I'm pretty sure you do need a license to fish for coarse ooglies. Though the season is open year round.

I've read that it is illegal to catch and release koi carp due to them being regarded as pests. A guy in Huntly sells them for bait. They're certainly quite big but I aint quite sure as to how well they fight. Has anyone caught one? Are they easy to catch? Could be a fun way of stocking the bait freezer!!!

d

 Checked with fish and game you do need a licence to fish for course fish.

It is illegal to release coarse fish after they have been caught aas they are all classed as noxious pests.

To catch koi carp i have read in the nz fishing news that people berly up with sweetcorn kernels then use the rest of the sweetcorn as bait. Mark ketteridge wrote a few articles on how to catch koi , in nz fishing news awhile  a go. The waikato river is a good spot ,especialy around the delta at akeake or the drains at meremere. one of the members at the kite fishing club has been using koi for bait on the kite fishing gear and has been reporting good results. the koi is very tough skinned and very oily stays on the hooks well, I have used some koi on my own kite gear and have caught fish when others havent . try it and see if nothing else you will have a pleasant day fishing.   

                         cheers fishwid

Sweetcorn is one of the best 'instant baits' to use for carp of any species. They like almost any sweet flavours. Tench love sweetcorn as well so it's definately the way to go. The british record mirror carp was held for years by a fish caught on a couple of grain of sweetcorn (51 pounds). If your fishing in a river then a simple running leger rig with a few grain on a size 10 would do the business. 4 kilo line is more than enough with a 2 foot long trace to the hook and enough weight above the swivel to hold it on the bottom. No need to get too technical as they've never seen a hook before. Float fishing is by far the most enjoyable way to catch a bucket load on slow moving or still water. Carp do fight well on light tackle but IMO pound for pound the SW fish in NZ have lots more grunt. As with sea fishing dawn and dusk will often produce the best results.

For a bit of extra pulling power mix a couple of pints of breadcrumbs with just enough water to hold them together in a ball. Chuck a tin of sweetcorn in the mix and make golf ball size'ish balls. Throw these balls of grounbait in around your hookbait the same way you use berley in the sea. In fast flowing water add more water to the mix (don't make it sloppy) to make the balls more compact getting them to bottom quicker before they break up. In lakes you want the grounbait to just hold together in a ball for throwing out. This way  it will create a nice cloud as it settles towards the bottom. Chopped worms in the mix will help attract perch (redfin) and just about any other fish for that matter.

Not all coarse fish are regarded as noxious. You need a licence to fish for "acclimatised" fish such as Perch, Tench and Rudd. These can be returned but Koi carp must not be returned. You don't need a licence to fish for noxious species. You can go fishing for Catfish in Lake Taupo without a licence but be careful of by-catch.

I have fished for Koi in the Waikato in Hamilton a couple of times and they are a very shy fish and what ones I've hooked they've snagged me and got off. Going to try for mullet as they are so prolific, some big ones too. I thing they're vegetarians so peas, sweetcorn or weed for bait? Any suggestions? 

Thanks FishB8.

You cleared that up for me. There is a regular contributor here that fly fishes for mullet. He has told me he uses a small yellow fly. I have heard also that bran is effective, I guess you mould it into a ball using a little flour and water. You may need to post your query into the Briny Bar.

Mike.

If you're having trouble with shy biting carp try this.

use a supple braid for your hooklength around 5-10 kilo. make a small loop in one end of the trace the size of your little fingernail. attach the hook using a snelled longliners knot leaving the tag end (1 1/2 - 2 inch) with the loop on sitting off the back of the hook. To attach the sweetcorn you need to thread the grains up a needle with a wide'ish hole. Push the loop through the hole in the needle and thread the sweetcorn back up on to the tag. Put a small piece of grass or splinter of matchstick through the loop to stop the sweetcorn sliding off.

What you are left with is a hair rig (the bait sits on the hair/tag not the hook). Due to the way it's tied and the way carp feed if a fish picks it up and spits it out the hook lodges in the corner of the mouth. Also it can't feel the braid in it's mouth because it's softer and more supple than nylon. Used in conjuction with a fixed leger rig of 1-2 1/2 oz the takes can be impressive from the spookiest fish. 

Another advantage of this set up is that you can step up your main line to haul them away from snags.

The best mullet I ever caught were in Spain and always had best results on bread flake. Don't know if there the same here though.

This might explain it better.

The Hair rig:

Well, I spotted a group (shoal?) of fair sized Koi in a small stream off the Waikato. I estimate there was around 6 of them cruising together, weighing between 10 and 15 lbs. I tried bread (flake and floating crust), worms, sweetcorn, and luncheon meat (Spam) and not a sniff. I think they need educating into a proper diet! I may try baiting a swim up for a week or so and then trying again. Trout pellet boilies might be worth a try too,

Chris

Absolutely! It sounds like prebaiting would be the way to go. These fish have obviously been munching on natural food too long. Have to say that after having fished for carp for years, trout pellets are the biggest carp magnet I've used. I wouldn't leave home without them now and would fish sweetcorn over the top. Trout pellet flavoured luncheon meat (and nice n' spicy!) is magic stuff as well but I doubt you'd get it here. Just my thoughts anyway.

