Shades Fishing News

RIVERLAND residents want Murray cod relocated from Lake Bonney at Barmera into the River Murray to stop them from dying in the drought.
Hundreds of golden perch, redfin, bony bream and carp have been found dead on the shores of the lake, where 10 dead Murray cod also have been found.

The dead fish have not been found at the township end of the lake but on northeastern and northwestern shores 5km away.

Regular Riverland visitor Kelly Lewtas, from Salisbury Heights, found several dead cod on the shore last weekend.

One cod, estimated to be about 25 years old, was more than 1.3m long – almost as tall as her son Jack, 8. “It was a sickening sight . . . it’s like a graveyard,” she said.

Freelance fishing writer and photographer Brian Bochow said the poor water quality of the lake, which has been blocked off from the River Murray for 14 months, would have caused the fish deaths.

“The authorities should go ahead and try to relocate huge cod as much as they possibly can,” Mr Bochow said. “It’s a bit of a shame to see cod that size dead.”

The State Government began partially refilling the lake with 10 gigalitres of water on Wednesday and has not yet determined why the fish have died.

Source : Adelaide Now

TEN gigalitres of water will be pumped into struggling Lake Bonney in the Riverland over the next two months.

Environment and community groups have been calling for the government to save the Lake since it was cut off from the Murray River more than a year ago.

Thousands of fish, including native Murray cod, have washed up on the shores of the lake in the past few weeks.

The Save Lake Bonney group blamed the Government for allowing water in the lake to reach high salinity levels.

A report released in June recommended the partial re-filling of the lake by October to prevent ecological problems.

Water Security Minister Karlene Maywald said testing was being done to determine the cause of the fish kill.

Source : Adelaide Now

A NEW $600,000 fishway will make it easier for native fish to navigate the Kerang weir and migrate between the Murray River, the Loddon River and Pyramid Creek in Victoria.

The 47-metre long concrete vertical slot fishway on the Loddon River has 12 baffles to restrict water flow and encourage the movement of fish such as Murray cod, silver perch, golden perch, gudgeon and Murray rainbow fish.

Speaking at this month’s official opening, North Central CMA river health manager Brad Durst said the project was part of the five-year Loddon stressed rivers restoration plan.

Mr Durst said the CMA had worked with landholders to protect more than 200km of river frontage, improve 500ha of streamside vegetation and recreate 4km of fish habitat while removing more than 100ha of invasive willow species.

“We’re also managing environmental water to avoid catastrophic events during the drought,” he said.

“The fishway opens up 50km of the Loddon River to additional fish passage and habitat . . . the focus now turns to monitoring its effectiveness and understanding its impacts.”

Goulburn Murray Water spokesman Greg Stevens said it was the 16th fishway built by GMW since 1997, with construction of the 17th already under way at Gunbower, Victoria.

Mr Stevens said the project was unique because it required modifications to the weir and the bridge 200m upstream to increase water depth.

With a $640,000 budget, Mr Stevens said the fishway was built by GMW crews during the winter “off season” and finished in September.

The project was completed “on time, under budget and with no (workplace or environmental) incidents”, Mr Stevens said.

Source : Weekly Times Now

Kingston Lures ‘Joffa’ was kind enough to send me some of these lightening skirts to try, and I must say, they are the goods! Easy to change skirts while fishing with a great presence in the water, the thinner strands and the way they come out from the holding ring give bigger and better body to the lure.

You can get them at Kingston Lures and LureSkirts.com.au

Joffa kindly gave a good background to these skirts, and they are something that I am definitely going to be using in the future.

These Skirts first came out in late 2005 and continue to get more popular among anglers. These are also called “Perfect Skirts” by some vendors such as Strike King, and these same skirts are used on several other popular brands of lures.

These have good action and lots of wiggle in the water. There’s a good amount of shimmy, squiggle and breathing pulse the skirt displays on the retrieve. When paused, such as when a jig rests on bottom, the strands spring open like unfurling a picnic blanket, presenting the jig trailer in the middle.
This Skirt style has 70 silicone strands (each 2-1/2″ long) that all billow backward. It has a light, airy, “full yet sparse” look. The strands are locked permanently in place by a small rubber center hub that creates a perfect “umbrella” profile. Because the strands are locked in place, the different colors (fixed in five strand increments) do not move out of place or get mixed into each other. So if a skirt has different back, side and belly colors, the colors are permanently locked in position.

