Fresh water Mullet- Native Carp

[bazz]

When I was a kid I was sure that my father had caught more than one fresh water mullet. What I can remember ,they were only very small,its nearly sixty years ago,also we used to catch native carp another small very silver in colour and a good little fighter.
We only ever used heavy cord hand lines wound onto a shaped end panel from the then bushell and half bushell timber fruit cases.Have not heard of these two little fish since then.Ive mentioned them to other fisherman but no one has ever heard of them. By the way the carp are not to be confused with European carp.May be I am showing my age but if anyone has heard of them I.d like to know.

[rick k]

happy to follow this up for you, what part of Aus where you fishing?

[mackmauler]

Bazz, I havn't heard of them either, fish that come to mind that sound similar to me are bony bream and spangled perch.

[bazz]

Fellas, I grew up in Warwick. and we fished out to St,George. Leslie Dam was not built then but in the original Washpool and Sandy Creek where the dam is now is where we caught most of them,but we also caught them well west of there.
After the dam was built they were only around for a short time naturally enough but I,m curious to know if any one else has ever heard of them.We used to fish a lot of fresh water those days and had some great catches. Our best spinners were made out of the old Mobile Oil cans which were made out of tin those days.The water hole at the reserve at Karumbul was one of our favourite spots.

[PG]

Bazz, I'm originally from Bunaberg and there are freshwater mullet in the Burnett system. My mother and father used to catch them up near Gayndah on bits of dough on a hook or sometimes some green weed or worms. These fish grow to a couple of pound from what I've seen.
As for freshwater carp I'm a bit lost on that one. Perhaps as mackmauller suggested they may be spangled perch or one of those perch group. I've never seen bony bream caught on a hook but they'd fit the description to a T. I've seen bony bream at anywhere from 2 to 16 inches long. If they smelt bloody terrible, had sharp scales on the underside of them, I'd go with bony bream.
Hope this helps.

[bootlace]

yep i've heard of them they make good cod bait,so i've been told.You should be able to find them anywhere within the M/D basin,proberly not many left due to euro carp

[daki23]

In albert river i catch several spieces of carp n ur description matches definatelly one of them.

As for mullet i cought 2 species in the same place what i belive is fresh n salt water n they r one of the best fighting fish in albert river for their size.

[kingcray]

There are mullet in most recreational parklands where there are lakes on ponds. The Boondall Entertainment Centre for example is full (or was a few years ago) of easily 50-60cm + mullet. We used to get em on handlines. Small float and small hook little bit of bread or dough or even sausage. I was never sure if you were allowed to fish there... highly unlikely. Made for great crab bait and woah they can pull !

[Sillaginid]

Freshwater mullet are only found in the coastal rivers of Queensland. They need to run to the sea to spawn and thus aren't found west of Toowoomba and Warwick. They certainly fight well and can taste good if the water is clear.

There is only one true species of carp in Australia and it was introduced, but there are several different races of carp. In the Albert and Logan rivers the carp are believed to be derived form the ornamental Koi strain. Over time (generations) many of the fish revert back to the more common carp colour and loose the distinctive reds, blacks and whites of koi.

The native carp may actually be goldfish. In the wild goldfish often are the same colour as carp and can be difficult to tell apart. I have seen them grow to nearly over 2 kg so size isn't always the best way to tell them apart. People have been using them for cod bait for a very long time and that is how they have spread throughout Queensland. As suggested above, the native carp could also be bony bream. From the side these fish look quite round, but they are very thin in width. Bony bream generally eat algae and detritus so would be hard to catch with bait.

Cheers

Sillaginid

[Aussie123]

There is no native carp here but as a kid we always caught what we called crucian carp and then years later the european carp.
Carp were stocked here in the late 1850's in Victoria and 1860's in NSW so they have been around for many years.