CANOWINDRA’S Belubula River will become the centre of a community-wide fishing mission next month, as locals and visitors alike head out in search of one of the river’s most unwelcome inhabitants.
The Canowindra Carp Muster will return next month and aims to bring families, fishing enthusiasts, and curious locals together for a day of fishing, rubbish collection, and environmental education.
Starting outside the Age of Fishes Museum, the event is being coordinated locally with Mid-Lachlan Landcare as part of an OzFish initiative that has been running carp musters for years as a way of helping communities tackle the invasive species and, more importantly, reconnect with their waterways.
Mid-Lachlan Landcare coordinator Amanda Foxon-Hill said the first Canowindra muster last year was such a success that organisers were keen to bring it back.
“It was just such a nice feel-good event,” she said.
“Everyone was enthusiastic. We did get some, and it was just a great day.”
Participants need to sign in at the Age of Fishes in the morning before heading out to fish along the Belubula River.
But catching carp is only part of the challenge.
Participants are also asked to return with 10 pieces of rubbish collected during the day, with prizes awarded to whoever brings back the most rubbish, as well as other categories, such as the biggest and ugliest carp to age-group fishing.
Last year’s event saw families turn out despite icy winter conditions, with organisers collecting large amounts of rubbish from around Canowindra and the river.
This year’s warmer September date is expected to make for more comfortable fishing conditions.
While carp are the focus of the event, Ms Foxon-Hill said removing fish one-by-one was not a solution to the broader carp problem.
Carp are an invasive species which can muddy waterways and compete with native fish, contributing to unhealthy river systems.
“The fishing is symbolic,” she said. “It’s giving people an opportunity to sit and think about the river and reconnect with it.”
The bigger solution, Ms Foxon-Hill said, was creating waterways healthy enough for native species to thrive.
“That’s the best thing we can all do, just look after the waterways, stop polluting them, build a better habitat, planting, better vegetation,” she said.
“Because if the river systems are stronger and healthier, then everything else has a better chance of coming back into balance.”
That approach is also important to all other waterways, such as smaller creeks, tributaries, billabongs and even waterways that only flow intermittently all play an important role in the wider river system.
“If you’re not really a fishing or a river person, you might just think of the river,” Ms Foxon-Hill said.
“But creeks, billabongs, everything really matters.”
The event is also designed to be accessible to people who have never picked up a fishing rod before.
Participants bring their own equipment, although those without gear can team up with friends or other participants.
Families are particularly encouraged to attend, with children able to participate alongside adults.
The day will finish with participants returning to the Age of Fishes at about 1.30pm for a barbecue, quiz, giveaways and the presentation of prizes, including fishing equipment and vouchers.
The muster also provides an opportunity for locals to learn more about OzFish and Mid-Lachlan Landcare, with people able to join Landcare for free and receive information about future activities including planting days, wildlife events and environmental education.
For organisers, that community connection may ultimately be the most important catch of the day.
Ms Foxon-Hill said the carp muster is an opportunity to spark an interest in everything from water quality and pollution to native birds, riverbank vegetation, turtles and other wildlife.
“As you find, with anything Landcare, it sort of starts there and gets bigger,” she said.
“It branches into all these things depending on what the community is going to want to get behind.”
The Canowindra Carp Muster will be held on Sunday 27 September, outside the Age of Fishes Museum. There is no entry fee.
Registration is required ahead of the event so participants can be covered by OzFish insurance, with participants also required to sign in in the morning before heading out to fish.
