Over the last few years more so because of the lack of water to sustain native species and trout the focus has turned to Redfin and the concensis is to look at some type of stocking program. What do you think.

Let me get this right. They are actually considering stocking Redfin?

They have got to be kidding!!!!!! Again this is another quick fix. Obviously the money generated by fishing is waning and the bigshots are thinking with their wallet. It will rain again and the rivers, lakes etc will again be full of fish and then it will probably flood, causing the wallet thinkers to put up dam walls to keep the buggers in! Redfin are a voracious predator which eats anything that moves(including their own bretheren) and they make the breeding habits of rabbits look pedestrian. Once they over populate a waterway they stunt and eventually all you are left with is a million 200gm fish. I don't see any value in this at all and if the powers that be actually facilitate a known pest then say goodbye to cod, yellowbelly and the like in that area.

Well i think that sums it up not very happy Jan, but what about for closed impoundments like we have in northern Vic where even if it floods the buggers cant get away.

I am not aware of the waterways that you are speaking of John, bu t in my opinion they would have to have No Catchment" for example Thompson's Creek Dam* which has to be pumped into to fill. This is all well and good in theory although the problem with the wonderful "It cant happen" but what if it just happen to rain continually (over the dam) for a week, or two, or even three would it fill the dam to overflow? While rain seems impossible at the moment it will obviously eventutally happen. Even though that or any given area might only receive a flood once in 100 years or even 1000. Eventually that particular body of water will experience a flood and when it does Redfin will spill into the surrounding area and affect everything they touch.

Hi Rick, i would be very curios to know just how many waterways have reddies in them where you are because down south we dont have water with out redfin

G'day John(didgy) looks like its stuck, atleast with me, I can tell you that we have heaps of water ways that have redfin in them and heaps that don't! Mainly, with rivers, they have to be western flowing as evidence shows that the eastern flowing rivers generally don't hold redfin. Of the places I have fished I have found them in most rivers in the northen highlands, around Glen Innes etc. Around the western slopes and plains is probably there stronghold with the major impoundments Pindari, Burrendong, Canobalos, Ben Chifley and possibly Windemere holding this pest. Many of the rivers around here definatley hold them and they are in plague proportions in the Cudgegong( all small). In the south we have Burrinjuck, carcoar, Blowering and Talbingo reserviors, Googong and the Murrumbidgee river all infested. There is probably more and if anyone has info on recently infested waterways let us know. All I can say is go out and catch 'em, eat 'em( they taste great!) and kill(humanley) as many as you can. We will not get rid of them but slowing them down as much as possible makes sence. Stocking them certainly doesn't.

Hey Didgy, if they are considering stocking something why not Yellowbelly, bass, silver perch etc in these places?

I must admit I am of the same sentiments in terms of stocking the natives. However I am very pro Trout. This is due to a few reasons. Their reputation as a sportfish. The revenue they generate for any community they are stocked into and they are my personal favorite of most southern species.

John, I dont even know as much as jiggler about their distribution.

How about we throw this one open to the masses. Which are your local waters and are they affected by Redfin?

I have been contacted by a columnists for an English Angling Paper who has heard we had 10lb Redfin in Austalia. I too have heard reports of Reddies going that big.

Could anyone who has info to this end please post it here, and if you have a picture that would be appreciated too. If you email the picture to us at of the beast it is worth an instant prize.

A 10lb 'Reddie' is possible from an Aussie water but not until attitudes change towards the species. In order to reach this size a policy of catch and return for the larger specimens would have to be employed and I'm affraid that doesn't look likely. The biggest I have heard of is a 7lb fish from Blowering dam last year, the biggest one I have seen photographed was a 5lb 8oz fish from lake Toolondo a few years ago. There are few fish as striking and bold as as specimen Redfin.

These were caught by Shanine down at Harvey Dam which is in Perth they were 4kg for the left and 3 kg for right taken on bass minnow lures

Andrew

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