Carp Blitz

[Member]

BATHURST anglers may have removed more carp from local waterways during the annual Carp Blitz recently, but it was a case of quality over quantity for Sofala fishers at the weekend.
While the Bathurst Carp Blitz removed about 1000 kilograms of feral fish from the Macquarie River on November 6, participants in the Sofala blitz on Sunday pulled just 130kg from the Turon. 
But if size matters, then Sofala was a clear winner.
Fly fisherman Peter Hanrahan landed a massive 9.17kg carp ( 22 ½ lb ) on Sunday with a pink bead head Woolly Bugger.
And not far behind him was Fred Pearce, who pulled in an 8.32kg carp.
Both of those catches dwarfed the biggest fish landed during the Bathurst blitz – a 7.23kg golden perch caught by Kyle Ryan on a Stump Jumper.
All children who attended received a prize of some kind with twenty four receiving brand new rods and reels generously donated by Pure Fishing  http://www.purefishing.com.au/ .
We are greatly indebted to Pure Fishing for supplying so much quality gear for an event far removed from the “Big City “many thanks from the excited kids who were the recipients.
NSW DPI ‘S Brett Smith also ran kids fishing clinics throughout the day and these were hugely successful and sought after by kids and adults alike. The kids fishing clinics in my mind some of the best way to use funds raised from the purchase of fishing licenses.
.Brett was ably supported by Fish Care Volunteers as well as NSW DPI Fisheries Compliance Officers.
Other prize winners on the day included Craig Murphy, who had the biggest bag, of fish
 Kira Roach, who‘s fish matched the secret weight, and Bink Osborne, who was the oldest registered angler.
Lacy Wright was the youngest angler and Penny Murphy caught the biggest red fin.
Twenty four children from under 5yrs to 16 yrs won a rod and reel for both boy and girl in every age group
Clayton Miller, from the Central West Catchment Management Authority, also attended, supplying financial support and prizes and presenting the majority of prizes.
Almost $2000 was raised on the day, to be used to purchase native fish for release in the Turon and Crudine rivers.
Many anglers caught lots of Trout but the majority of these were returned to the water as Trout were not part of the competition.
The Turon is very healthy at the moment with fewer numbers of carp , a few Red fin , thousands of Rainbow and Brown Trout , the clouds of Gambusia seem to have reduced  and the endangered Booralong Frog is being found in more locations so all in all the Turon has a good report card .
Three thousand dollars worth of native fish are due for release into the Turon and Crudine Rivers early in the new year , these from last year’s funds raised and the NSW Gov $4$ program .

[Member]

haha Pete sure was chuffed they are some huge carp.

steve

[Member]

A little bit of me always thinks carp culls are counter productive. They are capable of populating a waterway very quickly. Thin them out and I reckon you're gonna see perfect conditions for a population boom. Satisfies the blood lust for a few days every year. Next year, or the year after, same old same old. Anyone hear of eradicating carp this way? I think its a lost cause. Wonder how many cane toad larvae they eat?
Cheers John.

[Member]

A little bit of me always thinks carp culls are counter productive. They are capable of populating a waterway very quickly. Thin them out and I reckon you're gonna see perfect conditions for a population boom. Satisfies the blood lust for a few days every year. Next year, or the year after, same old same old. Anyone hear of eradicating carp this way? I think its a lost cause. Wonder how many cane toad larvae they eat?
Cheers John.

