# ACT - Carp Weathering, Weathering Carp



## paffoh (Aug 24, 2006)

So, what do you do when the weather has locally has been crap, the free time coastal jaunts have revealed ordinary forecasts and a trip into the mountains gets canned due to inclement weather?

Well round these parts we go Carp Fishing, and with so many local lakes to bag a Euro from the hardest part has been just making up our minds where to fish. Take your pick, there all full of them and in large numbers. Firstly we recently went down to the upper parts of Lake Tuggeranong (Opposite Bunnings) and wailed them, The action started off pretty slow and we were a hairs width away from moving on to find some place more promising when they mooched on in. Rigs of choice were the fabled Jindy Rig (1m leader, split shot, running ball above) and a Canadian hair rig (medium hook, braided hair, bait threader, small leader, large sinker). This was the first time I had used a hair rig and I was a little sceptical at first due to the open gape and especially the Power Pro braided leader and hair.

Needless to say the specialist Carp rigs worked really well and we landed around 8 fish and lost 3 or so more. Bait was mainly corn kernels but Chartreuse Powerbait nuggets were employed either stand alone or combined with the Corn. I was fishing with Tim and his mate Serge (Two Canadians) so hopes were high of an Australian victory on what was once bogan home soil (Since graduated to Northside standing). Serge landed a cracker after an hour of scattering berley, followed by Tim, then Serge, then Tim, oh wait I'm on, no I'm not, then Tim, the Serge... You get the drift, nil result for the local. Still, great times with the Maple leaves and learned the subtle art of the hair.










Secondly a bunch of us decided to take the better halves and kiddies for a picnic morning/day to another arena known as Lake Ginninderra (This time, Northside Canberra). Over the years there has been a particular possie that always seemed to be inhabited by those in the know (Long rods, fancy bite alarms, slingshots) and after a brief suss out the day before it was decided it would be worth staking a wintery claim. Conditions were great, little wind, cold start but the barometer was most likely too high for impressive results (That's what I am blaming anyway). With new found hair rig skills and a profound tier of them onboard we donned them proper and awaited the onslaught. Factoring in the one or so hour berley trail wait we held our ground but relaxed our gaze, focusing on family rather than fishing. Activity on the water slowly started picking up but it wasn't until early afternoon before things got interesting (We arrived at 10am, long wait).

Schools of Goldfish started appearing, at first a dozen or so, followed by a school football oval sized flock (Well, scattered around in large numbers anyway). Jason switched to a size 8 Mosquito hook and tried slow sinking small clumps down to them, eventually hooking and landing what looked like a small Carp but was in fact quite a large Goldfish. It's at this stage we packed up and threw in the towel, just when things were starting to get interesting. As a resident of Canberra I forget we have our own sportsfish, I guess I'm scared to label them as that (No, not the Goldfish) due to the bad publicity they so rightly deserve. I'm sure you get some sort of glowing reputation and bad karma points when you glam up days chasing Carp, but when the weather is foul, it is what it is and you don't leave the hub.









(Image courtesy of Tim Allard - http://www.timallard.ca)


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

Perfect size for the garden bed.


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## merkywaters (Dec 15, 2010)

Couple of large mud suckers there mate well done.
Im just starting to chase them on fly and gee wiz they go hard and can be a handful from the yak.


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## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

Hey Paff, I've seen a few different bits and pieces about the dreaded carp on TV recently. One was on flyfishing at Keepit dam between Gunnedah and Tamworth and the other was a cooking show on Aunty called "The cook and the chef." The first was on the merits of finding a hard fighting fish on light fly tackle and having plenty of fun and the second has had me thinking hard about getting up your way and trying to get some carp to for a gastronomic experiment.
Maggie Beer(?) was talking about the carp's poor reputation as a table fish and discussed the cause of the "bad" flavour. She claimed that the nasty bits were contained under the skin and that a fillet that had the skin sliced off to remove the contaminant was good for the kitchen. She showed the fillet being removed from a large carp and then prepared it herself and ended up with a large fillet of meat that looked to be similar in both texture and colour to a fillet of salmon. She cooked it without any fancy marinades and served it up to the chef on the show who showed suprise at the result and then went back for seconds.
I am interested in a bit of experimentation as there is a lot of meat that gets wasted that could be good if you knew how much needed to be removed and what was a suitable method of cooking it for your own pallet.

I remain a bit sceptical but also kinda hope she might be onto something...

cheers

John

P.S. any chance you could post a photo of the hair rig... I've got no idea what you are talking about...


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## shabby (Mar 24, 2011)

"I remain a bit sceptical but also kinda hope she might be onto something..."

