Anyone know of any fishing spots in Sydney to catch Catfish?

[armane95]

Could not find anything online about where to catch catfish nor what the legal size you are allowed to take home, if anybody can help me out, cheers.

[armane95]

anything similar to the Channel Catfish they have over in the U.S

Channel catfish - Wikipedia

[savit]

Most common in Sydney,  I think, will be 'estuary catfish'. Take home as much as you can i.e. no size or bag limit. I have seen plenty at Narrabeen lake and beach. For other 'spots'  and baits - just search the forum.

[Pickles]

Not sure why you want to catch catfish, but the estuary Catfish, - Euristhmus lepturus,  are prolific in the Hawkesbury and especially under the rail bridge on a big tide, when the current is running hard. You’ll need lots of weight and you probably won’t catch anything else under these conditions, except pike eels (Muraenesox bagio) which are nasty vicious fish. The rail bridge is a great fishing spot on small tides and when minimal run, but not in the big tides with strong flow (in my experience).
There are also eel tail catfish (Tandanus tandanus) they are fresh water species.

All these are edible, but better fish to catch (and eat)

You might enjoy chasing logfinned or shortfinned eels if your thinking of catfish - these are an “Anguilla” species and common in just about any creek or river in NSW and also in the Narabeen lakes system (as Savit mentioned for catfish) and if you get out to the Hawkesbury river - lots there also. They are common in just about every river, creek and dam in NSW and are migratory (spawn up around New Caledonian in and travel back into fresh water to grow), do a bit of reading on the internet, they have a fascinating life cycle. I’ve seen “mats” of them as tiny clear “strips of jelly” in the pre-juvenile stage. They have been in large numbers as “jelly eels”  floating off shore when I’ve been fishing wide. Ive also seen hundreds  of adult eels banked up around Warragamba dam wall - obviously wanting to get down to spawn, but locked in by the wall. They were huge - about 1 1/2m long and as thick as your thigh, I estimate about 15-20kg). I was told by one of my students at school whose dad was a “wall engineer” at Warragamba, that when they have to go underwater to inspect the wall, they do it in cages (like shark cage) as the eels will bite - don’t know if he was exaggerating or not - but I’ve seen some really big ones up there.I’ve also been swimming in the Hawkesbury river (years ago when it was safe from pollution) and had them “nibble my feet”.

I haven’t seen any really big ones below the dam wall or in dams in the region, in the 50 odd years of fishing fresh water (and saltwater).

Ive eaten all the above and all are edible, but the freshwater eels (Anguilla) are actually very tasty smoked. You nail their head to a post, run a knife around the head and “peel” them (I’ve used a pair of pliers to grip the slimy skin).

The species most similar to the “Channel cat fish” in America you are referring to, are our northern “Fork tailed catfish” (Sciades leptaspis). They grow big (I’ve caught them around 10-12 lbs) fight well and are good eating. But only get them up north and not in NSW that I know of.

Remember the COVIDrestrictions on travel at present though.

Edited July 21, 2021 by Pickles

[Berleyguts]

Get ‘em everywhere up around Wisemans Ferry. Bloody ugly, slimy things. You can have ‘em! 😂

[armane95]

Thanks everybody for the info, much appreciated 👍