...is the guy to pm, although I'm certain his fish have come from a private dam. Don't know of, or heard of, native populations in WA...

 Beltrana springs near brookton. Has been on TV on and of

years ago. If the owner doesn't like you,you don't fish.also you have to pay .

 There was a story getting around years ago about Murray Cod being introduced to a system down towards Albany way back in the late 1800's. Not too much info on it but the general consensus was they died off long ago. 

I know from a reliable souce that there are some in a quarry lake around perth. Seen the pics and tryed to suss location for a lond time. he wouldnt give it up. He said around mundairing but im thinking the one as Gossnells

yer I think the guy who got it may have been down Walpole way.

There's one in my aquarium. Maybe I should start feeding him blowies then later I can release him into the swan

 I know that for sure as I have seen the photos and a member on here has fished and caught some but it is a very "exclusive" location and I haven't wangled an invite yet 

Not being smart, I do know were this mythological spot is. and yes there were fish there six or seven years ago. I have not heard of any one fishing there since, and would not say where, as this spot is in a potable water system and is illegal to be any ware near,(let alone dodging Tiger snakes and leaches to get at )

But never the same close to the CBD, sorry to be a tease, but I don't think posting the area on a public site would be in the best interest.

          I have had a good look down Albany way , after hearing the 'stories' but to no avail....

It is perfect water for them ,i did get a couple of great bream there though , it's also on private property.

Now how about those Barra that were released into that lake ...LOL

Aren't there double stomach bream in lake clifton as well 4kg's +

Rusty

According to Neil Coys excellent book Freshwater Fishing in SW Australia the last Murray Cod officially recorded from Lake Powell (Albany way) was 1.3m long and caught in 1958, though he says there have been occassional reports since then. They were obviously breeding there at some stage as fish from 2 to 60lb were found dead in the creek flowing out of the lake in 1913. Cod over 40lb were also recorded from the Avon River near Beverley back in the early 1900's.

Its a great pitty that WA fisheries dont stock Cod into suitable WA waters like Harvey and Wellington Dams as both these dams have heaps of timber for cover as well as a huge food source with the plentiful supply of runt Redfin.

 How much are fingerlings by the thousand.

I think they should stock them somewhere. open up a large impoundment somewhere like they have in the eastern states.

Over east you can pick Murray Cod fingerlings up for around $1 ea if you buy them in big quantities. The eastern states are way ahead of WA in terms of developing their inland waters for recreational fishermen, the costs of fingerlings is split between the fishing clubs and the state govt's. Literally millions of native fish are being stocked in each state every year and country towns near the stocked lakes are reaping the benefits with the increase in tourism etc.

In the 1800s the state translocated thousands of Murray Cod, Yellow belly, Perch, Carp etc into WA.

There maybe remnants of those translocations around WA. Fisheries are also busy removing any species they hear about on the internet or otherwise.

There is no plans to introduce Murray cod into our public water catchments even though they are riddle with aquarium fish such as Tilapia. Murray cod are a population control species that would eat these highly aggressive overseas fish such as Tilapia, Carp and Redfin Perch. Go figure.

Most trans-located 'native' fish are dead because our rivers have become so saline from poor land management. (The real killer)

Over east you can pick Murray Cod fingerlings up for around $1 ea if you buy them in big quantities. The eastern states are way ahead of WA in terms of developing their inland waters for recreational fishermen, the costs of fingerlings is split between the fishing clubs and the state govt's. Literally millions of native fish are being stocked in each state every year and country towns near the stocked lakes are reaping the benefits with the increase in tourism etc.

