Idol threats Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Hi All, Happy New Year , I have been fishing nearly everyday for the past two weeks and have had a few good captures , a couple of 4kg Jewfish , a dozen or so flathead , blue swimmer crabs and about a million catfish . I have a question which maybe answered here with the wealth of knowledge from you guys , why are there so many catfish in the Hawkesbury river at the moment? I have been fishing all over the place from Wisemans ferry to Patonga , but the catfish almost make it not worth going out , I did say almost , any suggestions on how not to catch them , the only bait I have used that dosent seem to catch them are live bait and lures , any thoughts? Cheers Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil D Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 (edited) Hi All, Happy New Year , I have been fishing nearly everyday for the past two weeks and have had a few good captures , a couple of 4kg Jewfish , a dozen or so flathead , blue swimmer crabs and about a million catfish . I have a question which maybe answered here with the wealth of knowledge from you guys , why are there so many catfish in the Hawkesbury river at the moment? I have been fishing all over the place from Wisemans ferry to Patonga , but the catfish almost make it not worth going out , I did say almost , any suggestions on how not to catch them , the only bait I have used that dosent seem to catch them are live bait and lures , any thoughts? Cheers Matt ask Byron, the Jewgaffer, the guy is known for his knowledge of the hawksburry. Edited January 12, 2010 by Groper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickster Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Hi All, Happy New Year , I have been fishing nearly everyday for the past two weeks and have had a few good captures , a couple of 4kg Jewfish , a dozen or so flathead , blue swimmer crabs and about a million catfish . I have a question which maybe answered here with the wealth of knowledge from you guys , why are there so many catfish in the Hawkesbury river at the moment? I have been fishing all over the place from Wisemans ferry to Patonga , but the catfish almost make it not worth going out , I did say almost , any suggestions on how not to catch them , the only bait I have used that dosent seem to catch them are live bait and lures , any thoughts? Cheers Matt The reason that there's so many is the same reason we get cockys and black trevally off the rocks when blackfishing. I blame Adam and Eve for eating that damn apple, It's Gods way of punishing us, there can be no other logical reason. Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idol threats Posted January 13, 2010 Author Share Posted January 13, 2010 The reason that there's so many is the same reason we get cockys and black trevally off the rocks when blackfishing. I blame Adam and Eve for eating that damn apple, It's Gods way of punishing us, there can be no other logical reason. Rick Hmmm I must be a very bad boy then as I think I have caught just about the entire population of caties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cameldownunder Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 This is an easy one to reply to. First a question thou: "What do you do when you catch a catfish?" Well I guess by now you have the answer to your question in case not: Because everybody puts them back in ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greatwhitefin Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 hey hows it goin, i love the fishin hawkesbury, but those bloody catfish n eels annoy me specialy when taken a catfish of my hook one day one of the spikes pierced the palm of my hand , it felt like a bloody bee sting for 2-3 hours, i find if you keep your bait off the bottom youll get less if not none of the critters, hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyshfood Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 3 ways to reduce catties 1 fish d smaller tides 2 keep out of d main current ie. fish the edges of the current but not in it. 3 try using cook gut 4 bait this should not only decrease your catfish capture but almost eliminate it. hopa this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idol threats Posted January 13, 2010 Author Share Posted January 13, 2010 Thanks guys I will try some of these methods and see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreamChaser Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I know this is probably not the right thing to say but here we go anyway..... What don't we all as a group make aq pack not to return and catfish caught to the system (the same as we do for carp).... Thoughts? Are we in agreeance??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewgaffer Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Striking less catfish during smaller tides does ring a bell...I wouldn't be surprised if these criitters aren't affected by moons and go into a state of frenzy and sheer gluttony to the point of exploding and become lunatic like with joy or something when they don't...I wouldn't mind sending out a few teams of these mobile phone canvassers or the kitchen cleaner ladies to do a survey among householders, there's got to be human equivalents too. Cheers jewgaffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cameldownunder Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I have a mincer and a cat, so the issue with what to do with a catfish is resolved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bagga Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 I have a mincer and a cat, so the issue with what to do with a catfish is resolved. I catch more catfish in the Hawkesbury system after its been flushed from days of rain like we had over xmas. This may explain why you are getting more of them now. Fish the cleaner water in front of the dirtier water during tidal changes and see if that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harold Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Nuke Em i say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 water quality has a huge influence on the catfish the more rain we get the more prevalent the cat fish are. During the last period of drought prior to 07 i did not catch a cat fish for 4-5 years, but insaying that the pike eels were in plague proportion. now i find they are of equal proportion so we are in a fase period where the pikies are on the way back and the cat fish are slowly deminishing. Now with the tides, you will find on any small tide they will be feeding at more of an intense state. A couple of ways of avoiding them are to, use whole butterflied baits on a single hook rig as they will not eat the head of a slimey, mullet or yakka. When using squid on a 2 hook rig you must use a extra long trace (3m). They are also more prevalent at night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mondo Rock Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 What don't we all as a group make aq pack not to return and catfish caught to the system (the same as we do for carp).... Not to be a wet blanket, but I think it's worth noting that catfish are native to the Hawkesbury while carp are an introduced pest. Killing large numbers of a native species simply because we don't like them is arguably not the sort of behaviour we recreational fishermen should participate in (even though we probably all sympathise with the basic idea). Of course if the catfish numbers have been artificially inflated due to some sort of human activity then that's a totally different story . . . By the way - are the catfish we catch in the Hawkesbury the same as the catfish up north? Cause they sell those catfish as 'Silver Cobbler', and as far as I know they are quite edible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monch Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 It seems you have provided a question to your own question. the only bait I have used that dosent seem to catch them are live bait and lures , any thoughts? From your statement, my only guess is to try with more live baits and lures... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachwormer Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 By the way - are the catfish we catch in the Hawkesbury the same as the catfish up north? Cause they sell those catfish as 'Silver Cobbler', and as far as I know they are quite edible. See Link: http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/docs/sof/2005/sof20052006-0603.pdf Looks like a different kettle of you know what! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevo064 Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 the ugly fish nobody wanted eh? oz is the only country where the appearance of the catfish killed a fledgling industry. this is a quote from the link if you can't be bothered to read it."Generally catfish are excellent eating straight from the pond or dam without any off flavours. However some river catfish have been reported with off flavours. Catfish do not have scales as such and to eat them it is a relatively easy exercise. Just use a whole uncleaned fish and cut the fillets off and then fillet the skin off the fillet and you are finished in very little time. The resulting fillet is very clean without any further processing necessary. When cooked the flesh is very white and quite firm with an excellent taste." in my family we have a saying that if you turn your nose up at food you've never gone hungry.http://www.nswaqua.com.au/information-catfish.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrpasqualie Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 ask Byron, the Jewgaffer, the guy is known for his knowledge of the hawksburry. Hi I find if you are fishing on the mud , you do get catfish and eels. However if you are near structure, you also get jewfish and flathead. It can help to lift your baits off the bottom. I find live baits work well for less catfish. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singers83 Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 I think they're different.... I spent a few years in far north WA, and would be plagued by these fellas while barra fishing, even on lure!!!!.... Cobblers are a forked tail catfish and prefer the fresh to brackish creeks, very warm water. Those in the Hawkesbury are stinky old eel-tailed catfish, even the crabs wont touch 'em! Maybe try targeting pelagics!!! Im yet to see a catfish hit a skirted lure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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