John I suppose its a bit like not shooting rabbits because they are too thick , we have seen this area go from large numbers of carp  now to a lot less with clear water , thousands of trout inhabit the water way now and a lot say one of the hottest trout fisheries around at the moment , the clouds of Gambusia that were present B4 dont seem to be there now and the endangered Booralong Frog is being found in areas we are stocking ( to an extent we have some stocking sites rejected because of the frog ) I believe the Trout are cleaning up the Gambusia which were fin nipping the Booralong Tadpoles and killing them .  How many cane toad larvae do they eat ? none as we dont have them here . How many Booralong Frog larvae may be another question !
How many eggs were removed on the day which were about to be spawned into the river ?? millions  upon millions , see attached photo of the eggs removed from just one fish .
Counter productive , we have clear water , can catch trout in the upper section , natives in the lower section and have a river that looks like it belongs back in the 70's , sorry you won't convince me , yes they can repopulate quick but haven't done so here as they have done so lower down in the system where fisheries are reporting numbers have increased by 4000 % since floods of early this year and late last year .
Probably the main objective is to involve kids in fishing and the Carp Cull does that on the day in trumps , the local kids are killing carp year round ( we run a comp over the Trout season ) where kids weigh carp in for prizes of fishing gear at the season close , does this work ? yes the kids are removing carp in big numbers ,to such an extent a few of the water holes in town are now carp free ( yes the next flood may change that but the kids are ready to attack )
How is the fishing for native fish ? hmm not going to say too much
Was a lot of people saying that stocking and carp kills wouldn't work three years ago when we started and now some of them are our staunchest supporters , there are also a few unconfirmed reports of a few Trout cod being caught .
I respect you opinion , would like for you to see the results achieved so far .
I dont think doing nothing is the answer , maybe the herpes virus will be the answer , in the meantime trapping and catching and removing seems to be our best option !
Regards
Ken Smith

[Member]

lower down in the system where fisheries are reporting numbers have increased by 4000 % since floods of early this year and late last year .

So you guys have less carp there, meanwhile downstream, following floods they have 4,000% more. Mebbe more floods are the answer. Could the water clarity and weed issue have been improved by the flush out of the floods?
Cheers John.
P.s I'm not suggesting doing nothing, just not convinced that culls achieve any real/lasting benefits.

[Member]

Doing something is better than doing nothing regardless of how effective it is. I think these Carp Musters are a great idea in that ever dead carp is the best kind of Carp. It also brings the community together and educates the kids about best fishing practices. In the Dumaresq up here where I fish for Cod the carp problem was emormous, you could almosy walk across the river on the backs of the Carp. The river was then (overststocked) with Cod and the Cod simply chewed their way through the Carp population. You hardly ever see one now. Give the natives a chance to get on top and those bloody imports will get the true meaning of Top Predator.
Cheers
John

[Member]

Johnv If anything its a great event for communtities and familys to have a bit of fun . I see no harm in doing it and wish carpbusters would start doing it again up here.

Steve

[Member]

river was then (overststocked) with Cod and the Cod simply chewed their way through the Carp population. You hardly ever see one now. Give the natives a chance to get on top and those bloody imports will get the true meaning of Top Predator.

There you go, problem solved. I'd rather see kids learning to stock natives than teaching them to beat fish to death because they didn't "conform".

[Member]

So you guys have less carp there, meanwhile downstream, following floods they have 4,000% more. Mebbe more floods are the answer. Could the water clarity and weed issue have been improved by the flush out of the floods?
Cheers John.
P.s I'm not suggesting doing nothing, just not convinced that culls achieve any real/lasting benefits.

John , re floods   http://www.fishingworld.com.au/news/carp-numbers-choking-murray-darling ( no definitely not the answer see link )

achieve any real/lasting benefits.  , the real /lasting benefits are the thousands of children that are introduced to the sport of angling and stick with it for life , no better lasting benefit can I think of , yes and stocking natives I believe are part of the answer ( we have now stocked thousands of Murray Cod and Golden Perch from money raised from Carp Blitz's or "Culls " )
Pure Fishing have given dozens of combo's to kids who have taken to fishing because of family days such as this , what a start to their fishing experience !

Yes some still criticise us for killing carp , they believe all carp should be returned alive to the water from where it was caught .
You have your views I have mine and others have differing opinions and I respect them  but I will continue to kill as many carp when ever and where ever I can .
Cheers
Ken Smith

This years Bathurst Event saw both Rainbow and Brown Trout caught as well as Golden Perch , this has not happened before in the preceeding years events !

[Member]

Speaking of "bloody imports" I have the feeling we will never get to see an organised troutbusters comp. Praising trout fisheries does seem to appear contrary to your main objective in supporting carpbusters. I view newspaper/magazine articles with a slightly different slant. While the Fairfax, New limited right down to the local rags of the world would never ever mislead us. They are a bit like the internet. All written by people with an agenda. Even if that agenda is only about popularity, sales, keeping themselves employed and filling in space between advertisers. Journalismbusters!   
Cheers John.