Initially many fingerling were stocked by ANSA (Australian National Sportfishing Association)

Stocking has since evolved further now tourism is massive around these rural areas

I dont think the salinity of the rivers is the cause of the fish that were stocked in the early 1900's not existing today. Australian natives are quite salt tolerant, look at the Golden Perch they can even survive in Lake Eyre (when it floods) and that can be as salty as the sea. The reason there are no Golden or Silver Perch left from the original stockings is because they require a summer flood to get them to breed and thats something we dont generally get in the SW of WA. Even most of the eastern states native fisheries are now maintained by stocking fingerlings and as a result the fishing is improving greatly for the aust natives. The attitudes towards fishing in freshwater impoundments in the east is the eaxact opposite to what exists here, over there they are improving access and incresing the fingerling stockings all the time. Just the other day I heard that both the Wivenhoe & Somerset Dams (Brisbane water supply dams) are now open for 4 stroke outboards and have been open for fishing for some time. Meanwhile in WA you get busted just for being in a water supply catchment area let alone throwing a line in!

 It can really F..k the water if you cast a hardbody in it. Gotta watch out.

stock champion lakes with some sort of sport fish like the murry cod that that grows to a good size and charge a small fee to fish it if there were quite a few really good sized fish in thier i for one wouild  be a regular there

There are murray cod, yellow belly and ozy bass in the Metro area. Free to catch in public water, biggest I have seen was a cod that went 8kg. Lots of casting required for these fish. Not my style of fishing but the guys that put in the 1000's of casts do get rewarded.

 Yep there are some places that have silver and golden perch and there are rumours of murry cod. But these places are a closely garded secret so good luck finding out about them haha.

...that impoundment/dam/lake in Queensland where they stock barra and the things grow to 40 kg plus? Catch and release fishery. I personally have no desire to fish for something that has been previously dumped into the water by a truck, but I know that it is very popular in other parts of the world...my hometown of San Diego features numerous lakes where so many thousands of pounds of trout are stocked every year and people pay a fee in the form of permits/fishing licences to access them, and how many of us have seen the Robson Green episode where he's fishing a stocked pond in Thailand for redtail cats/alligator gar/arapaima?

My point is, if they build it, they will come...as mentioned above, a stocked waterway featuring one of Australia's iconic species growing to trophy sizes would be a first-rate tourist draw. We all know the per kilo value of recreationally caught fish down south, like bream and salmon..seems like a no-brainer to me.

There are heaps of Lakes in Qld where 40kg plus Barra are getting caught, Lakes Monduran, Awoonga, Tinaroo............................................................

I dont have a problem catching fish where they are stocked as fry or fingerlings as they essentially grow up as a wild fish and are a challenge to catch. The current situation in WA freshwater impoundments is that most fish caught are either Redfin Perch or ex Brood Trout from the hatchery which are not much challenge to catch and with their worn fins and tails dont fight as well as they should. The dams are already there to provide a fantastic native fishery all it needs is some stocking.

It really annoys me that the Harding Dam (Karrathas reservoir) is not stocked with barra and open to fishing.  It would be fantastic to get monster barra like they do in Qld. 

Good news is the barra are now being stocked into Lake Kununurra.  4 years they reckon they will be meteries :)

I would pay to fish a large stocked impoundment for cod.

Hi all

This is an old thread but thought there might be some renewed interest in this topic. My first post on FW so go easy on me. I'm a keen kayak fisho and have been living in NSW for the past few years (rest of life in SW of WA) and have got right into and on the border of obsessed with chasing Australian Bass, Murray Cod and Yellowbelly Perch in both impoundments and rivers. I got me thinking about the rec fishing value these freshwater species could add to WA, especially the SW of WA. I've done some basic net searching and found an interesting discussion paper from fisheries about the issues associated with translocation of these species into WA dams and rivers (http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/6109/1/The_translocation_of_Golden_PerchFMP174(Completed).pdf).

Does anyone know what came of this paper and what the final ruling was and the reasons for it. I believe some of the info presented is dated and incorrect with regard to the economic and community benefits that establishing a world class freshwater sport fishery. At the very least, murray cod could go a long way to controlling the number of redfin perch and other exotic (not even native to Australia) species present in our water ways.

Although I currently reside in NSW, I will return home in the near future and would be very willing to do any leg work required to get this idea out in the public domain to get traction. Has anyone thought about starting a facebook page/group to gauge the interest amongst local anglers?

For those of you who turn your nose up to FW fishing, try it before you knock it. I agree that trout are pitiful sportfish and fight like a wet sock but bass, yb, and cod go hard... really hard! They belt both surface and diving lures and are very exciting to target.

