today was so slow it doesnt even have photos!
I had a busy day planned but only in the afternoon so fishing was on this morning person agenda. I went to my local hole as per usual but this time armed with a new rod... the old one broke, but thats a different story. I have been fishing wi this rod twice now and i have yet to catch a thing.
My little carp hole was unusually quiet, for hte first hour i didn't even see a fish, and the ones I did see later just weren't interested in eating at all.
So there it is, a blog post declaring doughnuts (nothing caught). Hope this rod isnt jinxed (hehe). Maybe next time.
Its been over a month since i have had a chance to wet a line... anywhere! I knew i'd get something in between Christmas and new year though and i have some trout fishing coming up with a buddy too.
I arrived at about 9'30am at my carp hole to find the fish up and feeding. they seemed to be particualrly active taking bugs and whatnot off the surface. I recieved a fairly quick hook up on a big fish which promptly draged my line through every submerged log in the pool to eventually break me off. Not long after i targeted this fish (see photo below), dropping a single corn kernel on a small hook in front of its nose. Its not a big fish but after only a small run i was glad to land it.
Later i moved up stream and was taunted by another large fish. I dropped a kenrnel in front of it, and it swam back for it but didnt pic it up. Swimming off it draggd the line with it, and I jagged it on the tummy. I actually thought I would land it, but it rubbed me off on the many abundant rocks submerged at this end.
2 large fish lost in one morning... I need a bigger rod! I have had my eyes set on a nive shimano rod, maybe for my birthday
Yup, as the title states if the fish aren't biting they could be elsewhere. I cannot understate the importance of being mobile and flexible when it comes to most forms of fishing. I can't count the number of times I have been fishing for bream and got nothing but rubbish fish and when i move, suddenly they are there.
So today i went to my usual hole at the shallow end where i have been catching most of my fish. Arriving at about 9am (feeding time for carp) I set up my typical carp trap of a few peices of corn for burly and my corn bait in the middle. After about 15 minutes I heard an almighty SPLASH! up stream and a carp saw jumping out of the water, not a little carp either! I kept checking my bait expecting at least a small fish to have a look but after an hour (and a bait change or 2 to keep it fresh) nothing... where were all the fish? After a recon mission to the other end of the pool I found them there.
Once set up the carp weren't interested at first but after 20 mins I had them eating corn. I miss timed a strike and missed a fish but I managed a few minutes later to hook one. I struck lightly and the fish didn't realised it was hooked for quite a while then all hell broke loose and line peeled off, but after a while i landed it. 49cm and 1.67kg, not a monster but still a nice catch.
By the time this fish was landed the carp had finished their eating period and had settled into the deep water. I left my rod unattended to explore further upstream just to see what was up past my carp hole. I ran across another hole but it was too shallow for anything sizable... but i did come across this quietly decomposing in the rapids of the stream. It makes me wonder what else lives in there!
A little while back I said i was going to give trout fishing a try at a spot near my friends house in the southern highlands. Well today was that day. My alarm was set for 6am so i could get an early start. I had a quick coffee and pecked my wife on the cheek and then i was off.
now looking back if you remember in August i posted a youtube video of a fishing segment called inside fishing where they were spinning for trout in a small "secret" stream. I recognised one scene from this video where they were at a pool at the bottom of a waterfall... this was my first port of call.
I started casting about with a small hard bodied lure but realised within a few casts my lure probably wasn't hitting the strike zone (deep). I then put a small spinning blade lure and cast that around the pool. after about the 3rd cast in the back of the pool (pictured right) I got a hookup! I remembered that the guys from Inside Fishing scored a fish from this pool and it was a small fish of maybe 20cm, but this seemed a bit bigger and was certainly doing a good job of not coming in. there was''t much room for the fish to move in this pool so it generally swam back and forth and towards the back of the pool. I leaped and that's when i knew it was a good one and not i tiddler like in the video. The trout was a good 40cm all up.
I worked my was up stream from here stopping frequently, and then down stream as far as i could go. This was my only fish even though I saw several feeding on the surface. The stream its self is quite pretty and tranquil but choked by fallen trees... I lost 4 lures. Still this was a fishing adventure I will never forget.
Here is a link to that video if you don't want to look back
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEgYfUwmAhsTight lines everyone!
I awoke this morning to s very smoky day. For those that don't know, bushfire season here has started early with numerous out of control fires surrounding Sydney. Countless homes have been lost and many, many acres of bushland have been burnt out. This leaves Sydney as a whole perpetually blanketed in smoke. The Bureau of Meteorology forecasted a day of high temperatures and so coughing all the way i set out for a morning fishing session while the temperature was still low.
To the left you can see the background of my spot is a bit smoky still. You can also see the fallen tree i always seem to get busted of on!
Fishing today was only with corn and few fish were seen early on, probably due to the fact the water was still in the shade. I burlyed with half a dozen or so corn kurnels and placed my bait in the middle and waited.... and waited... the fish were in a feeding mood but as a sat there and watched my bait a fish swam in and picked off every piece of corn except my bait. Not to be deterred i bought my bait in and put some fresh corn on then set the trap again. after 15 minutes of so a small specimen (<2kg) swam up and started eating the corn. I saw my bait get sucked up and I struck home. line pealed off for such a small fish and before i knew it i was stuggling to keep it out of the fallen tree! SNAP! and the fish was off, swimming freely...
After rigging up again (the line had snapped at the swivel) i set my carp trap again with light burly and my bait in the center. I dont know if anyone else has noticed but after a bust off the carp all go and hide... and so it was for an hour or so, not a fish to be seen. eventually though after a few heart stopping moments where a huge fish swam around my bait a smaller one swam up and too my offering. This fish too almost had me in the fallen tree but i pretty much had the situation under control and after 2 large runs the fish was beginning to tire and so i eventually netted it. The fish was just under 1.5kg and came in at 49cm. Not a monster but it broke my no fish drought. Happy now!
