Yarra Bend Park

Targeting Carp at Yarra Bend Park

You can learn more about catching carp by reading a guide to carp fishing in Victoria. When targeting carp, baits such as corn, bread, and maggots work great with a running sinker rig with a pea-size sinker. So, does suspend baits using a float and even unweighted baits. You can also target carp with hard body lures, soft plastics and fly, but this is a complex technique that generally requires sight casting in shallow, clear waters. Most, however, will stick to targeting them with bait. For rod selection, a 3-5 kilo rod coupled with a 2500 or 3000 size reel is suitable. You can also fish heavier or lighter if you like. We prefer to target carp at sundown, especially during the warmer months, when they are most active, swimming along the edges or jumping out of the water, typically between September and November, during their spawning season. European carp must not be returned to the water. 

A simple, effective rig is to thread a small running sinker through the mainline (shown in blue) around 8 pounds. Then tie a medium swivel to the end, allowing the sinker to run up the mainline freely. Then tie on the other end of the swivel 50cm of 8-pound fluorocarbon leader (shown in grey ). I generally use a size six bait keeper hook or size 10 long shank, which is perfect for corn kernels or scrub worms, or treble style hooks for baits like bread.

You can also use a float rig. Thread the line through and adjust the length using a size six bait keeper hook or size 10 long shank to keep your bait suspended at a good depth. Casting down breeze will stop the float from coming back to you. If you’re not getting bites, adjust the line depth and, if necessary, add a splint shot to increase weight.

Targeting Redfin at Yarra Bend Park

We recommend targeting redfin with a light spin outfit. This will make the experience more enjoyable and improve your catch rates. A 1-3 or 2-4 kilo fishing rod coupled with a 2000, 2500 or 3000 reel spooled with 4-8-pound braid and equivalent fluorocarbon leader should be perfect. Redfin respond really well to lures and soft plastics so do check our guide on the best lures for catching Redfin When using soft plastics, we highly recommend curl tails, minnow imitations, and paddle tails in both natural and bright colours. Rigged with a jig head that’s 1/8 through to 1/20 in weight. The most effective way to use these is to cast towards visible structure and slow roll the soft plastic with lifts and pauses for the retrieve.

Shallow diving hard body lures, blades and vibes are also very effective in this system. So are traditional spinners and Tassie devils in bright colours. Metal spoons also play a role, allowing you to cast great distances and target the bigger size reddies. Just remember, they are quite heavy and very prone to snags in small inland systems like this one.

Targeting Estuary Perch at Yarra Bend Park

Another highlight of fishing in this area is targeting Estuary perch with surface and shallow diving lures. The action can be frantic on warm, balmy evenings with low wind. Listen for the sound of breaking water, which indicates EPs are feeding. The excitement an angler gets from an EP smashing a surface lure on light gear is something that truly needs to be experienced. It almost catches you by surprise when that aggressive strike comes. Small surface poppers, cicadas, blades, surface minnows and pencil lures work well here. So do shallow diving hardbody lures. Noteworthy options include bent minnows, Rapala countdown series, nories laydown minnows and shallow diving cranks. Basically, anything that doesn’t dive too deep and makes a good vibrating action will work well. You can use any colour choice we often start with silvers that mimic small baitfish or mullet.

EPs also respond incredibly well to a whole range of soft plastics that are lightly weighted. Including curl tails, paddle tails and minnow imitations. The trusty 2.5-inch grubs and minnows are an excellent choice. These imitate small baitfish that the EPs are actively feeding on. We would recommend mixing up the retrieval speeds and pauses, and experimenting with different colours. Where possible, fish along with the structure and stay alert for signs such as breaking water. Fishing for Estuary Perch requires finesse. We recommend an ultralight fishing combo consisting of a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo spin rod around 7 foot in length. Coupled with a 1000 or 2000 size reel spooled with 2-8 pound line and equivalent fluorocarbon leader, when bait fishing, use a 2-4 kilo rod around 7 feet in length. Coupled with a 2500 size reel, either a float or a small running sinker to a swivel, and a very fine leader.