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So, what do you do when the weather has locally has been crap, the free time coastal jaunts have revealed ordinary forecasts and a trip into the mountains gets canned due to inclement weather?
Well round these parts we go Carp Fishing, and with so many local lakes to bag a Euro from the hardest part has been just making up our minds where to fish. Take your pick, there all full of them and in large numbers. Firstly we recently went down to the upper parts of Lake Tuggeranong (Opposite Bunnings) and wailed them, The action started off pretty slow and we were a hairs width away from moving on to find some place more promising when they mooched on in. Rigs of choice were the fabled Jindy Rig (1m leader, split shot, running ball above) and a Canadian hair rig (medium hook, braided hair, bait threader, small leader, large sinker).
This was the first time I had used a hair rig and I was a little sceptical at first due to the open gape and especially the Power Pro braided leader and hair. Needless to say the specialist Carp rigs worked really well and we landed around 8 fish and lost 3 or so more. Bait was mainly corn kernels but Chartreuse Powerbait nuggets were employed either stand alone or combined with the Corn. I was fishing with Tim and his mate Serge (Two Canadians) so hopes were high of an Australian victory on what was once bogan home soil (Since graduated to Northside standing). Serge landed a cracker after an hour of scattering berley, followed by Tim, then Serge, then Tim, oh wait I'm on, no I'm not, then Tim, the Serge... You get the drift, nil result for the local. Still, great times with the Maple leaves and learned the subtle art of the hair.
Well round these parts we go Carp Fishing, and with so many local lakes to bag a Euro from the hardest part has been just making up our minds where to fish. Take your pick, there all full of them and in large numbers. Firstly we recently went down to the upper parts of Lake Tuggeranong (Opposite Bunnings) and wailed them, The action started off pretty slow and we were a hairs width away from moving on to find some place more promising when they mooched on in. Rigs of choice were the fabled Jindy Rig (1m leader, split shot, running ball above) and a Canadian hair rig (medium hook, braided hair, bait threader, small leader, large sinker).
This was the first time I had used a hair rig and I was a little sceptical at first due to the open gape and especially the Power Pro braided leader and hair. Needless to say the specialist Carp rigs worked really well and we landed around 8 fish and lost 3 or so more. Bait was mainly corn kernels but Chartreuse Powerbait nuggets were employed either stand alone or combined with the Corn. I was fishing with Tim and his mate Serge (Two Canadians) so hopes were high of an Australian victory on what was once bogan home soil (Since graduated to Northside standing). Serge landed a cracker after an hour of scattering berley, followed by Tim, then Serge, then Tim, oh wait I'm on, no I'm not, then Tim, the Serge... You get the drift, nil result for the local. Still, great times with the Maple leaves and learned the subtle art of the hair.
Secondly a bunch of us decided to take the better halves and kiddies for a picnic morning/day to another arena known as Lake Ginninderra (This time, Northside Canberra). Over the years there has been a particular possie that always seemed to be inhabited by those in the know (Long rods, fancy bite alarms, slingshots) and after a brief suss out the day before it was decided it would be worth staking a wintery claim. Conditions were great, little wind, cold start but the barometer was most likely too high for impressive results (That's what I am blaming anyway). With new found hair rig skills and a profound tier of them onboard we donned them proper and awaited the onslaught. Factoring in the one or so hour berley trail wait we held our ground but relaxed our gaze, focusing on family rather than fishing.
Activity on the water slowly started picking up but it wasn't until early afternoon before things got interesting (We arrived at 10am, long wait). Schools of Goldfish started appearing, at first a dozen or so, followed by a school football oval sized flock (Well, scattered around in large numbers anyway). Jason switched to a size 8 Mosquito hook and tried slow sinking small clumps down to them, eventually hooking and landing what looked like a small Carp but was in fact quite a large Goldfish. It's at this stage we packed up and threw in the towel, just when things were starting to get interesting. As a resident of Canberra I forget we have our own sportsfish, I guess I'm scared to label them as that (No, not the Goldfish) due to the bad publicity they so rightly deserve. I'm sure you get some sort of glowing reputation and bad karma points when you glam up days chasing Carp, but when the weather is foul, it is what it is and you don't leave the hub.
Activity on the water slowly started picking up but it wasn't until early afternoon before things got interesting (We arrived at 10am, long wait). Schools of Goldfish started appearing, at first a dozen or so, followed by a school football oval sized flock (Well, scattered around in large numbers anyway). Jason switched to a size 8 Mosquito hook and tried slow sinking small clumps down to them, eventually hooking and landing what looked like a small Carp but was in fact quite a large Goldfish. It's at this stage we packed up and threw in the towel, just when things were starting to get interesting. As a resident of Canberra I forget we have our own sportsfish, I guess I'm scared to label them as that (No, not the Goldfish) due to the bad publicity they so rightly deserve. I'm sure you get some sort of glowing reputation and bad karma points when you glam up days chasing Carp, but when the weather is foul, it is what it is and you don't leave the hub.
