Gday Starlo, I do really well especially in these shallow lakes trolling on the electric rather then outboard. Could just be utter luck but seem to catch way more fish that way.
Well done guys, maybe when you are over again, we can team up a bit for Crescent, I'm no expert on there but I've caught my share on fly . It can break your heart but you only need one fish to make the day.
Hi Starlo, I have been fishing Googong Dam for Murray Cod and Yellas for a few years and I recently went for a fish with a mate and seen carp cruising the banks for the first time. They must have washed in with all the heavy flooding rains we have had over the last year or so. It is quite disappointing because they are already stirring up the mud and water clarity might never be the same again. I dont think they will ever be able to eradicate them now. 😢🎣
G'day Evan, I grew up fishing Googong and the upper Qbn River behind Burra. I lived out at Burra as a kid and spent a lot of time fishing at the London Bridge end of the dam, Burra Creek and The Cascades below the dam wall. Some awesome natives and great brown trout. The Brownies in the Qbn are some of he oldest established populations in the country. Used to be a lot of Silvers in the dam until the 2000 drought that pretty much dried it to a mud puddle. There is NO WAY for them to wash into Googong, none of the creeks or rivers upstream are connected to any of he Murrumbidgee Complex and they were all carp free. There is no flooding into the Queanbeyan River or Burra and Limestone creeks that would carry carp. It is more likely some git from the development that has gone in out there was using them as bait or introduced them to target as they could not get natives or Redfin. Idiots are idiots. The only other way is for eggs to be carried by birds. There was a good population of fancy goldfish in the dam back in the 80s and 90s. Some big comets also. Carp are not going to be much of a problem with the water clarity. That is a largely a fallacy, particularly in large, deep bodies of water like Googong. The catfish that are found in many rivers do much more active digging activity and they are not blamed for water clarity not erosion. I have often fished for big carp in crystal clear water, and natives in mud holes. The rivers we have here in Australia are not great for carp habitation as they are clay. This does lead to a bit of silting and low grade erosion, however, carp are used as a smokescreen for the real issues. Vegetation removal from the bank side means there are no roots holding soil together and buffering water flows. The removal of logs and other obstructions in the waterways allows more laminar flow and more erosion. Faster flows with no obstruction is also not good for native fish habitation who prefer slow and warmer waters with plenty of cover. All our water ways have many problems, but carp are very over rated as one of them. Water also flows into he river after rains faster and creates heavier flows. Not being impeded by vegetation and bankside scrub, Which in a natural situation holds water back and allows a lot of it to absorb into the surrounding ground, water just flows into the river anddown the channel, scouring the beds and silting them as it causes huge levels of siltation and erosion. Removal of the willows did our rivers no favours. In addition to this bank degradation, they also are a nutrient sink that absorbs a lot of fertilisers, they shade and cool rivers and so on. Nutrient + Light = Algae. Then the carp are blamed for causing algae blooms. Carp used to be kept in castle moats in Europe and Asia to sir the water and aerate it so that the water did not stagnate. Somehow, that changed when they came from the gin clear waters of Euro to the mud filled rivers of Aus and they became the most demonic fish on the planet between their introduction in the 1960s and now. The strain of Carp found in Australia is only found here, it is a hybridised variety called the Boolara Strain, from Victoria. Having said that, it is sad to hear that they are now in Googong, that does not bode well for the Upper Queanbeyan. However, expect some fast growth from those already fantastic cod and Yebblies. There needs to be less carp hate and more river rehabilitation.