The skirt looks square cut in the back, but when used on a jig or spinnerbait, the end of the skirt tips often come together when pulled through the water, into a point like the tapered tip of an artist’s paintbrush. Because the “bloom” or bend where the strands come off the hub puffs out so much, it constantly flexes backward, making the strands wriggle actively. It’s a very lively action skirt, and due to its sparse billowy appearance, it is ideal for clear water. There is a lot more see-through effect on this skirt style, which breaks it up more and blends more naturally into the background.

The Easy Hub Skirt goes nicely on a hidden head spinnerbait since fish get a great glimpse of the baitfish-shaped body hidden beneath the billowy skirt. This skirt lets fish more clearly view the attractive fish-shaped hidden weight belly.

On a swimming jig or any clear water or finesse type jig with a soft plastic trailer, the sparseness of the Easy Hub Skirt style really shows off the soft trailer body underneath, letting fish get a good peek-a-boo glimpse of the full trailer shape beneath the billowing skirt.

The Primary Industries Department says it should know in the next 24 hours what caused of the death of hundreds of bony bream at Lake Bonney in the Riverland.

The fish were found washed up on the shore on Tuesday.

The Department’s Vic Neverauskas says samples of water and fish collected from the lake are being tested.

He says there have also been unverified reports of dead murray cod.

Mr Neverauskas says that in winter, a kill of bony bream happens after a cold weather snap, but this time that is unlikely to be the case.

“The fact that this is happening in warmer weather would suggest that temperature is not the issue with this one and we’ll certainly try to look at if we can find any cause-effect with the current situation,” he said.

“It’s a wait and see for the first couple of days, the critical thing is to get those water samples into the laboratory and have a look for whether or not there’s anything in the water that might be causing the problem.”

Source : ABC News

The redfin, or English perch, was introduced to Australia from Europe about 1860 and has since become widespread throughout much of New South Wales and Victoria, and inhabits our local impoundment Lake Burrendong and the Macquarie River.

Redfin are popular with some anglers because of their eating qualities. They are also voracious predators of other fish and invertebrates, and can destroy recreational fisheries in enclosed waters by building up large numbers of stunted fish, eliminating other species and devastating native fish populations by carrying the EHN virus.

This disease is unique to Australia and can cause mass mortality in juvenile redfin during the summer months.

A number of native species, including silver perch, Murray cod, mountain galaxias and particularly Macquarie perch, are highly susceptible to the disease, and EHN virus may be one factor responsible for the decline in various native species in the past couple of decades.

For these reasons, redfin are considered a serious pest in NSW. It can be recognised by its pattern of six or more tapering bands on the sides of the body and red pelvic, anal and caudal fins.

It has a humped back behind the head, and a large mouth. It grows up to 60cm in length and 10.4kg in weight, but is more common at 30-45cm.

Redfin is usually found in still, slow flowing freshwaters as it feeds on crustaceans, worms, molluscs, insect larvae and smaller fish.

Anglers at Lake Burrendong have been using a variety of methods to catch redfin of late, including bobbing, surface popping, and both trolling and casting lures.

The NSW DPI has the following suggestions on how anglers can help:

o Large redfin are good sport and eating fish and there are no bag or size limits on them. Please keep all redfin you catch and don’t release them into our waterways or dams.

o Don’t transfer redfin between waterways or introduce them into farm dams. New populations of redfin can quickly build up to large numbers, leading to stunted fish and can quickly replace other recreational species.

o Don’t use live redfin (or any other live finfish) as bait in freshwater - it’s illegal and carries a high risk of infesting new areas with redfin.

o Obtain a permit to stock fish - and buy fingerlings from a registered hatchery to prevent contamination with unwanted species.

o Prevent unwanted hitchhikers - check, clean and dry boats and gear between waterways. Ensuring your boat and trailer are free of weed before re-launching can help avoid the possibility of spreading redfin eggs and juveniles.

o Assist efforts to restore our rivers by taking part in a RiverCare or LandCare project or by conserving and restoring riparian vegetation on your own land.

o Take part in native fish restocking programs with your local angling group.

For more information go to www.dpi.nsw.gov.au.

Splitrock fishing

There are some very dense weed beds at Splitty at the moment, and anglers stripping lipless crank baits and minnows on the edges are scoring some big yellowbelly.

Keepit

Trolling methods still continue to yield good catches of yellowbelly for many anglers. Rotating through a variety of lure colours, including both fluros and natural patterns has made it easier to find what the flavour of the day is for resident natives.

Burrendong

With the Federal Hotel’s Wellington Fishing Club fishing competition just around the corner, some big catches of redfin were reported this week. Some anglers bagged between 20 and 30 fish averaging around 30cm in length. Locating schools and bobbing worms and yabbies has been a very successful method.