I know of a few spots in WA that hold cod and bass and will take them to the grave. I want to see this amazing rec fishing opportunity available to all anglers in a variety of water ways in a sustainable fashion.

I hope this re-ignites the debate!

cheers

aj

cheers AJ,

I am also an avid fresh water fisho who grew up in the SW of WA and agree that most trout fight like a dead shoe. I am also keen on the idea of some of the eastern states locals residing in some of the local waterways around WA. as long as the marron population is not affected I cant see a reason not to introduce fish into a couple of restricted water ways. there are also a lot of small native minnows and other types of aquatic life that needs to be taken into consideration. not sure who to even get in contact with to raise the question/idea.

Hi AJ and welcome to the forum.

I agree with you in that we seriously need to get the ball rolling on getting some of the east coast natives stocked into some of the impoundments here in WA. Your idea of getting a Facebook page together is a good one and I am sure you would get a lot of people supporting it. The current situation in most WA freshwater impoundments is that they are dominated by large numbers of Redfin Perch most of which are of a small size hardly worth fishing for. One only needs to look at what has happend at similar impoundments on the east coast when they have been stocked with Cod and Yellowbelly and the way the fishing has improved and become so popular. Dams like Copeton, Pindari, Eildon, Mulwala all contain Redfin but since the large stockings of aust native fish has taken place their numbers have been reduced and the fishing has improved dramatically for big fish that actually are worth catching.

I can see no logical reason why we cant have these fish stocked into at least a couple of the dams where Redfin exist in the SW of the state. Redfin already predate heavily on Marron and have already eliminated any of the native fish that existed in these waters. So, the current sitiuation is that most of the SW irrigation dams are dominated by the English Redfin Perch and many also receive yearly stockings of Nth American Rainbow Trout and European Brown Trout. Why cant we have an Australian Native fish stocked??

The other ridiculous situation in WA is that there is no fishing whatsoever permitted in any of the drinking water supply dams, yet on the east coast and in other parts of the world this is common place. Look at what has happened in Brisbanes water supply dams these last few years, their water authorities now stock them with fish and encourage fishing and even boating yet over here you are not even permitted anywhere near the water!!

To get the ball rolling you could contact Recfish West as I know they already support what you propose and are trying to get the ball rolling. You could also contact WATFAA (West Australian Trout & Freshwater Fishing Association) as I know their president is also keen to get the east coast natives happening.

My first port of call would be the Shooters & Fishers Party representative Rick Mazza.

I agree with mustang with stocking champion lakes with some sort off fresh water fish as I live bout a km down the road and would use it quite regularly nd wouldn't mind paying a small fee to use it. seems a bit off a waste off a lake just for rowing and canoeing events tat happen maybe 1-2x a month nd a few training days during the week

 I know of one dam in Parkiville with massive murry cod in there, the dam is that big the chicken coop is the island in the middle.

The owner of the dam sells a lot of holdens here in Perth.. Wink wink..

It would be the same as releasing cane toads here in Carnarvon, introducing murray cod and bass would mean the end of marron in the rivers and streams---do you ever ask yourself why they are not found in the eastern states.

No need to jump to conclusions canarvonite and think that it would be open slather into every freshwater body in WA. I would imagine common sense would prevail and only select dams chosen as well as preventative measures to stop wild breeding. The cane toad comparison is erroneous, inadequate and inappropriate. Cane toads add zero value to any level of the food chain or communities. They are a toxic pest.

You also assume that redfin don't have a significant impact on marron young mortality. Bass would not predate mature marron or young any more than the current redfin population (which breed uncontrollably). Bass also need salt water to spawn so numbers can be controlled by stocking. Additionally, plenty of river systems and dams on the east coast have freshwater crustaceans, cod and yellowbelly in harmonious co-existence. Are you also assuming that the current status quo i.e. exotic, non Australian species dominating our rivers and dams is acceptable?

Sorry to offend Terboz123. I have spent many hours stalking trout in Australia and NZ with fly gear. The wet sock comment is based on my personal experience. Each to their own.

