Freshwater

Excellent spring fishing ahead

FRESHWATER Peter Fragomeni

There was a time when we would look forward to September because it was once the official opening of the trout season in WA.

I again witnessed this on a two week fishing trip down to the south of the state recently. The fishing was slow because of the swollen water, making it hard to get to the better areas to present a lure or fly to where the fish normally lie. I found using heavy jigs and 8lb fluorocarbon, resulting in recovering most of my tackle. Even the dams proved hard, as the high rainfall clouded the water to the extent that visibility was around 300mm in some waters.

The few trout we ended up with were mostly wild

Little scenic farm dams offer some fantastic spring fishing if you are lucky enough to have access to one. on farms growing avocados, although these dams would offer a great opportunity if they were stocked with trout and permission granted to fish them. I can see why our rivers suffer low water levels through the summer period in low rainfall years, as most of these catchments has been placed on vital springs that once fed the rivers. Most dams were full and overflowing well at that time, fortunately.

I managed to visit the Pemberton Trout Hatchery and had a good chat to the manager Terry who has been running it for a number of years now. I have known Terry since the 90s when we electro fished one of our club dams, which was stocked with Tasmanian brown trout that were flown over as eyed ova and hatched at the hatchery

Bec Crossingham is a member of the Territory Women’s Hunting and Fishing Group and loves to get out and fish the freshwater south of Perth.

Although most of the dams were open all year it was the streams that were closed for the trout spawning season.

This has changed in recent times with the decision to abolish the trout closed season, so now we just look forward to the warmer days that September brings, and of cause the annual hatchery stocking of ex brood trout that are placed into our dams throughout the south of the state.

The good news is the very wet winter has resulted in higher dam levels, also rivers flooded on many occasions this season. It’s something I haven’t seen since 1996, which happened to be the year I caught the state record rainbow trout in Pemberton. That year two other big trout were caught that nudged the 3.5kg rainbow that engulfed my fly in July. soft plastics the better option as I could achieve better depth in the fast water, and it didn’t hurt the hip pocket when you snagged up on obstacles hidden by the high water. The weaker jig hooks tended to straighten when extreme pressure was applied to the stock but lacked the condition of those on previous trips. This should change because high water means better food being available from the flooded areas of both rivers and dams alike.

The redfin fishing was also slow for me, but other

Newly hatched rainbow trout fry being held at the Pemberton Trout Hatchery. There will be around 300,000 released this spring throughout the rivers and streams in the south of WA.

Rainbow brood trout are held at the Hatchery in circular pond for two years, and are then released into our dams after being stripped of their eggs and milt. to the rainbows.

AUSSIE NATIVES

Reports have been slow over the winter, but things should start to warm up in the coming months. I have a number of anglers asking me how the progress is going on stocking some of these species here in WA. The truth is I don’t actually know as it seems it’s been put in the too hard basket with all the red tape, and nobody is willing to pursue it.

WAROONA DAM

A few trout from last year’s stocking are still showing themselves, and with the brood stocking stepping

anglers have been getting a few from different waters than the ones I’ve been fishing.

Driving around the Pemberton area I was alarmed by the number of dams that have been placed before being released into this particular dam. On my latest visit the staff had just finished the sorting of brown trout eggs, and although the numbers were down it seems they will have plenty for future stocking. They do a great job of providing us with trout in a marginal and sometimes hostile environment, with summer conditions not favourable to salmonoids in this part of the world. There were around 30,000 rainbow yearlings still in the ponds with 10,000 already stocked into the rivers and although still small,

PREDICTED DAM LEVELS

Overall storage in our dams that allow public access and recreational activities is currently 52.3% as of the end of July, compared to 38.2% at the same time last year. This is a great turnaround, with huge rains falling in all catchments recently. Perth experienced its wettest July since 1958 with around 280mm but dwarfed the 1958 record of 450mm. I noted that Dwellingup just south of Perth recorded just over 400mm but although well above its July average of around 230mm it fell short of the 1946 record of 573mm for July.

WAROONA DAM 68% DRAKESBROOK WEIR 100% LOGUE BROOK DAM 74% HARVEY DAM 72% WELLINGTON DAM 71% GLEN MERVYN DAM 87% BIG BROOK DAM 100%

Vince Gervasi from Prestige Tackle with a superb silver he landed on one of his many trips. These fish would offer some great summer angling if there was a controlled government stocking into selected WA impoundments.

there are plenty going into our waters this year. The 500 brown broods look great as usual, and should offer some exciting sport to those lucky enough to land one this year. They are hard to produce in this state, so I encourage anyone who catches one to consider releasing it as they are known to survive better in our redfin waters, opposed up it should improve through spring. Most of the popular lures are working but my advice would be if you are fishing from the shore then use something that will cast a long way. Water should be up so pay attention to the shallow areas, especially early in the morning and of an evening.

Redfin are still being caught but not in the numbers

they were earlier in the season. Unfortunately, the camp area is still closed and the caravan park has limited spots in peak times. DRAKESBROOK WEIR

This water started overflowing in mid-July, but all reports have indicated the fishing has been slow. However, this will change when it’s stocked by the hatchery. The annual Troutfest will be held here again this spring so keep an eye out for this event.