@@AndrewFishman there's a lot of truth in what you say, but I have definitely seen waters significantly muddied by the feeding behaviour of carp. Wyangala Dam is a classic example. The bays (and times) when carp are most prolific and active there are marked by significantly dirtier water than the rest of the lake. I've also sight-fished carp in clear impoundments like Glenbawn in the Hunter catchment where their presence didn't seem to be having a huge impact on water clarity, although on my latest visit to that dam, the carp numbers had increased exponentially and their feeding behaviour was clearly causing at least short term turbidity in specific parts of the dam. Obviously the structure of the waterway itself and the composition of the banks and bed have a huge impact on how much influence the carp have over turbidity and, as you rightly point out, bad land clearing practices, stock accessing banks, urban and agricultural run-off etc, etc can all do far more damage than carp, but carp DEFINITELY play their part, and I have seen this with my own eyes on countless occasions. That's before we even get into issues like their destruction of aquatic vegetation, competition with other species for food, and the fact that they are a known vector for diseases and parasites such as anchor worm (lernaea). They are bad news in our waterways, simple as that... And their numbers are BOOMING following three wetter than average summers. I also agree with your assessment of how carp most likely entered Googong - via human interference. I can't think of anywhere upstream they could have come from, other than perhaps overflowing farm dams, and they'd only have been in those if put there. Whatever the case, it's not good news. You are spot-on that carp are often used as the easy "whipping boy" or target when examining degradation of our inland waterways. There are a LOT of other factors at play. Nonetheless, carp ARE both a symptom and a contributing factor to that degradation, and we should never, ever forget that, nor start apologising for them or "normalising" their presence and continuing spread.
@@StarloGetsReel Oh, I understand he problems carp and redfin, goldfish, tilapia and the numerous other species that have established feral populations cause. But, we could also extend that to trout if we want to. The Mountain Galaxia had a description "Once wide spread in the Murray-Darling basin, now restricted to small streams and area trout are not present." And the South American Gambusia is about the only minnow found in the local lakes. I am not apologising for carp or tying to say that their presnce is not problematic, I stated as much. I am, however, a realist and recognise that carp are more opportunists than demons. Wyangala is another dam I know well, and I would say that ,while carp activity has localised effects on water clarity, the wind and wave activity and the flow in has much greater effects. In times of low flow and calm weather Wyangala is clear as crystal. The Lachlan itself looks like you could walk on he mud at times of reasonable flow, it is not a clear water stream by any streatch of the imagination. About the only place clarity is a given is in the sandy stretches near Gunning. The wind canyons create some pretty good wave activity at times that greatly affects clarity as the turbulence stirs things up in the shallow bays. This is often coupled with carp activity as they are there for that very reason. Not creating it. The stirred up mud and low clarity provides them with cover in the shallow bays and stirs food up, thus encouraging fish activity. I have used this to find fish on many occasions. However, the fish are then also blamed. Correlation and causation... Yebblies follow the same pattern on Googong. Find the wind swept, muddied water bank, find the fish hunting on the transition zone. Same occurs with river clearing. Old mate has been catching cod from his favourite hole for years.Over winter, logs were cleared to prevent flood damage. This summer all the cod are gone and there are only carp. Therefore the carp pushed out the cod. It sure wasn't the removal of the cod habitat and the resulting increase in water flow as it is not buffered and no still water zones are created except being the odd rock or mud bank. Had to be the carp. As I said, though, I have illusions about the damage this could cause to the Upper Queanbeyan River and Burra Creek trout populations. The natives are all introuded and restocked, but the trout have not been restocked in many years. The breeding grounds of the Tinderries is crucial. My real concern is the Cotter River. Hopefully the Carp do not get above the dam there. There are holdout populations of blackfish and Maccas in the upper Cotter that will not withstand a carp invasion, they are already struggling against the trout.
