Carp Diem

[sloth]

After ten years or so of just chasing bream on lures around the city I started doing a bit of bait fishing … mainly to spend a bit more time with the kids .. they like to burley up and pull anything they can get in … not so keen on trudging banks, flicking lures at fussy fish.

I’ve had heaps of fun in the estuary using swim feeders and bait-runner reels. So much so that I’ve now got three bait runner setups from 500 through to 4000 and quiver tip rods to match. Inspired by Cornacarpio’s adventures I thought I’d turn my hand to the urban gamefish this summer season and chase a few puddle pigs. 10km covid limits puts me in reach of some prime carping waters so how hard could this be?

Two weeks later I’ve invested at least 10hours into Cherry Lake and I’ve also descended down the rabbit hole of youTube carping videos. Most are presented by Northern English blokes (Fair play though - I am one too) and to say they embrace technical fishing is an understatement. I know a fair bit about hair rigs, helicopter rigs, pack baits, swim feeders, method feeders and all sorts of stuff I don’t really need to know. I’ve spent hours stinking up the kitchen to the dismay of the missus and I’ve tied some pretty neat rigs … and oh yeah - I’ve had five donut sessions back to back. Demoralised is the word. Gone from pulling two to three estuary fish a session with the kids to nothing. The kids even gave up. Carp fishing is boring. It sucks they say. They don’t want to go.

But ... I ... have .... to ... persist.

I’d tried Cherry Lake a few late mornings, in the day multiple times, an evening session … I couldn’t even see fish activity. The place is big and only a portion of it is fishable. I struggled to unlock any pattern ... other than the pattern of not catching fish. I was nailing that.

Second session, I fished in a gale …. And a hook-up! Then gone in a few seconds … reeled in an empty hook …. But they are there ….. A second hook up a flash of gold at the surface and then a big fat piggy belly as it rolled and then …ping …. Another pulled hook

Back to watching YouTube and wondering…. Watching other Aussie anglers pulling them in …. But everyone knows YouTube by now … everyones session is a hot session … no one puts up the donuts

Back to the kitchen to make home-made boilies - that must be the key … its what all the UK guys do …..

A few visits to the lake under my belt and I’ve met a few other carp fisho’s … a few from my homeland.. some from farther afield. They all tell me how they pulled out an 8kg fish that day … or how it was going off …. And yet … not a ripple do I see. Not a bubble trail to be had. Not a crashing carp to be heard.

To crack the pattern … I’ve tried simple rigs and complex, simple baits like sweetcorn to complex baits …. The one thing yet to do … the dawn raid … for carp though ….. is this swamp hoover worth setting the alarm for at 5.15 am on the day clocks change? You bet it is. It’s personal - they have tormented me enough.


I hit the lake before first light ….

I am dismayed to find the mossies, which are of I size I have rarely seen before, are as active in the mornings as they are in the evenings. I have regrets.

One rod is baited up with a hair rig and boilie, topped off with a sweetcorn kernel …. Up to a helicopter rig with a swim feeder packed with a bread/wheat/curry burley …….

The next rod has my first attempt at a pack bait - squeezed tight around the sinker, the hook bait embedded into it …. As it settles to the bottom it will leave a bed of free bait with my trap awaiting with in it …..

As I cast I watch my sinker go to my left as the pack bait goes to my right …. Hmmm. Ok - not quite what was intended so I revert to a simple swim feeder running rig and a hair rig.

It gets lighter…. The joggers frequently run past … some are trying to get lighter too … good on them. I have a few nice chats and enjoy my coffee….. I have attracted at least some wildlife.

And then as I’m thinking this toxic drain hole of a lake is devoid of life …. It happens … a crash … a few swirls and then bubbles are popping up in front of me about 15ft out from where I am …. A few more breaches further out in the lake … I can hear fish activity …. A lot of activity ….. and then … a twitch … the whirrrrr of the baitrunner and …. Nothing …. Bait dropped … and my unseen foe has gone.

Screw this. Off comes the UK carping stuff. On goes a 1/0 circle and I feed on a few kernels of corn. Simple running rig to a swim feeder with berley and out they go. Baitrunners in gear and drag is tight.

And then it happens … a tap … a definite slow bend … I reach forward, grab the handle of the reel with the rod still in the rest and wind into the fish. Furious anger erupts in front of my rods as the hook bites into my first mud marlin. I pick up the rod and its on ….. A few joggers stop behind me as I try to subdue the beast…. The drag sings sweet as it heads for the horizon multiple times. I nervously eye my other rod praying that nothing takes that bait too … I have my hands full with this one. I fail to net it three or four times .. the dirt water means I can’t see the fish, I don’t want it too close to the concrete edge else its going to cut me off …. Finally its head is in the net and as it thrashes it dismantles my eBay special extending net … panicked I half drag and lift it over the concrete and finally… it is there on the grass. My first Carp ever. First of what I hope will be a great summer season … and its a tad over 70cm …. The wait has been worth it.

