omnimaqq Posted May 27, 2017 Share Posted May 27, 2017 Being in the Southern Highlands over the weekend and recently picked up fishing, thought I'd give river fishing a go. Have never done river fishing before so headed down to the Wingecarribee River which supposedly is full of carp. There's a fishing platform near Oxley college near the railway which was perfect for a few flicks. Researched prior to that on fishraider on tips on catching carp so using a small hook and filling it with sweet corn, threw corn pellets and bread near the structure and flicked the line not very far. Let the hook sink to the bottom and waited for the line to drift on its own which meant the carp was hooked! First ever fish using the rod!! Then we caught about 6 more. Cooked these pests in the fry pan and it actually tasted very sweet (unlike the posts here that say it tastes like mud). Though there was a lot of small bones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonywardle Posted May 27, 2017 Share Posted May 27, 2017 They look kinda tasty! There is a carp cookbook produced by the DPI. Worth a read http://riversofcarbon.org.au/latestnews/cooking-carp-with-luke-pearce/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdanger Posted May 27, 2017 Share Posted May 27, 2017 Europeans love em. The owners of the wollondilly river station swear by them too. Caught my first carp there and gave it to them since I wasn't keen. Worth noting that the Wollondilly is a sandy/rocky river so very clean, not sure if the same applies to the Wingecarribee too. Good haul & first post. Welcome to the forums. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted May 27, 2017 Share Posted May 27, 2017 Welcome to Fishraider omnimaqq. I must admit to being quite interested in your report. Carp are bottom feeders and affected by the nature of the bottom of waterways which they suck up. Hence many taste very muddy whilst others don't. Well done on your successful research and subsequent application of learned information. They are great fun to catch, especially on fairly light tackle. Cheers, BN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elferoz777 Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 When i first looked at the pics i thiught you has some redfin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickmarlin62 Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 they are excellent bait for tiger sharks...just the smell of them turns me off trying them...rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omnimaqq Posted May 28, 2017 Author Share Posted May 28, 2017 4 hours ago, jdanger said: Europeans love em. The owners of the wollondilly river station swear by them too. Caught my first carp there and gave it to them since I wasn't keen. Worth noting that the Wollondilly is a sandy/rocky river so very clean, not sure if the same applies to the Wingecarribee too. Good haul & first post. Welcome to the forums. . Thank you! I'm not sure about Wingecarribee either but apparently Berrima has annual carp fishing competitions and cook them up on the BBQ so I assumed it was ok. I feel fine today so far so that's a good sign? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omnimaqq Posted May 28, 2017 Author Share Posted May 28, 2017 41 minutes ago, elferoz777 said: When i first looked at the pics i thiught you has some redfin I just looked up redfin, the tail colour does look similar!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omnimaqq Posted May 28, 2017 Author Share Posted May 28, 2017 4 hours ago, big Neil said: Welcome to Fishraider omnimaqq. I must admit to being quite interested in your report. Carp are bottom feeders and affected by the nature of the bottom of waterways which they suck up. Hence many taste very muddy whilst others don't. Well done on your successful research and subsequent application of learned information. They are great fun to catch, especially on fairly light tackle. Cheers, BN The river we were at was definitely very muddy looking. Couldn't see the bottom at all. I suspect the size of the carp also indicates it hasn't been there for long which means less of a muddy taste. All thanks to this forum next up squidding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 Good luck buddy. BN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volitan Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 Those don't look like carp to me - either body shape or the red fins. They look like roach or rudd. On the other hand they do seem to have barbels. not sure either way ps. Many years ago in NZ we caught some fish we thought were carp and took them home and ate them. We learnt later they were goldfish. Lots of small bones. photo of Rudd attached Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omnimaqq Posted May 28, 2017 Author Share Posted May 28, 2017 19 minutes ago, Volitan said: Those don't look like carp to me - either body shape or the red fins. They look like roach or rudd. On the other hand they do seem to have barbels. not sure either way ps. Many years ago in NZ we caught some fish we thought were carp and took them home and ate them. We learnt later they were goldfish. Lots of small bones. photo of Rudd attached OK now I'm not sure what I caught... The colour looks like Rudd but the body looks silver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omnimaqq Posted May 28, 2017 Author Share Posted May 28, 2017 I am genuinely confused now regarding what fish it was. It had those tiny whiskers on its mouth which I thought carp had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volitan Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 (edited) Yep, I think the little whiskers (barbels) are found on carp and not roach/Rudd. dorsal fin looks more carp-like too. i'm not sure either - the body shape just seems wrong, and the red fins ... are there any other Ciprinid species out there in Aus? Edited May 28, 2017 by Volitan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volitan Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 If they are carp then they are a nice colour and nice shape. Like they had been living in fast running water. Not your usual long, brown mud-suckers. could be worth a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnDory Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 You caught Carp Those BBQ photos looked nice Next catch i will try one JD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 Have seen, and caught, carp with a red tinge on the fins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omnimaqq Posted May 28, 2017 Author Share Posted May 28, 2017 1 minute ago, Yowie said: Have seen, and caught, carp with a red tinge on the fins. That gives me a peace of mind. Thanks Yowie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houdini Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 I think there are many different strains of "carp" in Australia and some interbreed creating lots of different colour and shape variations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARC H Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 cant believe they tasted nice have caught them but never tasted one as i wasnt to keen by what if heard cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regan Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 looks like a carp to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omnimaqq Posted May 29, 2017 Author Share Posted May 29, 2017 2 hours ago, ARC H said: cant believe they tasted nice have caught them but never tasted one as i wasnt to keen by what if heard cheers Neither was I from the reports I've seen. Maybe it was the specific cross breed of carp or the river, but tasted very sweet almost sugar like. Heaps of spike though so takes a while to get through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARC H Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 1 minute ago, omnimaqq said: Neither was I from the reports I've seen. Maybe it was the specific cross breed of carp or the river, but tasted very sweet almost sugar like. Heaps of spike though so takes a while to get through. yeah ok good onya for trying cheers ARC H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beejay81 Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 I know this was nearly a week ago but... Thats really cool to see some clean eating "common carp" caught, but they are still a noxious pest. The silver with reddish fins is what we called "common" carp, and were pretty rare in the western rivers compares to the dirty great euro and mirror carp (damn they are ugly looking things). Here's a page with pic's from QLD DPI with s similar looking image https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/fisheries/pest-fish/noxious-fish/carp If these are the same species as the big yellow and black euros we get out west, then they must be staying alot smaller and cleaner in the eastern rocky rivers. Typical euro's from an old article http://www.fishingworld.com.au/news/carp-the-australian-story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 Exactly what Beejay says! They are Carp. This species comes in many forms from light silvery through golden to black. Their fins can be very pale through to bright red and golden, too. The distinctive feature is the barbels which they use to feel out food as they "vacuum the bottom". BN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now