I'm looking for constructive conversations which are based on facts or at the very least some form of theory based on common science and/or case studies. I hope the discussion continues.

Yeah, you would never get approval to have them stocked into WA rivers and no one here is proposing such and the way its going it wont be long before all trout stocking into WA rivers ceases. Over the last few years stocking has not been permitted in Bancell Brook, Brunswick River and all streams in the Albany Denmark area. 

Golden Perch and Bass cant breed in freshwater impoundments so there is no risk of them taking over like the Redfin have done. Murray Cod possibly could breed but I imagine the survival rate would be very low if Redfin are present in the water and going by eastern states experience it appears necessary to stock fingerlings every year to build up good numbers.

 Marron are in fact only endemic to the Warren, Donnelly and Shannon watersheds, plus the Hairy in Margaret's. So technically speaking Marron are an introduced pest throughout most of their range in WA. Bring on the natives I say.

I thought that some time ago there was a proposal to stock some of the flooded quarry/open cut mine sites in Collie with some kind of Australian native fish. Can't remember the proposed species or what happened to the idea as it was quite a while ago.

My references (Freshwater Fishing in SW, Neil Coy) state that Marrons original habitat stretched from waters flowing into the Leschenault Inlet (Collie, Preston) south to the Kent and Bow Rivers between Denmark and Walpole. They were introduced into the Murray River in 1938 and as this was a great success they were then introduced into most rivers from the Hutt River near Geraldton across to east of Esperance.

From what I have read some waters in the east where Redfin were once prolific such as Lake Mulwala there has actually been an increase in the number of small native fish since the Cod and Golden Perch have dominated in the dam.  Redfin and Carp form a large part of the Cods and Goldens diet and as their numbers have declined the small native fish have made a comeback. I think a similar situation would occur here with the Marron. The current situation has Redfin as the dominate species in many of the SW irrigation dams with marron being their major food source. It makes sense then that if you can reduce their numbers there would be more marron about. If a Cod ate say 50 Marron and 50 Redfin over a 3 month period and each of those Redfin ate 50 Marron over the same period thats several thousand Marron saved that would have otherwise gone down the gut of a Redfin!!

Tell that to the so called experts, you only have to go back in history to see how they got things so wrong. Start with rabbits, foxes, sparrows, starlings, prickly pear, the bug they introduce to eat prickly pear, cane toads to eat the bug they introduced to eat the introduce prickly pear, redfin perch, carp and as WA goes long and shot beaked corellas.

It is so easy to bring something in but extremely hard to get rid of it once it gets established much to the detriment of the local native species

Introduced species only become a problem if they can breed. Stocking fish such as Golden Perch or Bass into an impoundment you wouldnt have this problem as neither species breeding trigger would be met, so the number of fish in the system is controlled by humans. I know Golden Perch only live for about 15 yrs so if it turned out to be a mistake its not like you have done irreversible damage.

In dams such as Harvey and Waroona there are pretty much no native species in there just introduced Marron, Redfin, Trout and Gambusia. This was verified when Waroona Dam was drained and the only native minnows recovered came from the creek, none were found in the dam itself.

Got in contact with Rick Mazza from the Shooters and Fishers Party and he said that they were pursuing a plan to develop a inland fishing hub in and around Wellington Dam. A proposal has been made. I do not know the details of the proposal and have requested a copy (if available). I agree with poltergeist but mainly in relation to bass stocking as it is 100% proven that bass cannot spawn in fresh water dams. Fluctuations of flood and drought initiate yellowbelly spawning.