@@AndrewFishman don't worry about the cotter. I've caught plenty of maccas below the dam, where there are carp, trout and a very degraded paddy's river. Native fish, trout and carp alike have enjoyed the last couple of years of high rainfall and lower temps, and I've never experienced better fishing or seen the rivers this healthy and teeming with life. Shame about the urban dams though - chocolate milk for three years running. I largely agree with you about carp. I have a background in marine and aquatic biology, and ecologically they are well past the destructive phase of their introduction and are sadly part of our ecosystem. I fear that removing them will likely cause more damage than not through yet another large scale ecological disruption. Better land use practices and habitat restoration is the key to both healthier ecosystems and waterways. If you want healthy populations of native fish, you have to somehow recreate both the habitat and the natural cycles. With climate change and continuing poor land use in both riparian areas and catchments, it's no small task. On the plus side, there are remnant populations of most natives that can provide the base for a rebound. The published scientific reports that demonstrate carp causing turbidity and reduced water quality are embarrassingly poorly conducted, are well out of date (conducted in ponds in the 80s and 90s) and the results are dubious at best. I'd also be surprised if someone introduced carp into the dam. It's not an easy place to access by road and the fish I've seen in there look big enough to predate the township. I think the reason we're seeing more of them now is a population boom from 3 years of wet weather and high lake levels. All that said, it's great that they were able to eradicate carp from tassie. It hasn't fixed the turbidity of the lakes they were in, and hopefully the native fish survive the trout. Let's not normalise trout in our waterways either, in spite of how much we love fishing for them and the tourist dollars they bring in. Every change we induce into a natural system has benefits and costs.
Thanks Travis! It's a Shimano Anarchy 6102 Light Spin rod (6'10" two-piece) and a Shimano Vanford 1000 reel spooled with 4 pound PowerPro braid attached to an 8 pound Ocea FC leader.
I came from England to see my sister has a sheep station with hubby down there my Guide was the legend Bill Beck he told me about the really big 10 lb brown trout that size because they fed on Galaxia Bill no longer with us.
Lovely fish and I love the action on that rod, what make is? Hardly available in Ireland but would love to try trolling it in the loughs here if I can order it and hopefully land an Irish 10lb brownie!
Thanks, Andy! It's a Shimano Anarchy 6102 Light Spin rod (6'10" two-piece) and a Shimano Vanford 1000 reel spooled with 4 pound PowerPro braid attached to an 8 pound Ocea FC leader.
great video mate...thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching!
Great fish, Good on you for giving Jo the gun lure...( chivalry is not dead...lol)
Thanks mate!
Gday Starlo, I do really well especially in these shallow lakes trolling on the electric rather then outboard. Could just be utter luck but seem to catch way more fish that way.
I agree.
Well done guys, maybe when you are over again, we can team up a bit for Crescent, I'm no expert on there but I've caught my share on fly . It can break your heart but you only need one fish to make the day.
Sounds good, Shane! I'd love to get one on fly!
Hi Starlo, I have been fishing Googong Dam for Murray Cod and Yellas for a few years and I recently went for a fish with a mate and seen carp cruising the banks for the first time. They must have washed in with all the heavy flooding rains we have had over the last year or so. It is quite disappointing because they are already stirring up the mud and water clarity might never be the same again. I dont think they will ever be able to eradicate them now. 😢🎣
That's terrible news, Evan! Sorry to hear that... But I guess it was almost inevitable. :(
G'day Evan, I grew up fishing Googong and the upper Qbn River behind Burra. I lived out at Burra as a kid and spent a lot of time fishing at the London Bridge end of the dam, Burra Creek and The Cascades below the dam wall. Some awesome natives and great brown trout. The Brownies in the Qbn are some of he oldest established populations in the country.
Used to be a lot of Silvers in the dam until the 2000 drought that pretty much dried it to a mud puddle.
There is NO WAY for them to wash into Googong, none of the creeks or rivers upstream are connected to any of he Murrumbidgee Complex and they were all carp free. There is no flooding into the Queanbeyan River or Burra and Limestone creeks that would carry carp. It is more likely some git from the development that has gone in out there was using them as bait or introduced them to target as they could not get natives or Redfin. Idiots are idiots. The only other way is for eggs to be carried by birds. There was a good population of fancy goldfish in the dam back in the 80s and 90s. Some big comets also.
Carp are not going to be much of a problem with the water clarity. That is a largely a fallacy, particularly in large, deep bodies of water like Googong. The catfish that are found in many rivers do much more active digging activity and they are not blamed for water clarity not erosion. I have often fished for big carp in crystal clear water, and natives in mud holes. The rivers we have here in Australia are not great for carp habitation as they are clay. This does lead to a bit of silting and low grade erosion, however, carp are used as a smokescreen for the real issues.
