Freshwater

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

Dallas from Collie Yak having better luck on the redfin in a SW river compared to his recent trip to Harvey Dam. 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.

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 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

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 65 % DRAKESBROOK WEIR 100 % LOGUE BROOK DAM 74 % HARVEY DAM 77 % WELLINGTON DAM 73 % GLEN MERVYN DAM 68 % BIG BROOK DAM 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 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.

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

night. It’s a shame that Watercorp has taken this stance because, like others, I spend a lot of money in the town of Harvey buying fuel, food and tackle, not to mention the pub meals at the local. The huge effort Fisheries put into tagging would be wasted is some agreement can’t be reached in the future.

The annual Harvey Bash fishing competition is still waiting on a one night camping permit from Watercorp because without that it can’t go ahead. I was chatting to the organiser and he indicated that it will be canned if a response is not obtained by early August. He also said it will be moved to another venue next year so this would be a big loss for the town of Harvey. Fisheries may have to relocate the trout that normally go in for the competition to other waters where access and camping is available.

Glen Mervyn Dam

A few nice trout are turning up, which is a surprise as it receives a very small stocking. With the current situation at Harvey, this little water has the potential of rivalling Drakesbrook Weir as a reasonable trout water.

Big redfin have been coming out of late. This water gets little pressure so the redfin seem to get big.

Wellington Dam

I’m really happy with the condition of the trout coming out of this water. Again with the current situation at Harvey I believe this water will become more productive with the right stocking program. In order to achieve this, is approximately four times larger than Harvey Dam.

Redfin have been harder to locate with large areas virtually void of fish at times, however a regular angler Collie Yak reported around 50 redfin he connected to trolling from his kayak.

Big Brook Dam

Good stockings recently has resulted in better fishing for trout with a few x-brood rainbows being caught on both fly and lure. This little dam gets the biggest stocking per acre of water compared to other dams so the chances of actually catching one here is greater than elsewhere. A few redfin are also getting caught by those targeting trout with any of the popular lures from hardbodied to spinners doing the damage. RIVERS Murray River

Very high after the

Northern Jarrah Streams

Some nice trout are up in these waters after the good late rains with a few intrepid anglers walking up to 10km in cold wet conditions to tangle with one of these self sustained rainbows. These fish have distinct markings of orange along their flanks because of the bright coloured gravel streams they spawn in. I have spotted no less than 20 trout in one location, however, this stretch is in Watercorps jurisdiction and is strictly closed to fishing with heavy fines to those that don’t obey their rules. It’s a pity they won’t allow limited access for fly and lure anglers with a special permit to limit the daily use as they do on public hunting land over east.

Collie River below

Wellington Dam

Not the best time to fish this section however, a few trout have turned up recently.

Collie River above

Wellington Dam

By far the best section for redfin with some truly large specimens being caught recently. A rumour of a 53cm redfin was relayed to me and this encouraged me to put up a reward for a new state record to be recorded in our

history books. At present the WA record is 2.532kg and this fish was caught way back in 1966 from Porongurup near Albany and judging by other fish caught here in Australia and overseas it could have been around 53cm as it’s not officially recorded.

I am offering $500 in cash and prizes if someone catches a larger redfin on rod and line, it must be measured on a reputable device showing a clear length and weighed on certified scales with a signature of the owner of the scales (normally like a butcher shop or similar). It will be registered on the WA branch of the AAA website, however even my state record rainbow has disappeared off their books for some reason.

Blackwood River

No reports. Warren River

Normally to high in September so it’s best to keep an eye on river conditions via a number of websites. Lefroy Brook

Some nice trout have come out of this little stream, however high water levels after heavy rains made accessing the better areas hard. A good mate of mine Tony and his wife spotted a huge brown in a fast run down the lower section close to the Warren. Donnelly River

Mixed reports have come through with some getting into a few trout before the high water made it harder to get to the better runs. The latter part of

September should see good river levels but again, keep an eye on river conditions.

That raps up another report so get your self a Inland Freshwater Licence and get into some truly awesome scenic locations our state has to offer. Remember limit your catch don’t catch your limit, and try to release all the brown trout as they are not as common in WA.

Increased stocking of brown trout has resulted in larger numbers showing up in the impoundments. Wendy was happy this one hit her trolled lure.

Another small brown put up a fiery fight on a cold wet day.

A healthy Wellington Dam rainbow that fell to a slowly retrieved Tom Jones early one morning. Could this water become a new destination for the camping angler? Stocks redirected from Harvey Dam would be needed because of the huge area this dam covers

Andrew Beer (Senior Research Scientist from Fisheries WA) has put a lot of effort into Harvey Dam with a trout tagging program to study growth and behaviour. The blocking of access tracks by Watercorp has made stocking at various locations around the dam difficult. Should we be looking at other dams with better facilities in the future?