bump73

Sorry, I assumed when you said I was "incorrect" I assumed you were referring to me pointing out that it's not illegal? Personally I think the only thing that is going to come close to getting rid of carp will be a scientific solution. like this... http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2011/10/07/390591_national-news.html I know when they drained a section of Parra river to do some work on the weirs they removed 2 tonne of carp, that was about 8-10 years ago and that hasn't done anything to control the numbers so thinking that removing a couple here and there will make any difference to their numbers at all is wishful at best. Perhaps in a closed waterway like a dam you could have a chance at getting rid of them but in a system like Parramatta River a different approach needs to be taken, like the one in the link above.. Ben

Well i'd hate to prove Admin wrong but according to the DPI website it is NOT illegal, I suggest you look into it a bit more as there is already enough misinformation posted on the internet.... http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/pests-diseases/freshwater-pests/species/carp/groups/recreational-fishers Is it illegal to return carp to the water? It is not currently illegal to immediately return captured carp to the waters from which they were taken (defence under section 216 of the Fisheries Management Act). However, carp are a noxious fish in NSW and Industry & Investment NSW encourages recreational fishers to retain and utilise any captured carp rather than returning them live to the water.

I usually fish around the back of Parra leagues club. You ARE allowed to throw them back if you don't want to kill them anyone who says otherwise is full of carp, as far as i'm concerned recreational fishing makes bugger all difference to their numbers it's like thinking killing a couple of cane toads will wipe them out. Ben

Hey mate there are heaps in Parramatta river up where Parra park is, not really in the south west but i can guarantee they are there. I usually fish there once a week using corn ( has to be edgell super sweet ) or a dough mix is working really well at the moment with mulberries, maple syrup, flour, corn flour brown sugar and tinned corn juice to get the consistency right. I've caught and released heaps around the 70-80cm mark so i know they are there. Ben

I managed to get one on a bread fly whilst fishing for bream and mullet last summer does that count?? I haven't actively targeted them but don't see why you shouldn't be able to. As to if you'll find them round this time of year i'll let the more experienced luderick fisherman answer that one.. Ben EDIT : I wrote the "N" word instead of luderick and it auto corrected it :074: How long till we can't call a mulloway a jewfish ???

Please tell me you know that yakkas and kingies are totally different fish :074: :074:

Hey mate i suggest you check the legal length of tailor in NSW before you go advertising breaking the law :074: Oh yeah and check the site rules as well ---2. No posts on illegal fishing activity of any kind be it illegal methods or exceeding bag limits or undersize fish Here's the link to legal size limits http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/recreational/regulations/sw/sw-bag-and-size Ben

Mate if you are blaming a 2kg rod for not being soft enough I really dont think the EGI rods are going to make that much difference. If a squid hasn't been hooked properly i'm pretty sure, and i could be wrong here, that the magic EGI rod is going to reach down and hook it up any better.. I think to go along with the saying " everything is a gimmick at first, then it's imitated" you should have... " a good tradesman never blames his tools " and of course we can't forget the good one which has led to the success of products like EGI rods.. " There's a sucker born every minute " :074: Ben

I'd go yakkas over garfish, just can't see garfish being part of a jewies diet as they hang round on the surface.. Ben

Mate are you saying that a Kingy at greenwhich didn't come from east of the bridge?? It's not like they live up the river all their life. To answer the original question YES, without hesitation, hell i catch them at gladesville during summer and don't think twice about eating them as i know they spend most of their time either out at sea or around middle harbour and only come up river to follow baitfish when the water warms up. In my opinion there is just as much risk eating one from east of the bridge as there is from west of the bridge. Mind you I'm only talking about Kingies here which are the only fish i'll keep west of the bridge. Ben

Nice work mate that's a great first fish Ben

For starters I tell her that all the 2 piece rods are actually 12-16ft 4 piece rods and then keep 6 But if it could only be 3... 7wt fly set up 3-6kg spin 10-15kg overhead. Ben

If you walk round to boat beach you may pick up some flatties or something on SP's. Personally i'd be looking at getting some metal slices and throwing them off the rocks for pelagics, the headlands up there offer a great variety of nice fish off the stones. Ben

Depending on what you are after you can fly fish for carp in Parramatta river using bread flies or wooly buggers, flathead in Lane Cove and Parra river with clousers can also get the occasional whiting on clousers to. And bream will hammer a bread fly if you burley up with bread, I learn't this when going for mullet, the bream also like small flies like baited breaths or shrimp patterns. I tend to look for sand flats that are almost exposed at low tide and fish them on a falling tide. Ben

MMMMMM... Does anyone else think that perhaps it is just marketing BS that is telling us that our normal rods are all of a sudden not up to the task of catching the humble squid and we need to buy the latest $200+ rod to now catch them? And then of course we need the egi reel to go with it. Would love to hear from people who have them if they have noticeably improved their catch rates... Ben

