A New Species For Me Today

[mottyman]

Hi guys,

The picture kinda tells the story.

Stink'n horrible thing it was...

I went for a Bass this morning but took some bread in case the bass didn't want to play. I got one average size bass on a spinner and then saw these fellas swimming around.

Dropped a bit of bread on his nose and that was that.

After a run to the middle of the river it fought like a bucket.

Cheers

David.

Edited November 16, 2007 by mottyman

[Steve07]

That's alright mate,at least it gives you a bit of fun out there especially if your having a quiet day.

But like you said they do have a pretty good first run in them on the light tackle,and that one

there looks a pretty decent size too.

Well done on your first carp!

cheers

steve

[Guest rzep]

Good stuff David,

I was down the river yesterday early afternoon and some one had just pulled out a carp that would of been around 65cm's long.

I had no luck on the fishing front as my reel was playing up so my son Mitchell just ended up playing around in the water

[arpie]

Oooops! Bury it in your garden & then plant your fruit & veg over it!!! Secret Garden Talk is that it works wonders!!!

Where were you fishing?

Roberta

[mottyman]

Hi Roberta,

That was down the Nepean yesterday. There was quite a bit of flow actually (well, more than normal) and I had to find a little eddy down stream to float the bread in. There was water flowing over the weir and below the water was rushing through in places and in a side stream.

It also smelt like a sewer down in thick brush and scrub way down below the weir....

I was going to bring it home but I didn't have anything to put it in and didn't want to lay the stink'n thing in the back of my wagon so I gave it to a bloke down there who was very happy to have it.

This same bloke told me he recently caught 11 "good sized" bass at the weir and had them at home in his bath tub.....

I didn't believe him (you'd understand why if you'd seen him ) but none the less had a conversation with him about protecting our native species and not exceeding the bag limits etc etc.

He kind of understood but wasn't the sharpest pencil in the box so I didn't worry too much.

Cheers

David.

[Guest rzep]

David,

This same guy did he have a fish net in the water just below the weir and did he have a couple of teeth missing ?

[miller]

if thats the bloke i had the same convo with him on thursday

but he said there were 14 in the bath

cheers

miller

Edited November 16, 2007 by miller

[mottyman]

Yep.... that's him - missing teeth and all...

[Guest rzep]

he told me that he had caught it and that he got it on tiny worms

He left with 3 nice size bass and 2 cat fish.

[ant180]

There are a few blokes like that down there (toothless types). Was this guy particularly "special", or was he one of the caravan park yobbos?

If it's the "special" guy, yeah just get used to him, he's there ALL day ALL summer. His stories change constantly and are pretty amusing. He does take fish illegally but i've never seen him catch more than one bass, let alone 3, or 11! He usually takes home a mullet or two (yellow eye or bully mullet he doesnt care) and.........

eats them!!!

He says they taste crap but he keeps on eating them. I'd wager that he ate the carp too!!

I guess there isn't much you can do about him taking bass illegally. Really the few bass he may or may not have removed from the river arent going to make a world of difference, its just needlessly killing them that bothers me. You'd never get through to the guy though, and i guess it keeps him amused and gets him outside and doing something, improving his quality of life (i feel sorry for him!). Youd know what i meant if you spoke to him, he'd listen to your whole argument and wouldnt absorb a single word of it.

You have to get used to the strange characters that frequent the Nepean. That said, it can be a dangerous place to fish if drunk yobbos or any of the real weirdos are out and about, which is mainly at night.

[PJ Garn]

All this banter about Carp being stinking horrible things!!!??? I love them!!! They are great to catch... no other fish in the Nepean will take you 15 minutes to land and if only you could appreciate them for what they are and respect them for the thrill they just gave you!!!! And if you have to kill them do it as humanly and quickly as possible and not leave them on the bank to stink up the spots!!!

What I hate is stinking fisherpeople who leave their rubbish on the banks(the spot in this post was tidied by Kiwi Waynie and myself two weeks ago... on Saturday I picked up another bag full in the very same spot!!!), people who graffiti on trees(yes the spot spoken about in this post has trees with painted scribble on them!!) and idiots who turn up fishing and yahooing!!!! (usually with a can of some description in hand)

I think I met the "Special" guy a couple of weeks ago... he claimed to have caught quite a few carp near the Tench Park boat ramp but things didn't seem to add up... his story changed as he was telling it!!! Is he an old bloke and very skinny??? May be his teeth fell out through eating fish from the river!!!! Beware guys!!!

Cheers

Edited November 18, 2007 by PJ Garn

[gretsch]

Good sport!!

[boating]

Your right carp do put up a good fight but that is the only thing they are good for, they are a nuisance to our waterways sucking up everything in their path and destroying the banks and truely I don't know how anybody can eat them, they are boney and there flesh is muddy, not that I have tried them but I have caught plenty of them over the years. I do know one thing they make great bait for saltwater fishing.

Tight knots Cindy.

[mottyman]

Hi Guys,

Yes, the Nepean can be a bit dodgy at times. I normally only go very early in the morning or later afternoon and leave just on dark. I don't fish during the night at all.

I once saw a very brave english guy with his tent pitched and 4 carp rods out just down from the rowing club... Had his stove, billy, a feed... Very well set up but I did wonder about his saftey being there alone all night...

There are a few "yahoos" down there at times. Mainly young blokes with their dogs running around the place with cans of whatever being a bit silly.

I've had my car broken into but have never been hassled yet or had any problems with any of them. Still, I'm careful and keep my ears and eyes open and I'm always friendly and say G'day to anyone (or group) that walks by and have a chat about fishing.

PJ, I'm glad you love the carp mate but... you can keep them I'd much rather rid our waterways of this pest and leave our rivers and streams to our native species.

But... each to their own mate. I'm sure they'll always be plenty of carp for you to catch now matter how many I put under my lemon trees...

Anyway, I'll be back down the nepean the next opportunity I get chasing the bass.

Cheers

David.