[Member]

Hmmm, to quote another misguided zealot, Crikey! The carp and their prolific breeding is a massive problem and as far as I'm concerned they need to be gotten rid of by any means fair or foul. The issue of "other imports" ie trout is somewhat different, they seem to have assimilated well within our ecosystem and as far as I know have not significantly challenged any native species. Redfin may as well be added to the list as they breed prolifically like Carp. But unlike Carp they are at least pretty fair on the plate.
John I'm at something of a loss as to how you got onto the Journo bashing thing. I used to be one but my activities were so far removed from News Of the World and its kind that we may well have come from a different solar system. However when it's all said and done a forum is a place where views may be expressed without any need to degrade those of a differing point of view. I hope it remains that way. By the way the overstocking I referred to was not done with the aim of eradicating the Carp, it was done by well meaning but unco-ordinated folk who merely wanted more Cod in the river. The sheer weight of numbers ensured the Carp had a limited future. I don't think that overstocking is the idea answer however. It can raise more concerns than it remedies. There is now so many cod they are all competing for a limited food resource which has resulted in stunted growth in the Cod population now that they have chewed their way thru all the Carp.
Cheers,
JD

[Member]

Journobashing, I just read the article that was offered as being a definitive rebuttal to my suggestion that the floods could have washed fish downstream and cleared up the waters a little. It didn't realy convince me.
Unfortunately the article took a turn for the worse when it was suggested that we/they/whoever release a virus, probably a genetically tweaked virus to deal with carp. Of course that kind of thing has never gone wrong before. Viruses have a way of adapting and biting us on the arse. Probably from the inside
Bottom line (pun intended a little bit) I don't disagree with the sentiment that carp do not belong in Australian waters. I don't believe they are going away either.
Hey we are on the same side I too would like to see an improvement in waterways. I also think a lot of "stakeholders" are pleased that carp get blamed for the WHOLE problem.
Cheers John.

[Member]

Yeh John it's easy to blame the Carp for everything but WW11, but most of us are too switched on to believe any of that. There are a number of important factors at work here. Not the least of which is riparian vegetation along river banks. But you have to fight the fight you have a chance of winning and at least making some sort of a difference. The Carp Musters provide a vehicle for all sorts of positive outcomes even though it's doubtful that we will ever be rid of them, you've still got to have a go. I have a problem with re stocking rivers that are open to the sea for one thing. If the river is over fished, but healthy then controlled restocking may be useful. But where a river is in trouble due to any number of factors then restocking is literally throwing money away. You have to get the waterway healthy again before you put fish into it. My preference is for fishing clubs to raise money to be donated to Land Care on the stipulation that it is used to repair bankside vegetation and work with farmers to get the cattle to drink from troughs rather than the river. I could go on but I won't.
Cheers,
JD

[Member]

If the only thing achieved is the "awareness" of the problem especially in the younger generation it has to be a good thing. I too agree that stocking trout is counter productive as you can't tell me that a trout won't eat a native fingerling if it got the oppurtunity. Getting rid of the carp (or thinning numbers)   in this manner has alot of other benefits to the community other than just improving water quality and I think the "awareness" previously mentioned can only help to make people stop and think of their own and others actions. Land degradation especially the riparian zone as mentioned would have to be the biggest contributor to poor water conditions - just have a look at the Murray in South Australia at the a#se end of all of this. Cheers Pat.

[Member]

Good comment Pat, but I think that the trout restocking is usually done in waters where Cod, Yellas and Bass seldom inhabit seeing as how they are primarily a cold water fish. However they may knock some of the smaller native species about that we probably lump into a bunch as "baitfish". On balance though, it would appear that the aggressive nature of most native fish handles the trout reasonably well. I don't fish for trout so honestly can't be certain, but if they were any real problem we would not have fisheries facilities like Snobs Creek in Vic or the Ebor hatchery. We certainly do not have anything like that operating regarding Carp or Redfin.
Cheers
John