Hill373737

Nice Jack mate, good reward for effort for you and Amy to have a crack at them.

Well, it stayed dry but overcast with a bit of wind ... not the best conditions for sightcasting to carp. The main reason I went up to Split Rock was to see if an issue I've been having with the motor is fixed after yesterday's service ... unfortunately its not so the motor cuts out after it runs for a couple of minutes. More investigation needed on that one. I was under some time pressure and not keen to move too far from the ramp so only fished for about 30 mins - opened a hook up on the first carp but boated the 2nd - it was just a whisker over 60cm. With all the recent rain, a massive boulder must have come loose and finished up in the car park - there was a trail of destruction where it rolled down the mountain side. Split Rock is now at 99.1% full - its come up 15% in the past 3 weeks with more rain forecast this weekend. There is now about 1 metre of boat ramp from car park to waters edge.

Nice work Neil .... thats 4 less carp in our waterways!! I'm off to Split Rock tomorrow morning so with a bit of luck will get to bank a few carp. 🙂

That is an amazing collection and they definitely look good, here's mine plus I have a couple of others that I fish with when on the coast. Each of them has a story that is important to me - they were either my reels or my dads so represent a lot of great times fishing. My favourite is the little bakelite Club Trophy which I used on a cane rod as a kid including an epic trip to Fraser Island in 1971.

@wazatherfishermanwhat a great collection, I have a serious case of Alvey Envy looking at that collection!!

Condolences to you and your family Ash, Bruce sounds like a good bloke and he's left a lasting legacy passing on his love of fishing to family and friends!! RIP Bruce!!

I went through Rockhampton a few weeks back, no fishing but had a look around and it would be great to fish there. I think Gladstone would also be good and I know there is a guide who fishes Awoonga. I'm meeting a mate from Melbourne at Port Macquarie this saturday - he's flying up and I'm taking across enough rods for both of us so he doesn't have to pay extra luggage for the rod tube. If you do make it to Rocky and you like seafood, I had the best plate of marinated char-grilled octopus I've ever had at a little restaurant opposite the river.

I was up at Agnes Water / 1770 last month and the price of fish was almost reasonable but I saw Snow Peas in the supermarket for $41 a kilo!!

Good luck with the carp fishing Neil, I'm on a mission to bank a few every time I fish, it probably won't make a dent in the carp population but at least makes me feel good. I had a couple of trips out to Keepit when I first moved up here but decided to focus on Split Rock as I was a bit overwhelmed with the size of Keepit at almost 100% full. I think I'll spend more time there in Spring chasing Yellowbelly and carp. The Namoi River runs into Keepit and the Peel joins the Namoi downstream of the dam wall. Hope you have some luck on Friday.

Very different @Pickles I used to complain about early bream sessions on Wyong River when it was 6 degrees! That feels tropical now!! I'll get a saltwater fix shortly, I'm heading across to Nth Haven for a weeks fishing in a couple of weeks!

I only fished with lures in the lake so would be a bit hazy on where to find yabbies. There is a set of steps off the NW side of the Entrance Bridge which might be shallow enough to wade onto the flats beside Terilbah Island otherwise I'd suggest trapping poddy mullet would be the go.

Hi Derek - I lived at Bateau until I moved earlier this year and I fished the area a couple of times per week- not sure if your mate has a boat or kayak but I fished the lake a lot for flatties and would be happy to share a few areas that worked fairly consistently. If that helps, drop me a message and we can connect on a call, I'd prefer that to posting info on specific spots on the site. steve

I've painted my 5 year old MotorGuide a couple of times - the trick as mentioned is to get it back to bare metal where the corrosion is. I use a wire wheel in a drill. I hjaven't used an etch primer and just relied on a couple of coats. The last time I did it, I used a spray can of Dulux Epoxy Enamel which seemed to provide a better lasting result than the White Knight epoxy enamel I brished on. I've always just used whatever I had from other projects.

Thanks Rick - I've been fortunate to get some pretty good advice from a couple of long term locals which has definitely helped - 9 trips to Split Rock now for 2 hits on surface that didn't connect and an 80 model, like all the impoundments up this way at the ,moment, there's a lot of water between the fish and they are still recovering from the drought.

