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!