... and I also knocked his little brother on the noggin too

The season is open ....

[Sebb]

Nice.

Yeah carp fishing is big in Europe. That technique is very popular.
I saw those YouTube videos too, years ago. I thought it was weird, but clearly it works for Euro fishos.

[Cornacarpio]

Carp are a very underrated sportfish and can be hard to catch at times - despite the simplicity of the gear used. A lot of your UK Carp angling rigs is way more advanced than the stuff I use, but I too hope to try the 'hair rigs' this season, just for something different.

70cm is a great start, when I first started my thread I was obsessed with cracking the 70cm mark and it took me a while to do it. My biggest from Cherry Lake is 67cm, so you already have me covered there.

FWIW, I think the switch from Bream to Carp is a great idea, sure Bream are fun to catch, but does anything really compare to a head-shaking, reel-screaming, rod-bending, bottom-dwelling fury of a 10lb+ Carp? I think not.

[DougieK]

That's a decent fish mate.

I agree entirely with CC with regards to sportsfishing for them. It's never something I'd choose to do normally but went down the rabbit hole during the species comps we had a few years back and really enjoyed site casting them at night with a tiny hook and XL gear, basically trying to land a bit of bread down their gobs.

[Charles7]

Carp fishing isn't always as easy as people make it out to be. Well done for persevering.

[Sebb]

That's a decent fish mate.

I agree entirely with CC with regards to sportsfishing for them. It's never something I'd choose to do normally but went down the rabbit hole during the species comps we had a few years back and really enjoyed site casting them at night with a tiny hook and XL gear, basically trying to land a bit of bread down their gobs.

I did that couple times with bread and also with plastic, sight fish for carp.
It's amazing how the bait/plastic got nibbled, into the gob and out again few times, without me feeling anything on the rod. Imagine how many times we'd miss bites when we're not sight fishing.
And yeah, use UL gear, so much fun. Definitely an underrated fishery, carp fishing is.

[sloth]

Yeah - I reckon you two are on the money CC and Dougie. I think I might focus on the old inland bonefish for a while and give the breamin a rest ... was heaps of fun ... and I reckon the creek carp will go off over summer. I'm lucky I can hit both the creeks and also Cherry Lake so should be enough to keep me interested for a while.

With the whole UK thing .... Some of their trophy fish in their top commercial ponds cost $20,000-30,000 ... they have individual names like "Two Tone" and "The Black Eyed Mirror", are treated like royalty and they've seen a lot of presentations. I think this is why potentially the UK guys are a) crazy b) fanatical about rigs and presentations. They are trying to hook expensive, presentation wary fish. I guess its ok to invest big $$ and fish ultra-technical if you're trying to trick hook-smart fish and get on the front of Big Carp Lovers Monthly. Aussie fish ... well... most would see a hook once.

I'm going to stick with the simple running rig with a feeder and the 1/0 circles. I will try an experiment and run one as a hair rig and one as normal -- see if there's any difference in bite, hookup and catch rates. Too be honest with the hair-rigged mosquito hooks this morning I'm not entirely convinced I wasn't missing bites - hard to tell. Really only started catching once I switched to the circles. Kind of surprised me too ... for a mouth like a hoover tube the circle still end up in approximately what you'd call the hinged of the jaw.

Have as look on YouTube - there's a couple of dutch lads who have a channel "Underfishing" .... shows underwater footage of carp taking baits.... its amazing stuff ... they eat everything but the bait in some cases and also have a knack of being able to suck it in, test it and blow back out without the angler even knowing they were there.

[Texas]

Thoroughly enjoyed your write up
Fished Cherry Lake years ago, inspired by CC's efforts at TNA.
I used a simple running sinker rig tossed at the edge of reed beds.
I didn't lossen the drag, but, you can easilly lose the rod that way.
Gra

[canned_tuna]

Head north about 800m and fish Kororoit Ck near where the train crosses over. I used to fish it religously and pulled many stonkers out of there. Traditional waggler float with maggots for bait was my way but my mates got em on running sinker and corn or worms

[sloth]

Head north about 800m and fish Kororoit Ck near where the train crosses over. I used to fish it religously and pulled many stonkers out of there. Traditional waggler float with maggots for bait was my way but my mates got em on running sinker and corn or worms

Thanks CT - I took a look on google maps - where do you park and how do you get access in there ? Doesn’t look like the easiest spot to get to on satellite maps … Cheers