Vegetation removal from the bank side means there are no roots holding soil together and buffering water flows. The removal of logs and other obstructions in the waterways allows more laminar flow and more erosion. Faster flows with no obstruction is also not good for native fish habitation who prefer slow and warmer waters with plenty of cover. All our water ways have many problems, but carp are very over rated as one of them. Water also flows into he river after rains faster and creates heavier flows. Not being impeded by vegetation and bankside scrub, Which in a natural situation holds water back and allows a lot of it to absorb into the surrounding ground, water just flows into the river anddown the channel, scouring the beds and silting them as it causes huge levels of siltation and erosion. Removal of the willows did our rivers no favours. In addition to this bank degradation, they also are a nutrient sink that absorbs a lot of fertilisers, they shade and cool rivers and so on. Nutrient + Light = Algae. Then the carp are blamed for causing algae blooms.
Carp used to be kept in castle moats in Europe and Asia to sir the water and aerate it so that the water did not stagnate. Somehow, that changed when they came from the gin clear waters of Euro to the mud filled rivers of Aus and they became the most demonic fish on the planet between their introduction in the 1960s and now. The strain of Carp found in Australia is only found here, it is a hybridised variety called the Boolara Strain, from Victoria.
Having said that, it is sad to hear that they are now in Googong, that does not bode well for the Upper Queanbeyan. However, expect some fast growth from those already fantastic cod and Yebblies.
There needs to be less carp hate and more river rehabilitation.
@@AndrewFishman there's a lot of truth in what you say, but I have definitely seen waters significantly muddied by the feeding behaviour of carp. Wyangala Dam is a classic example. The bays (and times) when carp are most prolific and active there are marked by significantly dirtier water than the rest of the lake.
I've also sight-fished carp in clear impoundments like Glenbawn in the Hunter catchment where their presence didn't seem to be having a huge impact on water clarity, although on my latest visit to that dam, the carp numbers had increased exponentially and their feeding behaviour was clearly causing at least short term turbidity in specific parts of the dam.
Obviously the structure of the waterway itself and the composition of the banks and bed have a huge impact on how much influence the carp have over turbidity and, as you rightly point out, bad land clearing practices, stock accessing banks, urban and agricultural run-off etc, etc can all do far more damage than carp, but carp DEFINITELY play their part, and I have seen this with my own eyes on countless occasions. That's before we even get into issues like their destruction of aquatic vegetation, competition with other species for food, and the fact that they are a known vector for diseases and parasites such as anchor worm (lernaea). They are bad news in our waterways, simple as that... And their numbers are BOOMING following three wetter than average summers.
I also agree with your assessment of how carp most likely entered Googong - via human interference. I can't think of anywhere upstream they could have come from, other than perhaps overflowing farm dams, and they'd only have been in those if put there. Whatever the case, it's not good news.
You are spot-on that carp are often used as the easy "whipping boy" or target when examining degradation of our inland waterways. There are a LOT of other factors at play. Nonetheless, carp ARE both a symptom and a contributing factor to that degradation, and we should never, ever forget that, nor start apologising for them or "normalising" their presence and continuing spread.
@@StarloGetsReel Oh, I understand he problems carp and redfin, goldfish, tilapia and the numerous other species that have established feral populations cause. But, we could also extend that to trout if we want to. The Mountain Galaxia had a description "Once wide spread in the Murray-Darling basin, now restricted to small streams and area trout are not present." And the South American Gambusia is about the only minnow found in the local lakes.
I am not apologising for carp or tying to say that their presnce is not problematic, I stated as much. I am, however, a realist and recognise that carp are more opportunists than demons. Wyangala is another dam I know well, and I would say that ,while carp activity has localised effects on water clarity, the wind and wave activity and the flow in has much greater effects. In times of low flow and calm weather Wyangala is clear as crystal. The Lachlan itself looks like you could walk on he mud at times of reasonable flow, it is not a clear water stream by any streatch of the imagination. About the only place clarity is a given is in the sandy stretches near Gunning.