I generally use 0.4mm titanium sheet which is nice and light and can be bent a bit to get the action of lure right, or else as far as plastic goes cd cases can be cut up and do the task okay. Not sure where you could buy them ready made though Ben

Sad to see another life wasted something which seems to be more and more common these days.. Personally I surfed for about 10 years before i started rock fishing which often involved jumping into the surf from headlands in order to surf reef breaks and then involved getting back onto the rocks after a surf. Doing this gave me a pretty good idea on reading the ocean. Personally i'd suggest to anyone thinking of getting into it to book a day with someone like Alex Bellisimo who will take you off the stones for the day and give a really good rundown on safety and reading the ocean and tactics on targetting different species. Failling doing that go with someone who rock fishes on a regular basis. I think the main thing with alot of these deaths is it seems to be people who have travelled a fair distance in order to go for a fish, and even though conditions are bad, they don't want to have wasted their time. Unfortunately as in this case they end up wasting something a hell of a lot more valuable... Oh yeah as for freak waves, in all my years surfing and rock fishing i've never seen one. You do get set waves which are bigger but that's about it. To quote Fezzas Wikipedia link ( can't believe i'm doing this wiki is a joke and it's no wonder most educational institutions don't allow it to be quoted by students let's face it anyone can write anything on wiki right or wrong) "Rogue waves (also known as freak waves, monster waves, killer waves, extreme waves, and abnormal waves) are relatively large and spontaneous ocean surface waves that occur far out in sea" Notice the bold bit "far out IN sea" ( beautiful use of grammar there ) nothing in that article about them hitting the shoreline.. Ben

Hi all just got back from a week up at Clifton Beach just north off Cairns and thought i'd brag about the biggest shark i've caught off a beach. Was fishing in the late arvo and had my overhead rod setup in freespool just spiked in the sand with a ganged pilly hoping for a nice queenie or whatever was out there cruising around. Bait sat out there for about a 1/2 hour when all of a sudden it got slammed. Clicked the trusty Abu into gear and prepared for the fight of all fights, with the rod buckling and the drag screaming i fought this best for what felt like at least 45 seconds before aided by the wash i managed to beach the monster :thumbup: Now i'm pretty sure it's a black tipped reef shark and looking through the record section i see that this could quite possibly be a record for bait fishing which i feel is well deserved I know there is no brag mat or anything but i assure you all that it was at least 30cm and quite possibly 35cm so if Admin could kindly award me the record I will wear my badge with pride Ben As for the rest of the trip it was pretty uneventful, managed a few small jacks and barra on fly in a couple of creeks and some permit on fly and SP's on the beach. Also had some livies hammered off the jetty at Palm Cove by either queenies or mackrel. And then just to rub it in saw a big barra crash the surface of the creek that runs through Cairns airport on the way home

Nice ..Love a good boat ramp mishap Ben

Nice work It's amazing what you can find in small streams and stuff around Sydney if you just take the time to look.. Ben

Mate well done they are crackers Ben

Mate that's why I've started buying Okuma stuff. They come with a REAL lifetime warranty where they will replace the reel if there are any dramas.Not a crappy bit of paper that basically gets you to take the reel back to them for servicing so they can shaft you again and again. Ben

Mate carp are great fun on light gear i recommend it to anyone. I fish at least once a week for them in Parramatta River using fly and also bait. Best bait i've fond is tinned corn preferably the super sweet stuff, chuck a bit in as berley whack 2-3 kernels on a small hook ( no sinker needed if they are in close) and hold on tight. As for flies, wooly buggers and wooly worms work well, so do bread flies if you can berly them with bread and get them feeding on the surface. As for killing them, there is no law saying that you have to kill them, it is perfectly legal to release them where they were caught however it is illegal to move them around and release them elsewhere. I personally kill any under 70cm and put the big ones back. The reason for this is studies are showing that having the big ones controls the numbers of the small ones and they cause less damage to the environment. Ben

Don't know about this i'm sure with any record claims the line needs to be tested. Ben

Nice post luckily these spots are all extremely well known. I know of some really good ledges around the South coast. Best thing is they are rarely fished except by locals that where kind enough to show me how to access them or i put in a lot of leg work to find them. The last thing i'll be doing is giving out locations to spots like this so they can end up a filthy mess, over crowded and full of tools who don't know the first thing about ocean safety like all of the well known Sydney ledges. I think people should think a bit before publicising spots like this especially when they aren't your local spot. Sure you might get a warm fuzzy feeling for giving away the location of a productive spot you once fished when you were on holidays, but i can guarantee the locals that fish there regularly and now have to put up with the extra people on a regular basis would chuck you in as berley if they got a chance. Ben