Camping & Carping In WA No Way!
Is there anywhere I can put my bivvy up Bruce?
I have just returned from what has to be one of the most disastrous carp trips to date. The sheer frustration I experienced from this colossal cluster was enough to drive someone of lesser mental fortitude to a complete nervous breakdown! However, I admit I did throw a massive tantrum at the lake, once we came to realise that our cunning plan to fish there for the weekend was completely out of the question!
Lakeside campers January 2009
“So what?” I hear you say. Well, it’s impossible for me to emphasise how incredibly difficult it is here, to find the Holy Trinity of Australian carp fishing experiences. That being: (1) a water containing carp, (2) somewhere it’s possible to erect a bivvy, and, (3) somewhere to be left alone and be able to fish in peace. “Well, what’s so difficult about that?” you are probably thinking, particularly seeing as the entire British Isles can fit into Western Australia three times over! Plenty of space and an abundance of remote and isolated areas to camp in, you’d think. Obviously there are thousands, but few (if any) have carp in the equation.
In reality, the Holy Trinity I speak of is about as accessible as the Holy Grail itself. Sounds nuts I know, but that combination of those three seemingly simple factors, that many overseas carpers take for granted as the norm, is as rare as rocking-horse shit down here! Yes, I’m bitter and twisted about this. And yeah, I’m just about at the end of my rope with it all. I can’t articulate how pissed off I am with the freshwater scene in this state… it’s hopeless!
A very dry camo canoe....
Phew… I feel better. Now I vented my spleen a little and had a good winge, I will explain what exactly happened. A lot of research, several years in fact, led to a recce of the lake in January 2009. The school holidays were on, and the the banks were absolutely packed with tents, caravans, 4WD’s (as per the above photo) and just about every type of watercraft you can imagine. Naturally we were very excited to see this, factor (1) & (2) sorted it appeared. We just had to return when it was quieter, and hopefully factor (3) would come into play, thus completing the trifecta.
What with all my other gallivanting about all over the place, returning to the lake with our kit didn’t happen until this month, when all the WA schools went back. Perfect, we thought! Friday lunchtime my mate Nails and I drove the 200+ kilometres to the lake with all our camping and carping kit, and a canoe a piece. I might add at this point, that the carp we were chasing were unsubstantiated rumours. Armed with 4 different echo sounders and an infra-red underwater camera, we aimed to finally prove or disprove the presence of some of our whiskered friends (koi) in the lake.
"SOD OFF CARPERS!"
As we approached the prospective pitch we’d spied from Google Earth, a plethora of new signage came into view. As we were about to discover there were more “NO CAMPING” signs than there were trees!!! It was unbelivable! In vain we drove around the perimeter looking for somewhere without signs to set up. But they were everywhere!
We stood at the waters edge for ages and debated our next move. It wasn’t as if we could just say, “oh well, we’ll just go somewhere else”. As we know of nowhere else like this place. Eventually, after screaming lots of naughty words at the top of my lungs, we (‘NODDYSRUS’) piled back into our 4WD’s and drove all the way back home, without wetting a line or a canoe!!! Hmmm… slim pickings indeed!
Happy hippo hunting 
Niblet
If the carp gods are with us Andy he may bless us one day in our quest to find the inner sanctum here in the west.
Nails
Niblet
I’d have taken a chance and set up the Bivvy and merely stayed awake!!!!
Whats more you could have pushed the “POINT” literally by “Pointing” out to any noisy ranger the you Bivvy infact doesn’t have a “Pointy” top and is infact much more dome in appearance than the effigy in their “Sod of Carpers” sign!!!!
Mate, you really should have done a reccy of Oz before you set down roots in WA!!!! Tom and I rarely encounter such signs when we are in need of an angling fix here on the Eastern sea board… so we lob, pitch the tents and settle in for afew rounds with our Carpy mates without fear of retribution from any authoritive figures…
I assume that even if we did camp on a restricted area and be busted by the plkeasure cops… when they learned we were fishing for Carp we’d be encouraged to stay a while longer “Good on ya lads, get those B*#@#%DS outta the water!!!”…. little would they know of our little secret of where they end up after being caught!!!!!
PJ
Niblet
I’d have taken a chance and set up the Bivvy and merely stayed awake!!!!
Whats more you could have pushed the “POINT” literally by “Pointing” out to any noisy ranger that your Bivvy infact doesn’t have a “Pointy” top and is infact much more dome in appearance than the effigy in their “Sod of Carpers” sign!!!!
Mate, you really should have done a reccy of Oz before you set down roots in WA!!!! Tom and I rarely encounter such signs when we are in need of an angling fix here on the Eastern sea board… so we lob, pitch the tents and settle in for afew rounds with our Carpy mates without fear of retribution from any authoritive figures…
I assume that even if we did camp on a restricted area and be busted by the plkeasure cops… when they learned we were fishing for Carp we’d be encouraged to stay a while longer “Good on ya lads, get those B*#@#%DS outta the water!!!”…. little would they know of our little secret of where they end up after being caught!!!!!
PJ
PJ,
I wish it was that easy, unfortunately fisheries have the authority to confiscate your gear and even your vehicle, if you’ve done something extremely naughty!
In WA (otherwise known as ‘wait awhile’ or ‘what angling’) there seems to be a growing, and unnecessary, paranoia about camping/fishing near fresh water, what with the Water Corps recent closure to the public of many of their dams, that you could once access no problem. It’s a shame, as I have a very sexy looking camo bivvy that’s never been put up anywhere in WA in the three years I’ve owned it – well sad!
You are a 100% right about doing a recce of Oz before settling down. Anyone reading this who’s thinking of settling here that love their carping, may want to re-think where they plant themselves!!! I came here on my own for work initially, and it wasn’t long after that that wifey, grommet and mortgage followed – rendering me stuck here for a loooooong time. But, I have a cunning plan! (he says in his best ‘Baldrick’ voice) to eventually buy a small flat or apartment on the eastern seaboard to escape this ‘carpless desert’ a few times a year for a proper fish. Just gotta raise the dosh… that’s the tricky bit!
Niblet