Dont be too sceptical, I went fishing with my boss one night (of many) and I caught a carp he pulled it off the hook and chucked it straight onto the fire....that should have been the end of it - well thats what I thought - untill he started to dig into it :shock: :shock: he loves the sh*t, got no ida why I stayed as far away as possible. And don't get me wrong I love fish!!

Give it a try and let me know 

Shabby


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## YahHaus (Jun 21, 2010)

I've never tried this myself, but I've heard from a couple of people that the best thing to do with them is keep them to use as strip bait when salt water fishing. Anyone here tried it?


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## Squidder (Sep 2, 2005)

Nice write up Paff  Rob Pax gives carp baits a big rap for surf fishing.


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## YahHaus (Jun 21, 2010)

The beach fishing around Tuross has been going off lately but I'm sick of buying pillies and had no luck on metal lures so might have to try some carp. Thanks for the write-up, gives me somewhere to start!


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## doddsj (May 24, 2010)

G'day,

Great report and yes Carp are a great Sportfish. As for eating them, It depends where they are caught. If caught in muddy water they will taste like mud. If the water is cleat they will taste much better. I talked to a Chinese man who loved Carp. He had an old Bathtub setup and would take the fish home alive. Placed in the bathtub for a week they would purge themselves of the mud making them more paletable.

Cheers, Steve.


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## joey (Jul 5, 2008)

What the hell's The Hub? Isn't that a shopping centre or something?
After many visits to the nation's capital my wife and I have been considering a permanent move to Canberra but I'm still skeptical about the fishing prospects, something a nice big run from a giant carp might help change.

On carp, I tried unsuccessfully :? for two days in Lake Burley Griffin and got nothing but rats... water rats, not awesome beautiful kingie rats.

A guy I know here in Sydney catches carp for sport out of Parramatta river and then uses strips of carp meat for fishing off the beaches and sometimes in the Harbour. He reckons its gun bait for just about every saltwater species since it self-burleys (stinky muddy oil comes out of the flesh) and it is tough enough to stay on the hook when casting out into the surf. I haven't tried it myself (as I said, I couldn't even catch a single freakin carp :? ).


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## craig450 (May 11, 2007)

joey said:


> After many visits to the nation's capital my wife and I have been considering a permanent move to Canberra but I'm still skeptical about the fishing prospects, something a nice big run from a giant carp might help change..


Carp is only the start of what you can get in Canberra, the prize catch is one of the big Murray Cod that you find in most of the lakes, then theres the Golden perch and redfin in massive numbers.
Some of the best trout dams in the country within a couple of hours drive south, and the south coast a couple of hours drive east.


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## anselmo (Aug 26, 2008)

john316 said:


> P.S. any chance you could post a photo of the hair rig... I've got no idea what you are talking about...


John

A hair rig is a "tail" of graid left down the back of a hook
the bait is put on the tail of line rather than on the hook
in theory it gives the hook a better chance of purchasing in the mouth of the fish
bit like a piggyback rig used on live garfish

see: http://carpersweb.com/?p=62

Nick


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## mysticmarine (Dec 28, 2009)

do u get many cod or yella belly down there ??


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## paffoh (Aug 24, 2006)

Hi there,

Yep plenty of Cod and Yellas around,

Now, if I could only stop chasing bloody Bream!


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## buck55 (Jan 6, 2010)

Used to use carp strip baits to catch bream, flathead, and tailer when fishing the shallow beaches around Jervis Bay some years ago. Used at night it attracted sharks and rays, particularly shovelnose rays. As bait, carp lasts well on the hook, and the skin is so tough that it's difficult to remove at the end of a session. As tucker, have only eaten once, barbequed, and am unlikely to repeat the experience. To each his own!


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## Fiji80 (May 20, 2011)

There are good hits from cod in our waters, yet to hook a decent sized one myself but seen big ones even in Lake G swim past, so I know they are there. As someone mentioned earlier, you can have death by Redfin in our lakes and a decent sized one is good eating. 
I also love the fact that you are only a couple of hours away from some nice clean, fresh trout and only a couple of hours away from nice saltwater fishing - this is all if you need a change from our many lakes to fish in.

Hope you settle in well in the Bez... the fishing will make you feel welcome, even if the weather doesn't...


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## Fiji80 (May 20, 2011)

This forum answers my question from another post - good to hear the carp are still hitting the bait. Haven't been on the water for carp since Autumn, partly because my garden was full of the stuff and the missus had enough.

Good haul from you boys though... tempted to get back out there. But if I am going to brave the Canberra cold, then I may as well drive a couple of hours and brave the cold up at the Snowy lakes.... mmm Rainbow Trout...


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