WA
Top time for trout FRESHWATER
Peter Fragomeni
September would have to be one of the best months to go trout fishing in WA. Most of the hatcheries stocking of larger fish has been completed, and
chase fish that run up the streams and are susceptible to illegal activities. It’s mainly the males that still have the urge to go upstream with the females tending to stay in the dam, particularly if they have been stripped of their eggs prior to being released. One
remained in the main body of water because their urge to breed is lessoned, and hence offer better sport to the majority of anglers. The other problem with this large stocking all at once approach is trout from the hatchery are fed a high protein diet of
Jonah Chiera from Waroona holding an impressive redfin from Drakesbrook Weir. He helps out reporting on the large southwest land area we have in this state.
Dallas from Collie Yak having better luck on the redfin in a SW river compared to his recent trip to Harvey Dam. our dams and rivers are normally producing good numbers of both stocked and resident fish from previous years. Unfortunately, the stocking of x-brood trout didn’t take place as early as anticipated due to some unforeseen issues. Hopefully a new purposebuilt transporter should be up and running. This new tanker will be equipped with oxygen monitors and multiple holding compartments so the guys at the hatchery can load more fish in smaller lots, therefore, dropping off less trout at different locations so to trickle the stockings over a longer period of time. This will avoid the boom and bust situation we experience in some of our dams currently where large lots are stocked at one time. The problem is that these fish swim in large groups and become easy targets for predators and unscrupulous people that
thing that worked well in a trial a few years ago was holding back the males until at least mid September as it was found that they
A superbly marked wild rainbow trout from a Northern Jarrah Stream. The colourations are truly amazing within this strain. The area offers untapped potential. Anglers name withheld for obvious reasons.
The well run Harvey Water Bash freshwater fishing comp to go into the record books. Watercorp have refused to grant a one-day camping permit to the organisers, and are standing firm on their decision to ban camping. This is a truly sad situation for hundreds of freshwater anglers that loved to sit by their campfire exchanging stories of the one that got away.
PREDICTED DAM LEVELS FOR SOUTH WEST Overall storage in the dams that allow public access and recreational activities are currently 60.7% as of the end of July, which is up from 53.4% as of the same time last year. Some good rains fell in July and as of time of writing August is likely to be very wet. WAROONA DAM DRAKESBROOK WEIR LOGUE BROOK DAM HARVEY DAM WELLINGTON DAM GLEN MERVYN DAM BIG BROOK DAM 116
SEPTEMBER 2022
pellets and when released into the wild find it hard to feed on any available food. This causes lots of weight loss and in most
these species more active resulting in them more likely to take lures. There are still reports of some being caught with a report of a metre-plus Murray cod coming out of a small dam recently. I’ve noticed the silver perch are coming in closer of an afternoon when the shallower areas heat up this time of the year. DAMS Waroona Dam Things have picked up since last report with a good number of trout hitting lures and flies from both boat and shore. A post on a Facebook group recently showed a couple
65 % 100 % 74 % 77 % 73 % 68 % 100 %
cases they become sluggish after a number of weeks and sometimes reluctant to even take a lure. Still it’s all positives for the future at the hatchery and with better guidance from the FFRG stocking committee I’m sure it will be a better trout fishery in the future. AUSSIE NATIVES Thing should start picking up with the rising water temperatures making
of people up in the stream at night with a spotlight catching trout by hand. Although, this may seem fun at the time, a hefty fine from Fisheries will take the enjoyment out of it if you are caught as you can only use a rod and line to catch freshwater species in WA. Redfin are also being caught with the size up on previous months. Most have been caught on hardbodied
lures but a few anglers are getting the bigger models on soft plastics as well. A technique that is rarely used here is spin-jigging where a small Colorado blade that is attached via a wire to a jighead to add action to the plastic. I am keen to explore this technique as I believe there is potential to increase redfin catch numbers. Drakesbrook Weir Local angler Jonah Chiera has reported better action at the weir recently with both trout and redfin turning up on most days. This was confirmed by a couple of other anglers that had fun catching both species from a kayak on the far side of the dam flicking lures towards the bank. Any of the main lures work here so you don’t have to be too fussy on your selection. Logue Brook Dam Not many reports of late but my experiences indicate you are better off fishing the other close by dams as this water can be unreliable on occasions.
Harvey Dam By far our heaviest fished location close to Perth, as it gets a large stocking of x-brood rainbows in winter-spring each year. Anglers are reporting good catches of both rainbow trout and redfin from mostly kayaks and boats. Dallas from Collie Yak had a frustrating session fishing from his kayak when he dropped no less than eight trout that refused to stay connected. A few stirring comments on his Facebook group will make him try harder next time I would imagine. I had a similar session where I could stay connected yet my partner Wendy landed every fish using the same lure. I haven’t fished Harvey this year due to the ban on camping, and I can confirm that I am not the only one that chooses to fish other waters where we can launch our water craft, and relax next to them with a nice warm fire late at
