Boy’s big carp quest
JENNIFER Dougherty seldom goes knocking on the bedroom doors of her three young boys when she notices the house has suddenly become quiet.
Unlike many of their age Nathan,11, Nicholas,13 and James,15, are not always glued to their phones and computers playing games.
The trio instead go digging for worms in their grandfather, John Mahony’s, garden before they take off to the banks of the Canungra Creek.
Mates join them as they cast for hours looking to bag a fish or three.
You might believe that they are trying to catch something suitable for the family dinner table, but you would be wrong.
The boys are after the giant carp that infest the river.
They are trying to keep the local fish eco-system in working order by bagging the carp and taking them away for a mass burial away from the creek.
“They actually take them back to their grandfather’s garden where they collected the worms they used to snag them,” Jennifer said.
“Apparently the dead carp are great fertiliser and the worms love them.
“ If they occasionally bag a cod or bass that managed to survive the carp, they simply remove the hook and release them back into the creek.”
Jennifer said the boy’s literally got hooked on fishing when they were “knee-high to a grasshopper” and ventured out with the dad and grandfather who were members of the local RSL fishing club.
“The club is no longer, but that hasn’t stopped them from going down to their secret spots at the creek,” she said.
“Just the other week they pulled about 12 out of the water and they say there are many, many more that need to be caught and taken away.”
