Groups including as many as eight family members fished for just over six hours, landing redfin as small as two grams to whopping carp that tipped the scales at 6.75 kilograms.

NSW Fisheries' Education officer Brett Smith was amazed that the initiative of the Bathurst RSL Fishing Club, staging only its second annual BCF Carp Blitz, has rid the Macquarie River of so many "rabbits of the river" in only a few hours.

Mr Smith congratulated the members of the fishing club for being among the first in NSW to cotton onto the Fishers for Fish Habitat project that aims to improve the native fish habitat on waterways across the state.

The fishing club collected gold coin donations to be matched dollar for dollar to buy quality native murray cod, yellowbelly and silver perch to stock local waterways.

"This has been an amazing day for Bathurst because of the large number of fish of breeding potential that were removed from the river," Mr Smith said.

"When you calculate that just one of the carp that have achieved between two and six kilograms has a capacity to on breed, producing as many as 50,000 more carp, this is a huge environmental impact for the good of the river, water quality and native fish habitat.

David Roberts, 34, caught one of the last fish before the 2pm weigh-in, hooking a massive 6.75 kilogram carp from a spot he occupied with friends just up from the Denison Bridge.

n Anglers blitzed 'em ? page 7