Shades Fishing News

Peter Teakle from the Riverland Recreational Fisheries says it would be disappointing if the current ban on Murray cod continued next year.

The Conservation Council of South Australia held a meeting on Wednesday for the community to discuss the fish’s future with industry researchers and experts.

Mr Teakle says the fishing industry was not given enough warning about this year’s ban, which he says hurt some businesses financially.

“You’ve got a lot of the retailers getting a lot of lures and fishing equipment in ready for the cod season, only to be advised there’d be a full closure for 12 months,” he said.

“They were left with a lot of expensive stock on hand.

“I think it’s fair to everyone that if there’s going to be an extension of this ban, we’d want a couple of months’ notice.”

Source : ABC News

Landholders around the Wakool River System gave State Member for Murray-Darling John Williams a first-hand look at the desperate condition of the waterways recently.

Mr Williams met with members of Merran Creek Trust at landholder Geoff McDonald’s Woodleigh property to talk about the immediate concerns of the trust - ranging from the impacts of acid sulphate soil, salt intrusions being caused to Merran Creek and its surrounding environment landscape and wildlife, and why Section 323 of the Water Act is hampering farmers’ attempts to effectively make a living.

Mr Williams said it was critical that he met with the trust to get a first-hand look at the dire situation and to hear landholders’ concerns regarding the Wakool River System.

“It was honestly very sobering and horrific to see what was a beautiful and forging landscape next to Merran Creek . . . eaten away by lack of water because of conditions forced upon landholders under Section 323 of the Water Act,” Mr Williams said.

“Under the Act the Department of Water and Energy has imposed on irrigators, Merran Creek . . . has only received two `pulses’ of water . . . a year for the past two years.

“Due to the government imposing and enforcing the 323 temporary water restriction on the trust system, it enables the department, to the environment’s detriment, to close Merran Creek and disable the irrigators any form of irrigation.

“This then has severe ramifications to Merran Creek and the Wakool River System.

“There are increased fish kills, huge salt intrusions into the creek, and the build-up of acid sulphate soil which kills trees and the reproduction of crayfish.

“The lack of water has also seen the diminishing of massive amounts of bird life and kills to Murray cod,” he said.

Mr Williams briefly met with South Australia River Murray Minister and Water Security Minister Karlene Maywald.

While acknowledging that the South Australian Government might call on NSW for water if there was low rainfall during the next financial year, Mr Williams said it was imperative however that if this happened the constituents in the MurrayDarling electorate and their water needs did not suffer in the process.

Source : Country News

A great new look to Rod Mackenzie’s new tackle shop, with some awesome fishing lures, and he has added a news feed which I will be checking out regularly for fishing tips and tricks in trying to catch those big murray cod and other Australian natives.

The shop is interesting as it allows you to write reviews for fishing lure products he has for sale, and the customer area is quite nifty with lots of small features. I can now for instance register my interest in out of stock items and be informed automatically when they are back in stock. He also now has a newsletter.

The fishing photos as well are a great browse, I don’t know how he does it consistently bringing in large murray cod on his fishing expeditions!

I’ve been a bit slack with updates on this site, it’s been a busy start to the year and busy fishing season for me, both in some salt water fishing up the south coast of Australia as well as the standard freshwater fishing for murray cod and yellowbelly. I’m also heading up to Queensland to hunt some barra as well.

chat soon!

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

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

Scientists say increasing numbers of Murray cod are dying in the lower reaches of the river.

A scientist at the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), Dr Qifeng Ye, has been monitoring Murray cod numbers since 2005.

Dr Ye says the increase in cod deaths this spring has been noticeable.

She says the drought and low water levels could be to blame.

“The number of Murray cod is pretty low that we collected, so we still need to think about an improved mechanism of efficient and cost-effective way of assessing the Murray cod abundancy in the lower Murray,” she said.

Source : ABC News

RAPID BAY - Rapid Bay’s long awaited new $3.9 million jetty is emerging from the waters of Gulf St Vincent.

About one-third of the pylon works are now complete, with construction expected to be finished by the end of the year.

The project director, Rob Jenkins, said the jetty’s completion date would depend on the weather.

“We’ve made terrific progress to date but do need the weather to do the right thing as we move toward construction of the deeper water section.

“This is complex work and it is difficult enough without the rough weather that can impact this part of South Australia,” he said.

“Hopefully we get calm conditions and everything is finished by the end of the year.”

Based on progress to date, Mr Jenkins estimates that, either way, the jetty should be completed then or thereabouts.

Rated as one of the country’s top fishing and diving spots, access to most of the damaged existing jetty was closed in December 2004.

The Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure (DTEI) announced plans to build a new structure in September 2006, after the local community rallied for the jetty’s future.

The new 240-metre long jetty will feature solar lighting as well as stairs and platforms for divers, who are attracted to the spot for the rich diversity of marine life supported by the old jetty, including the rare Leafy Seadragon

Glenice Galbraith of the Friends of Rapid Bay Jetty said the completion of the jetty by Christmas would be an extra bonus for the district.

“I can’t imagine the scope the jetty could create,” she said.

“I hope it will create extra jobs because that’s what this has all been about, but we will all have something to enjoy too.

“It has been slowly but surely coming along…I’ve been getting more and more excited as each pylon goes up.”

Between now and the end of the year, work will continue on assembling pylons and crossheads onshore before they are lifted by crane and hammered into place using a 12 tonne piling hammer.

In the meantime, the State Government is reminding fishers and divers that the existing jetty is closed.

Source : Victor Harbour The Times

The Riverland’s murray cod task force has welcomed an extension of the murray cod closed season.

The Department of Primary Industries and Resources changed the start date of the season from September to August 1 in an effort to preserve cod numbers.

The minimum size of the cod has also been extended by 10 centimetres and the cod boat limit has been reduced from six to three.

Peter Teakle from the task force says recreational fishermen must support the changes.

“The fishery must be available for our kids in the future and their children, so we don’t want to over-exploit the recreational take of native fish,” he said.

“We must be very responsible for the take of our native fish stocks.”

Source: ABC News

Controls on fishing for Murray cod in South Australia have been tightened to ensure the long-term future of the species.

Fisheries Minister Rory McEwen said the closed season for taking cod from the river would be extended by one month and bag and size limits would also be changed.

Under the new regulations Murray cod may not be taken between August 1 and December 31 each year.

The daily bag limit for each fisher will be reduced from two to one, while the boat limit will be cut from six to three.

The minimum size for legal cod will be increased from 50 centimetres to 60 cm.

Mr McEwen said recent research pointed to a lack of cod in the South Australian section of the Murray, as a result of low water flows and reduced turbidity because of the drought.

“It’s important that the current size of the Murray cod population is maintained to ensure that spawning success and recruitment to the fishery can occur when there are improved river flows and enhanced habitat conditions,” the minister said.

Source: The Independent Weekly