where it all started.....

On a recent return to my syndicate where I started my serious carp fishing, I had heard that there were now fishing pushing just over the 30lb barrier. My biggest from the lake was just under 25lb and had seen fish to 26lb landed and thought that between me and a few mates, these were the biggest in the lake. Now with a little more pressure over the last few years and an increase in bait going in, there was no wonder that these fish were now pushing the 30lb mark.

I decided to head down there, for a social few nights with a friend that I haven’t been fishing with for a while. Setting up in the middle of the lake where I both knew fish have been caught and upon seeing a few bosh in the lilies that run the length of the lake, I thought that this would be a good starting point.

Casting about 40 yards out to gaps in the lilies, I wanted to fish tight in as knew that the bites would come faster the closer I got. Bait was simple, boilies sweetcorn and hemp. There are a lot of bream in the lake but I remember that if you can feed the bream off and create a feeding situation, the carp come in quicker and multiple hits can be had.

I must have cast out the mini spom 5 times before another fellow angler, who had actually walked around from the other side of the lake, decided to tell me that I was making too much noise, scaring the fish and that the use of “over baiting” was now banned on this particular lake. Please bear in mind that I was not fishing near this man or causing any really additional disturbance to the lake. Also, there here must have been a “special” meeting about this as it was the first I had heard of this and also pointing out that the method feeder that he was casting every 20 minutes was probably going to be putting more bait out than I was. But not wanting to annoy the older gentleman much more, I decided to wait until he had gone before I carried on putting my bait out.

With rods and bait out shortly after the lake emptied, both my mate and I decided to have a good old cup of tea and a catch up. Now the kettle was just about filled up and the good old beep beep, line tightening and then dropping indicated that I had already a bream on. Six more bream on the bank within the next 2 hrs was a good sign but I wanted it to slow and therefore know that the carp had moved in.  

Sadly, as night drew in, I kept having bream after bream and I ended up reeling in both rods at about 11pm because I knew that that they were there to stay and in numbers too great for any carp to push out! Recasting at first light saw yet another bream in the net but I also had a 2lb carp…… even the bream were much bigger than this!

I had noticed that there were a few carp just breaking the surface at the bottom end of the lake and having a walk down I could see that there were quite a few just basking in the morning sun in the shallower water. They didn’t look like they were feeding but some were a lot more active than others. I decided to get the throwing stick out and put some bait out basically on top of them and see if it moved them off or start them feeding. I returned frequently during the day and could see that they were still there and becoming more active.

Uprooting into the furthest shallow swim, I actually needed to get the waders on and stand 6 feet into the lake to be able to make the cast the 80 yards to where the fish were showing. With a trusted chod rig, Crave 15mm pop up and a 3 foot length of lead core I was armed and dangerous.

Throwing more bait out and then both rods I then started to put the bivvi back up as it looked like it was going to thunder it down. My mate was in the swim talking when there was a flurry of beeps and an almighty bowl wave from my right hand rod with that the reel and alarm were screaming and I was into my first carp. Playing the fish in this swim is really difficult because of the lilies and the angle of the trees so on went the waders again and out into the side of the swim. I knew that the fish was a good one as the more I leant into it the more it fought back, but after a couple of dives into the right-hand snag and me almost slipping over in the lake, I netted what can only be described as a bar of autumn gold. Now there are not a lot of mirrors in the lake, I have actually only caught one before, and this I knew was one of the bigger ones.

Handing my mate the rod and the net, he instantly said “You have only gone and done it” whilst looking at the fish resting in net. I clambered out the water and got things ready for weighing and the all-important photo evidence!

Dropping the scales at a cool 31lb 01oz, this was one of the best fish that I have ever caught, not only because it was in its full autumn colours but it’s the first 30+ fish that we have had out the lake and on my very first trip back.

The heavens opened and all my stuff got completely soaked but I just didn’t care! I had achieved the target fish and nothing could take away that feeling of joy you get.

Lady luck was again on my side and the left hand rod ripped off just after the rain had stopped and another lump graced the bank in the form of a very healthy 25lb 12oz common. I could start to get used to these fishing conditions but the fish were obviously on the bait and feeding up before the winter stint.