These fish are so ver underrated as a sports fish, they arent as glamorous as trout or and they dont jump like barramundi but they do pull very hard and provide excellent fun on light tackle.
Well, its been a month since my last blog entry and the going has been rather slow. It seems the carp in my local hole are too interested in breeding of too full of eggs... or something to bother eating. On my last session (only 2 days ago) I decided to take my camera with me to get some snap shots as i knew they'd be out cruising. Of course i took my rod too.
The going was very slow. There were fish everywhere, ranging in size from about 1.5kg to one that looked well... massive! most were in the 2-3kg looking range. I burlyed a little before wetting my line both on the surface and on the bottom using cream corn from Aldi for the latter and crusty bread for the former. The only real action i got was from a passing tortoise who couldn't help but to stop by for some free corn. Approximately 2 frustrating hours in I finally got some interest, a big bruiser of a fish lazily swam up to my corn bait and engulfed it only 3 meters from where is stood in about a meter of water. I struck and the hook bit... then all hell broke loose! the fish shook and ran about 3 meters and then did the strangest thing, it turned on its side and looked back! Was it looking at me? Was it searching for where the hook came from? From there it steadily took line in no hurry at all towards a fallen tree while i frantically tried to stop it by applying more pressure, but I didn't stand a chance with this guy and the line snapped off at the hook. I stayed on for another 2 hours but all the fish had mysteriously disappeared about 30 minutes after hooking the fore mentioned fish. I think these fish are getting smarter.
Well that's it for now, I hope to get down there again while on leave and maybe get an early morning session in.
Tight lines Y'all!
Sydney has been subjected to some unseasonably warm weather of late as spring starts off with a boom. I was a little worried that Id have to wait a month or 2 more before the carp started firing up again but the reports on many boards are showing that the season has indeed started... So I headed down to my little carp hole.
I usually travel with only one rod but this time grabbed the spare as well. This spare is usually the one my wife uses and is a light tip 2kg spin set up. After parking the car I walked down to the weir not really expecting anything, but there in about 30cm of water were 2 carp of about 2-3kg each digging up the bottom. i tried to catch these two but they were too skittish and disappeared. Moving up steam a little creeping along as best as i could i spotted another larger fish. The river here is only 2-3 meters wide and the fish was in a bit of a hole near the edge. I used this as my start point setting up both rods with bread bait and a little bit of berley and had 2 hookups but but didn't land either. I moved from there up to the main pool and didn't get any action there till I moved further up the pool where a fish ran me straight into a submerged log.
All up i saw maybe a dozen or more fish and they were all very actively swimming around but they weren't really feeding. Its still early in the season yet and I am guessing that given another month they will hit just about anything. So the total was 3 hookups and none landed. Soooo.... no picture for you!
On a side note while quietly sitting by the bank a guy with a video camera came crashing through the bush in the hope of recording a platypus. Apparently they reside further down stream. While he was bush bashing to get to the river it occurred to me that we are a very noisy species. Just as well he didn't have to rely on stealth to hunt any more, that guy would have starved!
Hello readers, bet you had thought i'd disappeared! Well I have been trying to catch some carp to report on but of the last 4 outings all i have caught is doughnuts (ie, zero, nothing, naught). I had no idea that carp would have an off season but through research I have done is seams that even in their homeland they go off the bite in winter. Thankfully winter is almost over here and I will soon get back into a bit off fishing. I look forward to trying to catch one on a fly rod as things start to warm up, that should be a steep learning curve for me as i have never been fly fishing before!
Last trip out to catch these dastardly fish i decided to take my camera as i am also an avid photographer. I'll generally shoot anything except humans. While waiting for bites these 2 birds came down the first is a New Holland Honey Eater, the second a Superb Fairy-wren. They are fairly common Birds in my area and make waiting for a bite a little easier.
I was browsing one of the fishing forums I am a member of and cam across a thread from a member asking to ID a location in a YouTube video... now I am used to being asked to ID birds and animals because I photograph animals often, but location? I thought I'd view the video anyhow and see what all the fuss was about. The video shows a stream in a bush land setting that could be almost anywhere and some people talking about fishing for trout in streams with lures... it switches to a scene where to men are fishing a pool near a waterfall and it clicks! I know this waterfall!
I have never really considered trying to chase trout as I thought I'd have to travel too far to get to them, but it seems that this waterfall (and creek) that is about 1 hour drive from my house holds them, and if the video can be believed up to 2-3kg (or about 4-6lb in imperial). Now as if that isn't exciting enough this location is only 5 minutes from my friends house.
TroutLike carp, trout are an introduced species. Carp were most likely introduced as an ornamental species and escaped into our water systems, however for trout there is a current and constant stocking program. These fish are encouraged to breed in our streams and are also farmed as a recreational fishing enhancement to our ecosystem. Are there negative impacts on the introduction of this predatory fish? I don’t know but I can well imagine that they would prey upon smaller native fish and crustaceans and so while they don’t destroy habitats like carp there could very well be environmental implications to the stocking of such fish in our water systems.
You would think that given the possible predation of native freshwater animals by trout that they would be considered a pest, but its not so. I am guessing that it is because of the money bought in by trout fishing through licensing, tourism, etc that the governing body continues the trout stocking program. I am not here to debate this however, so feel free my readers to debate it among yourselves. this to me is an opportunity to fish what I once thought was out of my reach. If you want to read up more on the impact of trout there is a very old study available... (
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/pubs/salmonids.pdf)
It is currently spawning season for trout in New South Wales, so I will have to wait till the October long weekend. I have some leave then so that suits me fine. Below is the video which started my interest in local trout.
RSS Feed