Lockdown Carp

[SWFisho]

Hope everyone’s been staying strong during these tough times, everyone’s had to change the way they fish with everything that’s going on especially us bream fishos, but I’ve found the myself chasing the elusive carp and after checking in a few times and with my fair share of donut sessions I finally cracked a wild river carp on the Nepean that I was after.  
 

I’ve been chasing wild Carp in the river system for a couple of weeks now or longer and it’s taken me few sessions to figure out the system again since the floods everything has moved and changed it actually looks like totally different system. Also finding the fish first then the way they feed in such a big system was challenging at times but I finally cracked it. 

This felt all new to me since it wasn’t just carp feeding off the surface like it is in ponds and lakes around the, this was actually very interesting with all the research I ended up doing they aren’t as dumb as everyone thinks and all fish need respect I’m glad I had the connection with the one I caught today and learnt what I did In depth about these fish

 I headed down to a spot on the Nepean river At about midday, after I arrived at my spot that was packed with locals I made my way down to a spot where I could get a stretch of river to myself which is abit of a steep drop off since the floods have washed the river banks away, I decided to get my bread and corn baits out and my home made burley cranking.  After about 45 minutes of no action I decided to burley up again about an  into my session I was on, I had 2 set ups out and it took the lighter set up of course. 
 

my 2500 reel was screaming I had 6lb braid and 8lb leader on my Light set up so I knew I couldn’t pull to hard after a 25 minute battle and being dragged down the bank into the water with my phone falling in also i successfully landed my first wild river carp and also my PB going 75cm to the fork And approx weighing around 5kg+
 

After a few pictures I returned the fish to the water I couldn’t dispatch of the fish humanly so I decided to release it, I then wrapped it up after being soaked, plus having fish slime all over me from climbing up the bank with this brute in my arms and being harassed by local kayaking gangs of kids was enough for me to call it a day. 

 

 

Tight lines Swfisho 🤙🏽 

[JamoDamo]

Good fish! At this time I spose we all have to make do with what we have in our area to fish, who knows you might find your own little local honey hole . Next time you do get one I suggest you give it a friendly little pat on the head with a rock or bring a knife next time , but again well done mate.

[SWFisho]

9 minutes ago, JamoDamo said:

Good fish! At this time I spose we all have to make do with what we have in our area to fish, who knows you might find your own little local honey hole . Next time you do get one I suggest you give it a friendly little pat on the head with a rock or bring a knife next time , but again well done mate.

I wasn’t sure if was gonna land one or not but next time I’ll be packing the knife and it’ll be a Eradication session, I’m not sure how to dispose of them once they’re finished, I know people hang them in the trees but I’m not the type of person to do that people bury tilapia but that’s because of various reasons 

[JamoDamo]

20 minutes ago, SWFisho said:

I wasn’t sure if was gonna land one or not but next time I’ll be packing the knife and it’ll be a Eradication session, I’m not sure how to dispose of them once they’re finished, I know people hang them in the trees but I’m not the type of person to do that people bury tilapia but that’s because of various reasons 

Bury them at least 2 foot deep as when the birds get to them the eggs can get taken back to the river by the birds if they have any and you give the environment some free fertiliser! 

[hookerbruce]

That would have put up a good fight on light tackle. Has weight a big tail and they don't give  up.

When we are allowed to travel take a trip to one of the inland dams walk the flats with soft plastics or small lures sight casting to cruising fish is an exciting trip. We fish with 1 or 2 kg outfits. 

[masterfisho7]

Well done nice carp i used to get them with bow in my younger years those days are gone

[Yowie]

Good sized carp, and they do pull line at a bit of size.

[Rebel]

Great report and photos.

[dirvin21]

Nice carp, they're awesome sportfish, 

Disposing, just bury them otherwise they really stink when they start to rot

[SWFisho]

4 hours ago, hookerbruce said:

That would have put up a good fight on light tackle. Has weight a big tail and they don't give  up.

When we are allowed to travel take a trip to one of the inland dams walk the flats with soft plastics or small lures sight casting to cruising fish is an exciting trip. We fish with 1 or 2 kg outfits. 

Carp on a lure is one of my trophy catches, the thought of catching one on a small plastic makes me excited I’ll be sure to give a crack when I head inland to tick some more fresh water species off 

[Pickles]

Great report SWFisho. That carp on light gear was a stonker.

(Contrary to popular belief, It is NOT currently illegal to immediately return captured carp to the waters from which they were taken “defence under section 216 of the Fisheries Management Act”. However, NSW DPI encourages recreational fishers to retain and utilise any captured carp rather than returning them live to the water.)

Edited August 29, 2021 by Pickles

[kobi caught a fish]

On 8/29/2021 at 6:59 AM, hookerbruce said:

That would have put up a good fight on light tackle. Has weight a big tail and they don't give  up.

When we are allowed to travel take a trip to one of the inland dams walk the flats with soft plastics or small lures sight casting to cruising fish is an exciting trip. We fish with 1 or 2 kg outfits. 

yes they are fun to catch but can be hard to entice when they have there face in the mud.

[DaveBM]

Hardest pound for pound fighter after trevally in my experience.

I was able to fool myself I’d hooked a massive Murray cod once on the Goulburn river. Nope, just a slightly lazy 60cm carp.

[big Neil]

Well done with the 75cm Carp, they certainly do pull well and will test your angling skills on that gear. Often, when fishing in the tinny, I'll quickly kill the Carp, cut their underside open and put them back in the river. Nature will soon take care of them with rats, yabbies, shrimp doing what they do best. If I deliberately target them from the bank, I usually put them in a shallow hole. They stink worse than kangaroo road kill if left to decay above ground. Good luck with your future Carp adventures. bn

[SWFisho]

On 9/1/2021 at 5:09 AM, big Neil said:

Well done with the 75cm Carp, they certainly do pull well and will test your angling skills on that gear. Often, when fishing in the tinny, I'll quickly kill the Carp, cut their underside open and put them back in the river. Nature will soon take care of them with rats, yabbies, shrimp doing what they do best. If I deliberately target them from the bank, I usually put them in a shallow hole. They stink worse than kangaroo road kill if left to decay above ground. Good luck with your future Carp adventures. bn

Definitely put my skills to the test was lucky enough to be close enough to the fish also after ending up in the water so I had the fight in my favour after that, I’ll definitely be burying them from here on in hopefully the local kids don’t go digging lol I’d like to get a gaff of some sort to land them might make one out of an old broom stick 🤣