I had another 3 takes landing 2 more commons to 18lb during the next 4 hrs and as the saying goes, 90% of fishing is finding the fish!!!!

Tight lines and be lucky!

Big fish week

So this is my second year on my new syndicate and I have had many fish out to 29lb but never been able to beat the 30lb+ mark. I have taken many photos of fellow fisherman and also helped land my fair share as well!

I managed to get three days off work and got to the lake Sunday afternoon. The lake was packed and sitting talking to a bailiff, I noted a fish poke its head up in a bay with no one fishing there, so the barrow was walked round and I soon saw another 5 shows of different fish all within a 20 minute slot.

The rods were lobbed out on where the fish were showing and fishing off a jetty with reeds either side I made sure that I kept noise down to a minimum. The kettle was soon on and another 2 fish showed themselves right over one rod with one being an absolute pig. 

As darkness followed the fish did not show anymore and I had a phone call from my mum saying that she had a meeting on the Monday afternoon and would I be able to come and provide support for her!!!! This meant that I would have to leave the lake on my 3 day session first thing in the morning! 

I still went to sleep full of hope and sadly slept like a log and was awoken only but my phone alarm telling me that I had to pack up with nothing to show for the nights fishing. The fish had all moved out and I must have spooked them or something! I left and wanted to get back to the lake as soon as I could. 

As it turned out, by 3pm, I was able to be back up walking round looking for the fish again and with a new South Westerly wind, which I wanted to get on the end of. Sitting with the wind in my face, there were fish all over this side of the lake and decided to fish against the back of an island that commanded lots of water as well.

 

With two rods on the island in about 5-6 feet of water and a mid-water spot on a hard patch, it was only “a matter of time” surely!

The fish were boshing right against the island and I kept having beeps on my left hand rod and at 9pm, the line tightened up and line started clicking line from the reel. I was on it like a shot and lent into a lump of a fish which didn’t seem to have noticed that it had been caught! After an epic battle lasting an easy 20 minutes, with the help of a mate Nigel, the net was slipped under a good fish. With no torch on throughout the battle, we didn’t know how big it was.

Once on the mat we realised it was a sort after fish and pushed the scales round to 42lb 03oz, my first UK 40. After a lot of disbelief, congratulations, photos and a celebratory cup of coffee, I just wanted another one! What a great feeling of a PB and I still had 3 nights fishing ahead of me!

At 5pm I had a one toner and a 15lb mirror graced the net after taking out all my other rods going crazy in the margins and powering off and doing all its fight 10 yards from the bank!

The Tuesday was a hot hot day and the fish were still in front of me all day long. I tried zigs with no luck but kept the throwing stick going on the island spots with 20 baits every hour or so. As soon as changing over to bottom baits one island rod pulled up and I had a 9lb bream.
I really hoped that the bream hadn’t moved into the swim!

As soon as this rod was back on the spot I had another bite, exactly the same as a bream but tightening up I could feel that this was a carp, and another good one. With the clear water and the sun up, playing this fish in was a great sight and I could see that it was another big fish for the lake. Dropping the scales down at 37lb 07oz, this was my first 30lb from the lake and would have been another PB if the fish last night hadn’t come!

Just after slipping the fish back another rod went and another 15lb mirror was in the net. At this moment in time, I had only one rod in the water, so putting them all back out and getting more bait out was a priority!

Sadly, the next few days came and went with only the odd beep but I was chuffed to bits with a great session.

Within 24 hrs. I had had a 40, 30 and 2 15lbers with a bream to round things off.

Tight lines and be lucky!

France 2014

So here it is. After nearly 2 years waiting, the time is here and we are off to Red Mill in Brittany. There are 6 of us going to fish this 9 acre lake with Carp to upper 50lb and big cat well over 130lb. Myself, I will be targeting the carp but if a cat picks up the bait then all fish are welcome.

So after a very rough ride from Newhaven to Dieppe and a 5 hr drive through the fantastic French countryside, we arrive at our destination. After meeting the owners Daron & Yvonne a reccy of the lake and the group talking about the best swims to fish, I chose the “Frogs” – this is a shallower swim of 3 feet all over but commands a large amount of water and was the only swim that had some pads too.

