Lake Keepit annual carp muster draws hundreds of family fishers

Nearly 300 people took part in the 8^th annual "Carp We Don't Keepit" muster, catching and removing 2245 pest fish.

"We use it as an opportunity to educate people about the impact that carp have on our rivers and waterways and things we can do to improve the health of our rivers so that when we go fishing we can catch the fish we like to catch: our lovely native fish," Lake Keepit Family Fishing Club member and event organiser Anne Michie said.

The massive number of carp caught totaled 1730 kilograms in weight and prizes were awarded on Sunday morning for the most, longest, and heaviest carps caught.

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Dakota McMillion and Hadley Durrant tied for the longest carp (72 centimetres) with the latter also winning the heaviest catch of the day (4.67 kilograms).

The overall winner of the muster was Charlie Oslard, who caught a total of 202 fish.

"It's really great to give back to the community and be able to have such an event like this that's so much fun and accessible for everyone," Ms Michie said.

The junior competition saw two wins for the same family with Kieran Clare winning the junior boys' contest and Tori Clare reeling in the junior girls' competition.

"After the last couple of years, it's really nice to get out and have some fun, put on a community event and get a crowd of people together. We had a great laugh doing the carp toss," Ms Michie said.

Beyond providing an opportunity for competitive family fun, the muster also helps the lake's biodiversity.

Carp are an invasive pest species that worsen water quality and decimate native fish populations to the point the Australian government calls them "one of the worst introduced pest species in Australia".

Planning for next year's muster is already underway.

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