Carp

[Glenda]

Hi Bernd
It's funny but in most states in Australia it is law that you must kill any carp caught because of the damage they inflict on other species. I have never caught a carp nor would I want to for that very reason.....I like to catch and release fish back to the water.

Ps I am forever envious of your fishing life! Great photos per usual and great FP - thank you, I learn a lot!

[Harps]

Bernd, great fp.
My first carp was caught on an elk hair caddis on the cast following a release of a small mouth bass on the same fly.
The EHC is not typically used as a carp fly here.

Glenda, common carp are loved and hated here in N. America too. They are an invasive species and destroy native spawning habitats increase the turbidity of waterbodies when the feed - but they are also a desired species to fish for. It a struggle for fisheries managers to deal with... but if they can be prevented form spreading it would prevent potential harm to native ecosystems. Other species of car, such as Asian carp are a whole different issue.

(and I am very jealous of Bernd's fishing!)

[Paul Arden]

Damn I was really hoping to match Bernd's fish today. Hopefully this weekend.

[Stu Jamieson]

When having water A) and enough people starting to feed the carps soon they get conditioned to pick up everything entering the surface. Thus they get pretty easy to catch.

You could be onto something there. One of the places I fish for carp is in a small creek on a friend's farm. Naturally this creek get little fishing pressure. But the carp in this creek are generally difficult to catch - very spooky, very fly fussy! More difficult to catch than my usual haunt which would see a lot more human population. I thought the reverse would be true but the evidence shows the contrary.

[alex vulev]

its a popular fish among bait /pole,feeder/ coarse anglers in many parts of Europe . I landed a 2,5kg carp on a streamer while fishing for other fish in a small stillwater just before the bait brigade to come and groundbait the area.

[Bernd Ziesche]

Hi Stue,
this morning I fished a large crystal clear water lake. Extreme low fishing pressure. Few fish in the lake. I spotted a group of 5 carps slowly swimming in circles. For about 3 hours I tried to fool one to take my fly. Not the slightest response - even though I had their mouth no further away than maybe 2-3 inch several times (different patterns). Then I thought to learn about them and tried to get them eating bred from the surface. So we went to the bakeri shop. No reaction as well - takes serious time to condition them often. The carp in that lake are born naturally in that lake. They are simply staying to their natural feeding behaviour and that can be tricky. I saw two more carps feeding in a different place (same lake). They were feeding of the bottom. Snails etc.. That simply is hard to imitate.
Anyway - yesterday I got a take (same spot) and hit it a microsecond too early (maybe).

Damn I was really hoping to match Bernd's fish today. Hopefully this weekend.

I think you agree, I can't make it too easy for you!


Cheers
Bernd

[Bernd Ziesche]

in Australia it is law that you must kill any carp caught

Hi Glenda,
some laws are to ignore, I think!
Anglers won't solve such a invasion anyway!

I heard you are having huge pike perch in Australia, too (and nobody - in Australia - seems to like them). They are on my list when I will visit Australia!
Thanks for the feedback,
Bernd

[Blackwater]

in Australia it is law that you must kill any carp caught

Hi Glenda,
some laws are to ignore, I think!
Anglers won't solve such a invasion anyway!

I heard you are having huge pike perch in Australia, too (and nobody - in Australia - seems to like them). They are on my list when I will visit Australia!

When you come to Australia and see how many carp there actually are you might understand the reason for the laws in most areas that carp should not be returned to the water. We have lakes and rivers here that each hold millions of carp and they are destroying the habitat of our native species in many places. Anglers wont solve the problem but there is no need to help it along either. Here is a photo of a small school of carp in one of my old favourite trout streams. I have seen schools of many hundreds of carp in some of the lakes.


If you are talking about English perch or redfin as we call them here when you talk about pike perch there are places where some large fish can be caught. Lots of people here target them as they are one of the nicest eating freshwater fish available in many places. But...they are also a noxious species here and can carry a disease called epizootic haematopoietic necrosis (EHN) virus which effects some of our native species. One of which is an endangered species called Maquarie perch.

[Bernd Ziesche]

Ok, seems you have too many though. I'll catch some and bring them to Germany .
Killing a fish for other than eating it, is something I don't want to do. I don't think it is wrong in general but somehow it feels wrong to me. Someone (human) brought them in. So I think humans should bring them out and back either. Humans can deliever them alive so they should deliver them back alive, too. I don't know what is right or wrong here.
Cheers
Bernd

[Blackwater]

You can take back as many as you want Bernd. I prefer not to kill fish either unless I am putting them to good use but I don't see the law to remove carp any differently to shooting feral animals like foxes, rabbits, goats or pigs. They are all doing a lot of damage and need to be removed. If that means I have to kill the carp I catch so the native fishing is better in the future than thats a good enough reason to do it.

There have been companies netting carp to use for berley and fertiliser and they have never made a dent in the numbers of carp. The biggest problem is people spreading them around by using them for bait or stocking them to be fished for later on. At the moment there is talk of introducing a carp virus which will hopefully knock the numbers right down but that could still be a few years away.