LOGUE BROOK DAM

This water continues to frustrate those who try to fish it and I’m no different. One day it fishes reasonably well but the next it seems to be dead. The skiing activity will pick up, but it’s the unpredictable direction switching of jet skies that make it difficult if you happen to be on the water trolling a couple of lines.

HARVEY DAM

After a record low water level of around 20% at the

beginning of winter this dam rose to over 50% by mid-July. On one trip the water rose nearly half a metre in 48 hours. This has caused a lot of run off the exposed banks and very dirty water. There were a few large logs floating around so be careful if you are on the water. Remember this is an electric motor water only if you are boating. The annual Harvey Bash will be held again this year with big prizes and even cash prizes for tagged fish. It’s great to see Harvey Water being the major sponsor this year as they lease this water and many others from Watercorp and have been very angler friendly. Fishing has been slow, with discoloured water

making things hard.

WELLINGTON DAM

Not a lot of reports coming through, but rapidly rising water levels should provide the 10,000 rainbow yearlings some good pickings and also cover by late spring.

GLEN MERVYN DAM

I paid this water a visit in July and was surprised to see just how much it has risen after heavy rains we had through the month. Unfortunately, the water was very muddy but this will settle in time.

BIG BROOK DAM

Although this water had been fishing well through autumn, the fish eluded me on my couple of visits recently. I had forgotten just how scenic the towering karri trees that shade this little water are. We fly fished it into the dark, but the beauty soon turned into eeriness when it got dark. Although a few trout were rising I was unable to tempt one with the fly. The same was the case with my partner using lures. RIVERS Murray River

The river was flowing hard through winter, making like most waters with big catchments virtually unfishable. I believe with

the good rains predicted this water would only be viable when flows subside in September.

Northern Jarrah streams

These streams that flow into the bigger rivers and major dams just south of Perth fished well through winter as the big rains pushed spawning trout further up than in previous years. I had a look at a few and was surprised to see trout in places I haven’t seen in a few decades. These trout are unique to the northern waters as they have crimson red flanks and gill covers, no doubt brought on by the gravel bottom structure and colour of most streams in the area. All the trout were paired up, so I was reluctant to disturb them going about their natural desire to reproduce.

Collie River above Wellington Dam

I had a good look at the south branch above Collie recently and was astounded by the amount of water coming down. It was interesting to see the results of a water sample I took of the salt content that

read 2.5 ppt. That’s 2.5g per litre of water, in comparison to sea water which is around 36 ppt. The east branch carries more salt so I’m not sure how this will affect Wellington Dam, which is its final destination. Fishing was not an option but again later this month things may change.

Collie River below Wellington Dam

No reports but I believe

This beautiful 51cm brown trout fell to John Vickery’s lure. He releases all his browns because they are believed to compete with our redfin and offer better year-round fishing.

Big redfin occasionally turn up amongst the hordes of smaller ones. Curtis Milne targets them with a range of lures from his kayak on our larger dams.

A quick flick in the Lefroy Brook waiting for the hatchery staff to arrive resulted in this nice little rainbow that took Wendy’s soft plastic in the high water. Fly fishing Bigbrook Dam can be productive, however a strange eeriness descends on the place as darkness falls. it would fish well, given that a number of streams flow in just above Honeymoon Pool resulting in better flows in high rainfall years. Keep an eye on water releases because sometimes they will open the valve to release the saltier water that sits close to the bottom of the dam. Preston River

Flowing hard and very muddy through the later part of winter. It will be interesting to see how the newly stocked rainbows do in this river considering the good rains this year. This water has a steady flow let out of Glen Mervyn Dam for irrigation in the summer months so keep an eye out next year. Capel River

Flooded and no reports of redfin.

Blackwood River

As with other rivers it was flowing very fast and dirty throughout winter. This river fishes best in November from Bridgetown to Nannup in times of above average rainfall.

Warren River

Again, too high and not worth fishing but wait for it to drop and the trout will appear in all the usual places at the top of the pools. I’m predicting a bumper year as high rainfall results in high numbers and high average weights. Lefroy Brook

I donated more lures into this water than I would have liked to on a recent trip. It doesn’t help when your fishing partner is trying to catch trout in the trees on the opposite bank. I now know why I took up fly fishing as it does not hurt as much losing flies you tied yourself. Rain was persistent and high water made presenting a lure very hard. Expect good fishing when the water recedes in spring this year. I know I’ll be back later in the year. Donnelly River

This river wasn’t flowing as hard as the other major river I visited. We managed a few little rainbows in the fast water next to the bridge pylons on Celta style lures, but persistent rain dampened the enthusiasm on our visit. The planned trip down the river from Boat Landing was also cancelled due to high water levels and the persistent rain.

I was sent a photo of a brown trout that was caught in this water. It must have been not long after the rainbow yearlings were stocked because it had six of the yearlings in its stomach. This shows how susceptible these small yearlings are to larger predators already in the systems.

With all the rain we have had this winter I am confident that spring will be better than previous years in our state. Remember you need an Inland Freshwater Fishing Licence if you are over 16 years old, and you can check the Fisheries website for details.