Would love to hear how you get on as my mate back home (carp fishing nut) is pestering me to explore the coarse fishing potential.

I wonder just how just how big those Koi go if you've spotted them to 15lbs already!?

Well, being at a bit of a loose end yesterday I took a stroll down to the river to disperse a can of seetcorn in the patrol area. Of course I took a telescopic rod with me (bought for fishing in Greek harbours) just in case. I spotted the shoal and cast a tempting sweetcorn offering, but no luck. So I dug up a few worms and tried a cocktail. Success, but not a carp, a beautiful golden Rudd about a pound. After 30 minutes or so I had another fish on the bank, and whilst this had whiskers, it was not a carp either, it was a catfish! Only about a pound and a half, but how big do they grow in the Waikato? The Wells catfish in Europe can reach weights of over a hundred pounds in the bigger rivers and gravel pits. Anybody know what species the Waikato holds?

Chris

Hi Chris

Those are the bullhead catfish and they get up to about 1 kilo. They look pretty yucky but have a delicate pink flesh. The ones in Taupo would be grat eating.

I hear that some of the  koi carp grow to 1 metre and upwards of 20kg in the whangamarino river near Meremere.

great pictures and rig JW, will give it a try. Some of the mullet in Hamilton during summer would be up to about 8 lb, thousands of them.

I caught some rudd on a globug in the Waikato while I was trying out a new fly-line.

Only 1kg??? Shucks, and there was I anticipating getting my tackle stuck into a big-as pussy!

Bummer. Ah well, back to the Koi.

Chris

Roy, I love mullet fishing - the biggest ones I've seen were in Funchal harbour at Madeira and they must have been 10 to 15 pounds, just a handful of them that lived in the open water between the pontoons and occasionally you'd see them finning or even free jumping ... hooked a few, but never came close to landing em...

anyway, regarding mullet fishing...if they are already scavenging on waste food (bread etc) then that's half the battle, if not hand feeding them really helps, chum em up till they're in a feeding frenzy and they're pretty much a no brainer, use light line and a small hook - say 4 to 6# line and a size 2 to 6 hook - bread flake works ok but the little ones tend to remove it too quickly , tough bait like a piece of squid stays on the hook far better

the problem with chumming is that it tends to attract thousands of mullet and singling out the larger models can be more difficult, tho normally the smaller fish are right in the thick of it and the larger ones hang about on the edges of the commotion, cast your bait accordingly...

if you don't need to cast far just flick the bait on a light rod and let it free sink, you'll see them sucking in the bait and tasting it but I find that striking just pulls the bait out of their mouths, wait till they've taken the bait and turned away, tighten up the line and they'll hook themselves.  If you need a bit of casting weight use a small float a few feet ahead of the bait but don't rely on the float as a bite indicator, keep your eye on the bait and the fish ... most bites seem to come on the sink so after the bait has sunk all the way I'll reel up and cast again

they are lots of fun on very light tackle

cheers dustin

Well, perseverance pays. I have visited the same spot on the river a few times, dispersing sweetcorn like the Jolly Green Giant, and also dangling the odd bait. I have now had a few catfish and rudd, but yesterday I hooked a carp. Not a real biggie, around 8 or 9 lb (4kg) and I didn't land him. There is a huge marginal weedbed and he threw the hook in there. The important thing was getting him to take the bait! Now to clear a decent swim through that weedbed.

Chris

Hi Chris

I've done the weed clearing bit a couple of times at Lake Otamangakau, Taupo. I used a metal rake head tied to a length of rope. Throw it out and drag in the weeds. You'll need to do this several times to clear a suitable sized area. Leave for a few hours and when you come back all the disturbance will have attracted fish. Groundbait up and away you go.

Thanks Roy. I have a small grapnel (last used for clearing snags on the River Severn) which did the job quite well. I resetd it for a day then went for just an hour and I had three stunning Rudd. Huge! But no carp. A chap was in the area shooting them with his Robin Hood kit and I don't know how much success he had had, and what impact that had on the fishing. I will try and get a few hours in this weekend.

Chris

What size were the rudd, and what bait did you use? Where are you fishing. I'm an ex-pom (20 years) but never fished until I came to NZ. My wife had no idea that I would turn into a fishing addict.

Looking forward to giving the King Country trout a reality check on Tuesday!

Hi Roy. The best was around a couple of pounds (1 kg?) though I suppose it could be a hybrid (no barbules, though). Bait used was  sweetcorn tipped with garden worm on a size 8 bronze forged hook. I was fishing (I believe) where the Aka Aka stream joins the Waikato. The maps of the area are not too good so I might be a bit out.

I hope to try one of the local lakes for trout this week (baitfishing). Good luck to you.

Chris