Eildon Fishing Report - 15TH OCT 2006

Well, what a week it has been, some good fishing is starting to happen on the Goulburn. If you are in to Caddis, they have been coming off in their millions and on evening, there are clouds of them hanging around what willow trees that are left. A lot of small fish attacking the adults but some better fish are on the emergers. Some small Baetids but no Leptophlebiidae as yet. We need to wait a couple more weeks.

The river has been pulled back to three thousand megs and access to good water is easy. As far as fishermen being up this way, it has been very quiet along many sections. You could say you could have had the water all to yourself.

My son, Dane, was down from Queensland over the last week and in between commitments, we got out to do a bit of fishing together. On Wednesday we went down to the Breakaway to do a bit of fishing and a photo shoot. Dane picked up a nice Rainbow around a pound and a quarter and I could not find a bug to take a photo of. That evening we went over to the Rubicon to catch any evening action but it was running dirty, in fact very dirty, it was impossible to see your boots at your knees. Someone was doing some work high upstream and it turned the water black, not brown, but black with silt and all kinds of junk. So we headed to the Goulburn just down from the Thornton bridge and, as stated earlier, we had the water to ourselves, not a soul in sight. A good number of small fish with the odd better one were chasing the caddis but again, no sign of Mayfly. We hear that they are supposed to be coming off and they may be but with these cold, frosty mornings, it has been killing them of! f, so we are not getting a good build up of spinners (it should be noted that under normal conditions, some spinners could live for around two to three days).

On Thursday we checked out the Rubicon again to find that it was clearing. That evening we went down from Tumbling Waters and found a few fish rising, mostly to stoneflies. Hundreds of them coming off the fast water in the low light; you could be forgiven for thinking they were Duns as their flight pattern is very similar.

Friday saw us back on the Rubicon but this time with five guests, so it was a work day and I must congratulate you, Harrison Perrin, for catching and releasing one of the best Brown trout we've seen this season come out of the Rubicon. It went very close to two pounds and, for a twelve year old, Harrison did very well indeed.

Come Saturday the Rubicon was running black again. Geoffrey Churcher called in and he had been working down from Tumbling Waters and didn't even sight a fish in the dirty water. All he found were stoneflies everywhere.

This week on the Flylife chat forum a very concerning rumour was posted, a rumour that has turned out to be more than false. To quote from that page:

We have great concerns about rumours that DPI Fisheries at Snobs Creek intend to kill and then bury onsite, millions of brown trout fingerlings.

The hatchery facility is struggling to cope with the lack of water in Snobs Creek, its usual source of cold, clear water. They have actually been pumping water uphill from the Goulburn River. This is only a temporary solution as this water will reach temperatures fatal to salmonids this summer.

What this means is that their vulnerable trout fingerlings cannot be kept alive throughout the summer period. Nor can they be released into the lakes of the western and central districts of Victoria (the traditional recipients of trout stockings), as they are too low themselves.

The word around the traps is that they are going to kill these fish, fire up the earthmoving equipment and bury them all hush-hush. Surely common sense would dictate that these fish be released into the headwater of the rivers that feed Lake Eildon, where they will not only have the greatest chance of survival, but will also help to maintain a population of fish, that will eventually fall back downstream and into the lake.

Rivers like the Jamieson, Howqua, Delatite, Big and Upper Goulburn are perhaps some of the few places where trout will survive in good numbers this coming summer. They are only a stone's throw away from the hatchery.

This proposal has much to commend it. These trout would help to replenish Eildon next year when the lake starts to fill again. It will also prevent a terrible waste of the brilliant breeding program, based on the introduction of wild trout strains from Tasmania, that those at Fisheries have worked so hard to nurture. While we know DPI Fisheries will try to recover these genetic strains in future, liberating them now will ensure, at very least, that some of these fish will survive and breed into the future.

Help prevent this futile waste by contacting DPI Snobs Creek 5774 2208 to lodge your disapproval of this impending action.

From the guys at Goulburn Valley Fly Fishing Centre. UNQUOTE.

Antony then replies to a question from Dale on the Flylife forum:

Hi Dale,

You own it, I own it, we own it! :-) The number to phone is 03 9658 4000 . FYI I have posted this on behalf of David. I personally feel that butting heads with the folk at DPI is a waste of time and the only way forward with them is to sack the lot and replace them with chimpanzees. As Blackadder would say, aside from the hygiene factor going up, no one would know the difference.

They do nothing for the stream dwelling trout of Victoria, and haven't since about.ummm.I cant remember! You would think that in an election year when the Govt are trying woo(sic)the electorate, that killing a few million fingerlings, a hugely sensitive issue, would not even be considered. Particularly when there are options.

Any I gotta run. If you want to voice an opinion on this issue feel free. At very least these folk need to be held accountable. I am off to the CPI Fisheries carpark to do something constructive...letting down all their tyres.

After which they will no doubt organise a scientific study of what happened, set up a committee or two, order coffee, file some notes, consult with the minister, print some documents, and in the mean time I will have ventured back up there and let all their tyres down again. They cannot see the forest from the trees those guys.. The fishery is under threat from this drought and they are going to kill millions of 'fingerlings' so that they don't die! All this to avoid actually doing something that would benefit the Trout Rivers of the state and be kudos all round. What a world we live in.

Peace out. Antony UNQUOTE

On reading this report, and with my Trout Foundation hat on, I phoned Robert Gibb of Fisheries to see if there was anything we could do to help put this rumour to bed and the following is the official response.

Hello Mick,

Thank you for your offer of support yesterday, it really is appreciated. I hope the information I provide below is still relevant, as it would seem that the issue has died down somewhat.

Feel free to use the text on your site.

Rob.

In response to your phone query, I would like to take the opportunity to clarify the situation regarding fingerlings at Fisheries Victoria's Snobs Creek Fish Hatchery.

• Fisheries Victoria never has millions of fish in stock at any one time.
• The brown trout currently on site are those that we plan to use to complete the 2006 stocking program
• There are no excess brown trout
• Like most of the state, the hatchery does have some concerns about water supplies but we are currently working on strategies to limit any impact
• Reduced water levels have had an impact on the number of fish to be stocked in different sites throughout the State, but we have adjusted the production numbers to fit the water levels
• It is correct that we are currently supplementing our Snobs Creek water supply from the Goulburn River, but we are putting in place plans to ensure the water does not harm the fish
• We have no intention of killing our fingerlings and are working on ways to limit the effect of warmer water on the hatchery

I am disappointed that the original comments were published on the forum as they are inaccurate and misleading. This situation could have been avoided by simply checking the facts with me.

Robert Gibb Program Leader, Inland Recreational Fisheries Fisheries Victoria Department of Primary Industries GPO Box 4440, Melbourne VIC 3001 Ph: 03-96584370 Fax: 03-96584380 Mob: 0419 468565

If you want an update on lure or bait fishing, contact Gazza on 5774 2348 or Vicky on 5772 2662. Also, if you want to know the lake level or flow release into the Goulburn, ring Goulburn-Murray Water's info line, 5770 8128, which is updated daily.

Mick & Alaine Hall
Blackridge Flyfishing School
EILDON (03) 5774 2825
www.flyflickers.com (www.flyflickers.com)

Updates of this report by Mick Hall can be heard on Sports927AM Saturday morning, SEN1116 with Glenn Knight 7:30am Saturday morning, 3SER 97.7FM Friday morning between 7am and 9am and on UGFM 106.9FM Wednesday morning at 7:30am.