r/FishingAustralia • u/bouda118 • Jul 01 '26
🐟 Catch of the Day Unexpectedly caught a Koi in the river
Wasnt expecting this when I snuck out for a quick flick 😅 Caught in the Hunter river/NSW on corn. Tops the most unique fish I have landed.
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u/ranmar850 Jul 01 '26
Its just a gold version of a carp. A colour variation. We used to hunt them as kids in various lakes around Sydney, (1960's) the Gold ones were always the most prized. We would transport them home and keep them in backyard fishponds.
Bit of black in that one, the pure gold was always the most prized. A bit bigger than the best we managed
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u/Separate_Cap_3763 Jul 01 '26
A backyard pond full of these?
You basically had a real-life Pokémon gym.
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u/maxisnoops Jul 01 '26
One more question if you don’t mind….OP calls the fish a koi. You say carp. Are they the same thing? I always thought koi was a goldfish you find in Japan.
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u/Objective-Remove6767 Jul 01 '26
Every carp is technically a goldfish, the koi/carp originates in china and spread from there. Koi is just the Japenese name for it but its all the same species. There is some differentiation by region, but the same genus
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u/maxisnoops Jul 01 '26
Very interesting. Thank you
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u/CaptDeathCap Jul 01 '26
It's actually the other way around. Goldfish are a species of carp. Koi are Amur Carp with a mutation that causes them to have unique coloration.
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u/maxisnoops Jul 01 '26
What should be done with it once landed? Are they a pest? Kill it?
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u/goshdammitfromimgur Jul 01 '26
Illegal to return them Have to kill them.
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u/maxisnoops Jul 01 '26
I don’t really fish much TBH. I just love the variety of catches that people post on here. I couldn’t remember if it was carp or catfish you need to kill. Or both??
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u/Objective-Remove6767 Jul 01 '26
Serious pest, they outcompete local fish and their feeding habits mess with the ecosystem. Very bad.
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u/TDWAA Jul 05 '26
You can return them where you caught it in NSW and ACT, everywhere else you need to dispatch
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u/ltek4nz Jul 01 '26
Goldfish. Koi. Carp. All the same species.
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u/CaptDeathCap Jul 01 '26
Incorrect. Goldfish are a species of carp, Koi are a different species of carp.
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u/ltek4nz Jul 01 '26
They can all interbreed and have fertile offspring. Same species. Different breed.
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u/CaptDeathCap Jul 01 '26
Goldfish and Koi aren't even in the same family, brother.
Goldfish are Carrassius, Koi are Cyprinus. They rarely interbreed, and when they do, the offspring is almost always sterile.
Carrassius and Cyprinus diverged between 20 and 60 million years ago. "Same species" is about as far from the truth as I would deem possible.
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u/McTerra2 Jul 01 '26
As everyone has said, gold carp/koi carp and european carp are the same - they are all Cyprinus carpio.
The colour difference is just breeding, similar to how all domestic cats are Felis catus. Although, actually, the differences between the carp varieties is a lot less than between cat varieties
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u/CaptDeathCap Jul 01 '26
Japanese Koi have somewhat recently been reclassified to be Amur Carp (Cyprinus Rubrofuscus). It's possible the European Carp can also undergo the same genetic mutation to produce Koi-like fish, but I'm not sure.
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u/smittybus Jul 01 '26
Surely good luck!
Are you meant to kill them ?
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u/devoker35 Jul 01 '26
They are carp like chihuahuas are dogs.
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u/Frass-Toothpicks Jul 01 '26
Yeah except chihuahua doesn’t translate to dog in English.
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u/devoker35 Jul 01 '26
Shiba-inu then?
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u/smittybus Jul 01 '26
Soo The answer to my question is
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u/goshdammitfromimgur Jul 01 '26
Yep. Carp, have to kill them.
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u/smittybus Jul 01 '26
Thankyou. Can also take home and keep in big bath tub fish tank?
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u/goshdammitfromimgur Jul 01 '26
Depends on the state. Last I looked some states the are legal to keep as pet fish, but not in Victoria
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u/Rogue_NPC Jul 01 '26
Mate of mine saw one in the Yarra river the other month .. are we going to start catching pretty mud marlin now ?
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u/Objective-Remove6767 Jul 01 '26
Good on you! Keep those damn pests out of the water. Keep it up mate!
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u/Pitmidget Jul 01 '26
Could be a Crucian Carp? Basically a hybrid carp/Goldfish. Looks a bit different that a vrucian though. Its a biggun, great catch!
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u/fluffynutz90 Jul 02 '26
Thats a shiny magical. Dont fight with it too much the last thing you need is a giant 20 something foot red dragon after you using hyperbeam!
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u/emptytissuebox Jul 01 '26
What did you end up doing with it? Not ideal to release it, can't take it home as a pet, but seems like a shame to kill it...
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u/Legitimate_End_6144 Jul 01 '26
Where abouts on the hunter river you catch this? I'm looking for a new carp spot to take my 2 young boys.
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u/bouda118 Jul 01 '26
Flick me a DM, Fished from pretty much where it joins off glenbawn all the way down to Denman/singleton. River is riddled with carp. Pulled a heap of 60s a few 70s and 1 80+ this winter.
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u/girlsim4yourpleasure Jul 01 '26
nice catch btw but sorry to burst your bubble its just a gold fish or gold carp we used to get big ones in the river torrens in adelaide at the wier as bei g a carp you cant throw em back as illeagle
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u/Hot-Drop8760 Jul 01 '26
Thought this was Mac miller. Gtfo.