The wind canyons create some pretty good wave activity at times that greatly affects clarity as the turbulence stirs things up in the shallow bays. This is often coupled with carp activity as they are there for that very reason. Not creating it. The stirred up mud and low clarity provides them with cover in the shallow bays and stirs food up, thus encouraging fish activity. I have used this to find fish on many occasions. However, the fish are then also blamed. Correlation and causation...
Yebblies follow the same pattern on Googong. Find the wind swept, muddied water bank, find the fish hunting on the transition zone.
Same occurs with river clearing. Old mate has been catching cod from his favourite hole for years.Over winter, logs were cleared to prevent flood damage. This summer all the cod are gone and there are only carp. Therefore the carp pushed out the cod. It sure wasn't the removal of the cod habitat and the resulting increase in water flow as it is not buffered and no still water zones are created except being the odd rock or mud bank. Had to be the carp.
As I said, though, I have illusions about the damage this could cause to the Upper Queanbeyan River and Burra Creek trout populations. The natives are all introuded and restocked, but the trout have not been restocked in many years. The breeding grounds of the Tinderries is crucial.
My real concern is the Cotter River. Hopefully the Carp do not get above the dam there. There are holdout populations of blackfish and Maccas in the upper Cotter that will not withstand a carp invasion, they are already struggling against the trout.
@@AndrewFishman don't worry about the cotter. I've caught plenty of maccas below the dam, where there are carp, trout and a very degraded paddy's river. Native fish, trout and carp alike have enjoyed the last couple of years of high rainfall and lower temps, and I've never experienced better fishing or seen the rivers this healthy and teeming with life. Shame about the urban dams though - chocolate milk for three years running.
I largely agree with you about carp. I have a background in marine and aquatic biology, and ecologically they are well past the destructive phase of their introduction and are sadly part of our ecosystem. I fear that removing them will likely cause more damage than not through yet another large scale ecological disruption.
Better land use practices and habitat restoration is the key to both healthier ecosystems and waterways. If you want healthy populations of native fish, you have to somehow recreate both the habitat and the natural cycles. With climate change and continuing poor land use in both riparian areas and catchments, it's no small task. On the plus side, there are remnant populations of most natives that can provide the base for a rebound.
The published scientific reports that demonstrate carp causing turbidity and reduced water quality are embarrassingly poorly conducted, are well out of date (conducted in ponds in the 80s and 90s) and the results are dubious at best.
I'd also be surprised if someone introduced carp into the dam. It's not an easy place to access by road and the fish I've seen in there look big enough to predate the township. I think the reason we're seeing more of them now is a population boom from 3 years of wet weather and high lake levels.
All that said, it's great that they were able to eradicate carp from tassie. It hasn't fixed the turbidity of the lakes they were in, and hopefully the native fish survive the trout. Let's not normalise trout in our waterways either, in spite of how much we love fishing for them and the tourist dollars they bring in. Every change we induce into a natural system has benefits and costs.
great fish I got one of that pattern from Ray havent used it yet congrats
Thanks! Yes, great lures!
Amazing video and great fish! Would love to know the rod/reel setup as well!
Thanks Travis! It's a Shimano Anarchy 6102 Light Spin rod (6'10" two-piece) and a Shimano Vanford 1000 reel spooled with 4 pound PowerPro braid attached to an 8 pound Ocea FC leader.
Cracker fish! Nice rod work too
Cheers! Yes, she did well.
I came from England to see my sister has a sheep station with hubby down there my Guide was the legend Bill Beck he told me about the really big 10 lb brown trout that size because they fed on Galaxia Bill no longer with us.
That's true. Bill is greatly missed.
Starlo you should take a trip out to lake purrumbete and lake bulls merri they are going off
So I hear! I've still never been to either. One day...
Lovely fish and I love the action on that rod, what make is? Hardly available in Ireland but would love to try trolling it in the loughs here if I can order it and hopefully land an Irish 10lb brownie!
Thanks, Andy! It's a Shimano Anarchy 6102 Light Spin rod (6'10" two-piece) and a Shimano Vanford 1000 reel spooled with 4 pound PowerPro braid attached to an 8 pound Ocea FC leader.