Thanks mate. I hope the weather gods are kind to you, there is plenty of water in the Peel and Namoi at the moment after a lot of rain last weekend in the area and more forecast for this weekend. I saw the Namoi at Manilla through the week and it was up, running and very brown. You can see the water level spike in this image.

Thanks Neil - its a PB for me but I'm only 3 cod and 6 months into my cod journey. If you fancy a few days in Tamworth, it would be great to get out and chase cod or if its during Spring we could target yellas. Plenty of room at my place to stay and I'm sure it would be a great learning experience for me. cheers

Along with a lifetime of fishing, I've spent quite a few years doing all sorts of endurance based sports such as long distance kayak racing, mountain biking and various adventure races so I'm fairly comfortable with a bit of pain and suffering, and since moving to Tamworth, I'm fast discovering that fishing for Murray Cod is just another form of extreme endurance sport dealing with sub-zero temperatures, thousands of casts and then, more thousands of casts. Today was one of those days where it all came together and I boated this 80cm model fishing the edges with a chatterbait at sunrise up at Split Rock - I'm still smiling and its a great reminder of why its not so silly to freeze your bits off casting!! To top the day off, I pulled a 72cm carp out of the weeds on my bream gear once the sun was a bit higher in the sky. I've been counting down the days till its closed season for cod but now the pressure is on to get another in the next 3 weeks - guess who's going fishing tomorrow!!

Thanks Neil - we decided to retire to Tamworth to follow my daughter (and now grandkids) - she took a teaching job up here about 5 years ago so we were frequent visitors. Funnily enough, my wife and I both spent periods of our childhood in Tamworth due to parents working here so I always say every-one has a bit of tamworth in them, and if you don't think you do, you just haven't found it yet!! The Peel is in great shape with plenty of water, I'll take a few photos next time I'm wandering along the river. Chaffey and Keepit are both at 100% and Split Rock is over 70% so there is plenty of water but still a lot of recovery needed after the fish kills from the drought a few years back. I started fishing for the carp as something to do after a few hours of casting for cod from first light and used 3lb braid / 3lb leader but have upsized now to 10/10 after a few bustoffs getting them out of the weed and spindly snags they like to lay around in. My biggest so far is 68cm and I've heard stories of metre long carp in Split Rock - bring it on I say!

I lived at North Enny for many years and spent a lot of time surfing and fishing the beach from the channel to Pelican! Like most places, it doesn't fish as well as the old days but the stretch between Curtis Parade and Magenta usually has a few good gutters that are worth a cast!

Great photos, here are a few from my new backyard after moving to Tamworth earlier this year from the Central Coast! This is the view from my backyard that I get from nature most days! There is some amazing country up this way - this is Apsley Falls! Why go to the footy when you can watch the Cutting Horse Championships! I don't miss the crowded boat ramps on the coast and you never know what you'll find on the ramp! The scenery out on the water is amazing, which is a good thing as I persevere with catching cod after a lifetime of catching flatties and bream! ... and after a long session casting for cod, its fun to sightcast for carp with unweighted SwimZs on bream gear!! 🙂 cheers steve

There was a bit of of congestion on the ramp this morning - 5 of them moved on fairly quickly after some encouragement from me but this one was determined to keep its place on the ramp!!

Paddletails like MinnowZ work off the beach although if there are tailor around, they"ll take a heavy toll on your plastics. Its hard to beat chromies especially through the colder months, they cast a mile and you never know what bycatch you'll get. 🙂

Well done mate, I know how hard you would have worked for that one fish! Its a pity nothing stuck for Amy. It looks damn cold, I was over your way the back end of last week chasing bream and it was hard to keep warm out on the water, Copeton must have been freezing!!

Here is a good read on bananas, boats and fishing!! 🙂 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-16/fisherman-boat-sinks-amid-banana-karma-drama/8804636

This is definitely a sad day as I suspect many Raiders who would fit into the "older generation" grew up with Alvey reels and bait pumps. Its been discussed before on Fishraider but one of their challenges has been the near indesctructible nature of their reels. Here's a photo of my Alvey shrine (plus a few other old bits and pieces), all of these reels would be 45 plus years old and still in usable condition. It doesn't include my new reels (25 years old) that I use for beach fishing. Its a terrible loss to the Australian fishing industry!