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!