Since I moved up to Canberra about a week ago I've been doing as much fishing as I can - I've already done 3 trips on lake Burley Griffin fishing out of my kayak. It is a truly picturesque place to paddle, and it is also full of fish. Aside from one carp (which I caught trolling a lure!), all the fish I've caught out of the lake so far have been redfin, ranging from about 8-10cm to my best at 35cm. My most successful lure has easily been a small pink #3 stumpjumper. Now I am aiming to catch a native fish, the lake (and many other smaller impoundments close by) are stocked with golden perch (yellowbelly) and murray cod. I went to the local tackle shop yesterday (which is fantastic, and very helpful) and bought some spinnerbaits, which are a lure which the locals seem to have the best success with for natives. I'll keep you updated on my quest <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':th' /> I've attached a few photos:
Some balloons we saw launching on Saturday morning
At this stage it looks like I might not be back until easter <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/crying.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':th' /> But I'll let you know <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />
08-01-2007, 04:20 PM (This post was last modified: 08-01-2007, 04:21 PM by glen.)
hi jazman,
well done getting a carp on a lure! i have never heard of that before. i have got heaps on flies but never a lure! wow!
i used to go fishing primarily in the evening (at lake burley griffin) and used to get a lot of redfin casting lures from shore. also the carp were pretty easy to track making water disturbances around the water edges (often in weedy areas). these were keen on flies. some of them were huge!
i think you are going to have a ball!!!!
i went to Kilcunda yesterday and it was so windy you could not stand up! <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':th' /> got lots of toadies at newhaven and only 2 yellow eye mullet. so it was pretty crap compared to canberra!
Thanks for the carp info Glen, I am keen to catch a huge one for a kayak fishing competition that's coming up <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> Some people I spoke to said that carp on lures are a reasonably common thing during the summer months. I'm starting to get bored of the redfin already (100 or so fish in 3 trips so far). It's a shame so many of them are tiny <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':th' />
I know for a fact that there are some MASSIVE cod in the lake, they are hard to get though. I am now on a serious quest for a native, I bought a G.Loomis overhead rod and Team Daiwa baitcaster last night second hand from a gun cod fisho, and he also gave me some spinnerbaits and some priceless information about how best to go about cod fishing. I haven't found time to get out to Jindabyne yet. There are so many different fishing options around canberra, and so little time do them all! <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':th' /> Me and a friend are planning to go down the coast near Bateman's Bay on Sunday to go snorkelling and maybe spear a fish or two for tea <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />
So oft' the case, ye have the gear, ye have the knowledge, ye keen as mustard but ther' be no time......Arrrgh.
I tell ye' 'tis an addiction like any other; pullin' beasties from the briny depths...but oooh what a sweet drug 'tis!!! Arrrgh
I heard of a fellow clubbin' a carp with a stick in the shallows o' the werribee river, but fer the life o' me I ain't ever caught one.
Any tips how to catch 'em just t' give me fiancee a feelin' of somethin' on the other end o' the line. I wan' t' fish off the banks o' the maribyrnong river. Any ideas on bait or such tips, best times, would be appreciated.
Best o' Luck to ye Jazman, me hearty. If anyone can catch a cod, it'd be yerself.
Fresh air, tight lines, scales, slime and fins, 'tis the salty sea dog life for me. Arrrgh!
Hi Mike, I asked pretty much the same question of the tackle shop staff, and they told me one of the best ways to catch carp is to use canned corn as bait (kernels not creamed corn), and regularly scatter a few kernels about as berley. Use a small hook baited with as many kernels as it will hold (but leave the hook point exposed), and fish the corn either under a float, or very lightly weighted (or even unweighted if you can cast it). Apparently the carp are quite easy to spot in the shallows if they are about, if that's the case you can try to lob your bait right under their nose. Another tip was to use the cheaper brands of canned corn kernels, because they are tougher than the more expensive brands and hold on the hook better. The last thing the tackle shop fella said before I left the shop was 'don't use Edgell!'. I reckon bread or earthworms would work ok too <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':th' />
No Steeny, I've had a few hits but the water is still too dirty for good lure fishing. The other guys I fish with have been trying for a cod for the past 10 months, and still haven't got one, so I'm trying to stay patient <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> I would have a batter chance trying to catch a cod using bait, but I am determined to catch one on a lure - if the cod takes the bait down deep there's a reasonable chance that it will die, whereas with lures (especially spinnerbaits) the fish are hooked in the jaw 99% of the time, which makes for an easy release.
We speared some nice fish down the coast on Sunday near Bateman's Bay - some quite different fish to what we see in Victoria. Most of the fish are black reef leatherjackets, but we also got 2 mosaic leatherjackets, a black drummer, a luderick, a red mullet, and 2 yellowfin pike.
I was using a speargun but my friend was using a hawaiian sling - I speared more fish than him <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />
' />