   
I opted to fish with one on the Pads, one on the island and one on the far margin treeline that went from silt to a few harder patches of what I thought was granite. I didn’t have too much of a cast around on the first day and left my marker and spod in the car and just slipped into the swim nice and easily. I had Nigel fishing next to me and he did exactly the same.

The throwing stick was out and a about 50 baits scattered over the areas was my start and with running rigs and braided hook links, it was “French fishing 2014” – now all I needed was a fish!

The night drew in and there were a few fish milling around but nothing on the whole lake as we went to bed but I had a few beeps at 3am and the bobbin pulled tight – and as my fishing in the UK has taught me to “hit everything” I wound down and felt the rod tip thumping round into my fist fish of the session.

It didn’t take long to land and Nigel had heard the splashing and come see what I had caught. It dropped the scaled at 35lb and not a bad start at all. After sacking it and waiting for another few hrs to do some better photos, it was the only fish out for the night. 

Over breakfast on the Sunday Nigel had a 40lb+ and again, we were laughing that this would be a great week. Little did we know that the weather closed in from Sunday afternoon to Thursday and the lake closed shop for me. I lost a couple more with some real odd bites and I think that the fish were “doing me” so I had to rethink my rigs and did some very subtle changes to make sure that everything was perfect and the odd bites were converted.

It wasn’t until Friday evening did the fish get on the feed and I took three fish to 28lb in just a few hrs which saved my week really! 

Again, France has been unkind to me but I will be back to crack it soon enough.

Tight lines and be lucky!

Misison One - 30lb+ Catfish

So we have set a mission to catch a 30lb catfish. This should be one of the easier targets of the year as the lake I have chosen has a lot of cats in there and being small should throw up a few fish. 

With the summer hitting its highest temperatures I thought it would be a good opportunity to get out and have a look at what I can catch. Now I did a rec of the lake, as I had never been there before and talked to an old chap, Jim, who was carp fishing with the oldest rods I had ever seen.  He was catching carp all day long between 1-5lb and talked about hooking and landing catfish as well. He has caught some to 25lb and told me that there were a lot in the water. Bingo, exactly what I wanted to hear.

The very next night I turned up after work armed with big halibut pellets and some mackerel strips and my 3.5lb test curve rods. The water was alive with cruising carp and actually could make out a few catfish tails popping out the water while they were feeding. I settled for a swim with a small set of pads to my right hand side and access to the main body of the lake.

The night came and went and I didn’t even have a nock at all. Nothing wanted my hook offerings and I left for work feeling a little disappointed but was going to be back that very night as I had seen them feeding.

Work dragged but I got to the lake at 3.30pm with two people carp fishing. I opted to fish the other side of the lake which has a willow tree in the water to the left and again access to the main bowl of the lake.

I could see a huge shoal of roach on the surface by the willow and decided to try and catch one and put a live bait out near to the tree. After rummaging in my box for a small hook and some plastic maggots I managed to make a crude rig with a branch as a rod, stick as a float and caught a small 4 inch roach. Lip hooking with a running rig it was lowered a foot from the back and 6 foot from the tree just in case the fish decided to head for the snag it would give me a bit more time to get to the rod.

 

 Now I have had some quick bites before but I hadn’t had the bait in the water for 5 minutes and the alarm was screaming with the baitrunner on melt down and I lent into my first moggy of the season. The fight that developed was amazing, I had never felt such power and was glad to have the additional power of the 3.5lb test curve rods. After a few hairy moments and the fish lunging towards the near side snags, I slipped the net under the fish and had to shuffle it back and forth to get this extra long cat in!

 

 I asked the guy fishing opposite me to give me a hand just to make it a little easier with the weighing and taking photos but I knew that this was going to be a PB for me. Dropping the scales at 30lb 3oz it was a fantastic fish and was totally made up. 

Nothing happened for the rest of the night but I had cracked Mission number one and I would defiantly be back to get some more and hopefully a bigger harder fighting cat.

Tight lines and be lucky!