Macquarie River

Shrimp activity has increased incredibly in the last few weeks, with our local river’s food chain well and truly in working order. Weed bed edges are proving to be a great spot to cast for some fighting fit golden perch, and the odd silver perch.

Glenbawn

Australian bass in Lake Glenbawn have fired up over the past week, with some 45cm plus fish proving hard to stop for many visiting the dam. Kokoda Wee Wop’s, Chubby’s, and Alex Ritmo Tango hard bodies are all taking fish on the points and edges.

Source: Dubbo Daily Liberal

Steve Cooper

THE biggest event on the anglers’ calendar this summer is the opening of Murray cod season in Victoria and NSW on Monday, December 1.

In terms of publicity and public involvement, the Murray cod opening has developed into a more anticipated event than the trout opening.

Cod stocks in Victoria’s northern rivers and lakes have gone from boiled sweets to chocolates.

The fishery is testament to the determination of Fisheries biologists in Victoria and NSW to renew Murray cod.

In many waters, the species has been brought back from the brink of extinction to a dominance it held when white settlers arrived.

Almost three months after cod season closed, most native fish anglers are starting to think about where they will be heading.

Some anglers will take the first week of December off work to chase cod because early season fishing can be excellent.

If you are planning a cod trip, now is a good time to find where the cod are, and which rivers and impoundments hold enough water, so you can decide where to go.

Long-term stocking in Lake Eildon in Victoria has seen hundreds of thousands of Murray cod released and anglers trolling large bibbed minnows down deep in the Delatite Arm can do well. Cod in excess of 25kg have been caught in this water.

Victoria’s Kerang Lakes have been stocked with cod. Lakes Boga, Charm and Kangaroo, and Middle Lake don’t hold monsters, but they do have legal size cod.

Victorian rivers to try include the lower Goulburn, Broken River (Benalla to Shepparton) and the Loddon River, above and below Bridgewater.

The Campaspe River from Elmore to Echuca has cod but is a small boat or bank fishing option.

Along the Murray River, there are many opportunities.

The Mitta Arm at Lake Hume (classed as Victorian water) and Lake Mulwala at Yarrawonga (classed as NSW water) produce good results.

Lake Mulwala is generally regarded as the most productive cod fishery in Australia in terms of numbers of cod caught.

Gunbower Creek, near Cohuna, produces cod as does another anabranch, the Little Murray River near Swan Hill.

The Murray River upstream of Swan Hill to Pental Island is a consistent stretch of water.

Alternatively, the Wakool River at Kyalite or the Edward River upstream of Kyalite fish well for cod early in the season.

Other places along the Murray worth trying are Boundary Bend and further downstream from Euston Weir to Wemen.

The Murrumbidgee River at Balranald, Maude and Hay has earned a reputation for producing good numbers of Murray cod early in the season.

Tackling up for cod isn’t difficult. Most bait fishers prefer 6-8kg threadline outfits.

To rig up, use a running sinker to a No. 2-4 straight hook or a 6/0 Suicide pattern. A leader of a minimum 15kg breaking strain should be used in case you hook into a big cod, which will wear through lighter leader material.

Best cod baits include bardi grubs, shrimp, yabbies and scrubworms. Cheese baits also do well.

Lure trollers tend to use baitcaster outfits, with a large difference between the rod rating and the line used.

The popular rod is rated for about 6kg but the reel will be spooled with 15kg breaking strain braid to stand the wear and tear of timber.

When using an outfit configured this way, set your drag on the reel to suit the rod, not the line - otherwise you may end up the owner of a two-piece rod.

The same outfit can be used for casting lures into snags.

When you attach your lure, use a loop knot as clips or snaps have a nasty habit of opening up at inopportune times - like when you are hooked up.

As a rule of thumb, the most productive early season lures are in bright or fluoro colours.

Successful cod lures include Stumpjumpers, Mongs, Halco Poltergeists and Scorpions, AC Invaders and Oargee, and spinnerbaits and mumblers like those produced by Bassman.

* Steve Cooper can be heard on the Casting Off program on Radio Sport927 between 4.30am and 6.30am on Saturdays.

Source : Weekly Times Now

Jeremy Beasley, photographer from Canberra, the man behind the great fishing site Murray Monsters has released his personal photography site, jeremybeasley.com.au and what an example of this fellas work it is!

Jeremy will be putting up some of his fishing photos as some stage speaking to the man himself, and I can’t wait, the effort that he has put into getting some of Australias premiere fishing related sites off the ground earns him a special mention here, well worth looking out for if you need photography work done!

BATHURST yesterday struck a devastating blow against invasive feral fish species when 400 recreational anglers hauled more than 80 carp and redfin from the Macquarie River.

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.

Source : Western Advocate