Mike89 Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 (edited) I'm sure there are a few people here who might laugh at the idea of targeting carp but I've been keen on this fish for a while now trying to find out somewhere I'd be likely to find them and could legally fish for them. Heard Manly Dam holds a few and went out on Saturday for a bit of recon. Ended up fishing for a little while and came up with zilch. Came back to the dam again this afternoon after calling the quits on a windy session with a mate over at the Spit. Savit, blackfish angler and Big Neil all provided some useful tips both for targeting carp and fishing the dam. Tried a short trace with a running ball sinker and corn kernels for bait. Did have to battle some snags on weed and rocks and lost a couple of leaders but did turn up trumps on the fishing. After a bit of burley and a long wait I finally had a couple of successive tugs on my line and then felt a hefty weight on the other end and realised I was on! The fish was a sluggish fighter but did make a couple of runs up close. A surface splash as he came in revealed him to be the fish that I was targeting, and a nice one at that. Ran him around a bit before he flopped over in surrender as my girlfriend expertly scooped him into the net. Came in at a few kilo and 50cm on the dot. Stoked to have bagged a nice fat fish and have another species crossed of the list! Thanks to Savit, BA and Big Neil for the tips. Edited October 3, 2016 by Mike89 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Well done Mike. That's a decent sized Carp you've caught mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savit Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Finally someone caught something from that dam! Well done Mike, PM me if you are interested in a bigger one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackfish angler Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Some fine carp taken from that dam well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbuttigieg Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Nothing wrong with carp, especially on light gear when the location allows for it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frayed_Knot Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Nice sized carp, i bet it was worth the hard work and consistent trying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cargo05 Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Good carp that. Although they are a pest species, and to my mind inedible, they are a good sport fish on light gear. Just don’t return them to the water. Another good bait to try is worms. The CSIRO are testing a Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3), to help eradicate, or at least curb the number of carp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnsey Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Great fish Mike. I ran around the dam a few weeks ago and was thinking of trying for some near the dam wall. You have to wonder why they go for corn kernels! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike89 Posted October 4, 2016 Author Share Posted October 4, 2016 Cheers guys, yes I was pretty happy with the fish. Will definitely be back there to take another crack at them as a nice change from saltwater. Corn was a suggestion from a couple of raiders here. Did the job. As an aside, it is certainly sad to see how these fish have decimated native stocks. I hope in time the scientists can figure out an effective control method to reduce numbers and breath some life back into our native freshwater species. This virus does sound promising. Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilledFisho Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 (edited) Carp on light gear is the good fun. My parents come from Czech republic and its a Christmas tradition to eat carp for a main meal. LOOK i did fillet the carp and skin it to have some really nice looking fillets for mum to cook up. I think skinning them gets rid of any dis-tasteful flavors. She cooked em and said they were delicious! i tried a bit and was well supersized. From all the hype in Aus about how bad they are to eat. Thick fillets, when cooked stayed very firm. Add garlic butter etc and true to be said a really underestimated fish. they fight well on light gear, is always the better op. Get the carp out of our OZ water ways, but eat them at the same time.specially in clearer water the fish will %100 taste good. Edited October 4, 2016 by chilledFisho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savit Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Carp on light gear is the good fun. My parents come from Czech republic and its a Christmas tradition to eat carp for a main meal. LOOK i did fillet the carp and skin it to have some really nice looking fillets for mum to cook up. I think skinning them gets rid of any dis-tasteful flavors. She cooked em and said they were delicious! i tried a bit and was well supersized. From all the hype in Aus about how bad they are to eat. Thick fillets, when cooked stayed very firm. Add garlic butter etc and true to be said a really underestimated fish. they fight well on light gear, is always the better op. Get the carp out of our OZ water ways, but eat them at the same time.specially in clearer water the fish will %100 taste good. The problem (at least for me) is small bones in the carp filet - like in most freshwater species. I love redfins caught in clean water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaohuang Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 That's a good size, one less pest in our waterways! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Great fish Mike. I ran around the dam a few weeks ago and was thinking of trying for some near the dam wall. You have to wonder why they go for corn kernels! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ...or bread, for that matter. I don't think they are very selective eaters. Their feeding habit is to suck in the mud, extract the food and spit out the rest. They are excellent value on light gear. Don't think I could be persuaded to eat them though. Too many other good table fish around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivo Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 That's a good carp, i'll have to bring some bait next time I go to the dam. I've been a few times and flicked some plastics around for nothing, although I wasn't sure what was actually in there. Have heard they also have some redfin? Anyone with info on that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frayed_Knot Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 That's a good carp, i'll have to bring some bait next time I go to the dam. I've been a few times and flicked some plastics around for nothing, although I wasn't sure what was actually in there. Have heard they also have some redfin? Anyone with info on that? Have heard stories about fishermen catching redfin in the dam but they say aren't very common Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markgw Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 I've have caught a few tiny redfin (and bass), on celtas and small z-man grub plastics. Usually fish along the lily / weed beds at the Nth Side of the wall and up the back of the dam, away from the picnic areas (western end of road/ carpark). Takes a while to find a patch of reds but once they're around they can be annoyingly fun. Haven't fished the dam with bait but it's something I'll do this summer. Also wouldn't mind getting a yellowbelly this season.... http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.php?showtopic=25952 If I see you down there Mike, I'll say gday. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaoriArcher Posted October 8, 2016 Share Posted October 8, 2016 Nice fish mate, I was reading a book by Hunter and Angler Steven Rinella and he used carb as a main dish at a thanks giving feast he was preparing purely out of Wild meats he'd procured himself. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wise one Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Quite a few bass in the dam too. Biggest to date 40cm but most are 20-25cm. I target them on tiny hard bodies cast and trolled from my kayak. Nice relaxing hour or two and over the last 2 years I have only had one trip with no fish. Not sure why there are no big bass in the dam... Also, all the redfin seem to be 10-20cm long - again you would have thought some would grow bigger? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivo Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Quite a few bass in the dam too. Biggest to date 40cm but most are 20-25cm. I target them on tiny hard bodies cast and trolled from my kayak. Nice relaxing hour or two and over the last 2 years I have only had one trip with no fish. Not sure why there are no big bass in the dam... Also, all the redfin seem to be 10-20cm long - again you would have thought some would grow bigger? That's one of the major problems with redfin, they thrive so well in Australian waters that you get swarms of fish in the 10-20cm range, with none able to grow any bigger due to competition for food. That competition is also (apparently) one of the reasons why they love red lures/sp's, because it mimics the redfin fry that larger redfin often eat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wise one Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Maybe, although I only ever seem to get 2 or 3 Redfin per session so they don't seem to be in plague proportions in Manly Dam? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Pugwash Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 There are lots of redfin and small bass in the dam. I think Ivo is correct. The redfin breed in plague proportions, as do the carp. I believe there is insufficient natural food production to keep up with the amount of fish in the dam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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