WA
Time to hit the water before the heat sets in FRESHWATER
Peter Fragomeni
With the weather warming nicely throughout this month, freshwater anglers should find
gigalitres), Windemere (369 gigalitres) and Wyangala Dam (1200 gigaliters). The largest I visited was Lake Eucumbene, which has a whopping capacity of 4700 gigalitres, although the lake was only half full
that surprised me was the behaviour of the campers, both young and old, with a whole night’s sleep possible without being woken by rowdy music and wheelspinning hoons like we have here in the wild west.
Good water levels in our streams and rivers should result in reasonable trout fishing through until Christmas. many opportunities to locate trout and redfin in our waters. LESSONS FROM THE EAST COAST I actually haven’t fished Western Australian freshwater for some time because I spend a good part of August and September chasing Aussie natives on the east coast of Australia. Now, I’m no stranger to fishing this part of the country because my first visit was way back in the spring of 1980, chasing trout in the high country. Back then, fishing for native species was less desirable as not a lot of stocking took place, so targeting natives was a bit hit-and-miss. The one thing that astounded me was the size of the impoundments they have compared to ours. Just a quick comparison of the water they have is that the whole lot of our dams in the southwest of WA only hold around 1000 gigalitres when full – and this is including our drinking water catchments that are off limits to fishing. Some of the ones I visited over on the east coast were Glenbawn Dam (749
Some nice brown trout can be caught on occasions near Pemberton. John Gavin was happy with this excellent specimen from a nearby stream.
You don’t need to be too fussy when selecting a lure to use in our dams. Just keep changing the profile and size until you find what is working on the day. when I visited. Looking at these numbers, it just goes to show that we lack any real adequate recreational water for our population, as Harvey Dam is only 56 gigalitres when full. Another thing I noticed was the well-catered camping facilities they have, with both paid and free sites available right on the water. Another thing
PREDICTED DAM LEVELS FOR SOUTH WEST The overall storage in our dams that allow public access and recreational activities is currently 73.9%, as of the end of August. This is up from 72.8% at the same time last year. With good rain falling over August, the dams have come up more than predicted, which is great news after a slow start to the season. WAROONA DAM DRAKESBROOK WEIR LOGUE BROOK DAM HARVEY DAM WELLINGTON DAM GLEN MERVYN DAM BIG BROOK DAM 114
OCTOBER 2022
DAMS Waroona Dam At Waroona a few ex-brood trout are being caught throughout the day, with the shallow bays holding some nice fish of an evening. Anglers casting small lures or throwing a fly around have had success on occasions. Redfin numbers have varied, with a few still coming from the deeper sections. Casting lures or plastics from a boat is the preferred method, although trolling is still popular with some anglers. Drakesbrook Weir Local angler Jonah Chiera has filled me in on the latest conditions of this little water, and reports that it’s overflowing nicely. The fishing has been slow, with only a few rainbow trout and some nice redfin turning up occasionally. Still, there will be some good stocking at this year’s Troutfest in early October, and it should fish well until the heat sets
77 % 100 % 84 % 95 % 85 % 90 % 100 %
The level of fish stocking was also impressive, and I take my hat off to their Fisheries departments for providing such a diverse range of species to fish for. In one dam we had six stocked species to fish for, including trout, Murray cod and golden perch (yellowbelly), with redfin and carp also available. To finish on the subject, I’m not sure where to go with our freshwater fishery over here. With the short season we have due to high water temperatures in summer, and now the tough situation of restricting our demersal saltwater fishery to just a couple of months of the year, it’s tough for local anglers. It’s almost gotten to the point where resettlement to the east coast could be a serious option for serious WA anglers.
in around November. Logue Brook Dam Unfortunately this water will be full of ski boat and jet-ski activity as the water warms this month, making fishing hazardous if you are fishing from a kayak or boat. Some quiet bays are your best bet, but I choose to fish other waters at this time of the year. Harvey Dam The fishing at Harvey Dam has been very disappointing lately, according to some reports coming through. A lot of fish were taken up the main
creek by some individuals that chose to fish illegally, which is disappointing. Fisheries have stepped up patrols, but they can’t be there all the time so it’s up to all of us to keep an eye on it and call Fishwatch (1800 815 507) if we see any suspicious-looking activity. You can also report it online by going to www.wa.gov.au and typing ‘illegal fishing’ in the search box. The decision to close some of the access and enforce the no-camping policy by Watercorp has angered many anglers, with
Wendy with a redfin caught trolling a deep diving lure in Waroona Dam. These species are the only option if you are a yearround freshwater angler fishing our northern dams.