The doc titled "THE TRANSLOCATION OF GOLDEN PERCH,MURRAY COD AND AUSTRALIAN BASS, INTO AND WITHIN WESTERN AUSTRALIA, FOR THE PURPOSES OF RECREATIONAL STOCKING, DOMESTIC STOCKING
AND COMMERCIAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL AQUACULTURE" points out a number of issues. In essence, the predatory nature of these fish is what makes them great angling targets. This also makes them a liability in terms of predating native fish. Other, more recent report indicate that most river systems are so degraded (collie river and associated Wellington Dam area from land use changes i.e. farming and mining, that native species are all but gone and the conservation value has been subsequently diminished. This in itself does not justify the careless introduction of other potentially destructive exotic species. What it does high-light is the issue of continued community value. Rampant populations of runt redfin does not benefit anyone. Fisheries have already capitulated that eradication is impossible. The case is therefore one of weighted benefits. What can predate a runt redfin and offer community benefit?

Ultimately, I believe Murray Cod in Wellington Dam can be achieved if the public interest and political will power is there. The next huge hurdle is cost. Any cod fingerlings which are released need to be of a size which can avoid being eaten by rampant redfin. Maturing or growing out cod can be a costly exercise and at present, no facility exists in WA.

It will be interesting to see where the Shooters and Fishers Party takes this and what credence any proposal is given.

aajay you will find a copy of the plan for the proposed fishing hub at Wellington Dam here:

http://www.wa.liberal.org.au/sites/www.wa.liberal.org.au/files/plans/Fisheries.pdf

It states the possible species as Trout or Black Bream but I have spoken to the guys at Recfish West about this and was told they will be pushing for east coast natives.

Carnavonite - the number of licences issued in 2013 for Marron was 10797 and for Freshwater fishing was 9721 so not a huge difference. I would say that most people who fish for marron would buy licenses as its heavily policed and there are big fines for those breaking the rules whereas with freshwater fishing I imagine many more people who only fish a couple of times a year would be more likely not to buy a license.

If a dam like Wellington was to be stocked with say Cod and Yellowbelly I would expect the number of freshwater fishing licenses being issued to increase dramatically. Not everybody can afford or has the desire to go offshore fishing in a boat and being able to target large fish in inland waters would make greater use of what is now underutilsed assets.

You would know this if you live or have lived there/in collie area Carnavonite. Camping is not permitted i.e. illegal, in te Wellington Dam National Park. The only locations to camp are honeymoon pool and gelcoat which are not anywhere near the dam. I presume you are happy with the current status quo C-ite? SFA fishing options apart from redfin (which has a significant impacts on you're beloved marron). Read the report in the above post (whole 68 pages) and enter into a discussion based on the facts presented.

I guess this treads ends here as it's clear that nothing constructive can come of it. Take it to heart C-ite tat Collie and the surrounding areas will have a heap going for it with a runt redfin fisery and p-poor marron fishery when the coal mines, power stations and alumina refinery wind up operations. Good to see that someone can think about nothing but themselves and a select few who are happy going nowhere.

Marron are native to Margaret river only.

Thousands of Eastern states fish were stocked in WA

During two trips to Grassmere Lake and its neighbourhood I have been able to gather considerable information concerning the Murray cod. Unfortunately, the mortality in Grassmere Lake, and the streams connected there with, has been very heavy, especially amongst the larger individuals. Specimens up to 601b in weight having been found dead on the beaches. This has been due possibly to the fact that undesirable chemical compounds are washed into the lake from the fertilisers used on the many holdings on its shores, while during the latter end of the summer the waters in Torbay Inlet, being insufficiently protected by the existing floodgates from contamination by sea water, show too high a salinity for the good of the cod.

The deal with Redfin is that in the UK they have a control fish, Northern Pike which keep the Redfin Perch populaitons under control. Murray Cod have similar attributes.

Thats right saltatrix, plenty of east coast natives were stocked into many of our rivers back in the late 1800's and early 1900's and where are they today and where is the evidence that they wiped out the marron?? The proof is already there that they made no negative environmental impacts and then as conditions were not suitable for breeding they all died out. The exception of course was Lake Grassmere where it appears Cod did breed and were recorded up to 90lbs and then only died out due to man stuffing up the environment. Cod of up to 41lb were even recorded from the Avon River near York!!

The current situation in our dams sees Redfin as the apex predator which is an undesirable situation given their breeding capacity and tendency to overpopulate and stunt. As you stated in their natural environment Pike are the apex predator and keep their numbers under control but a ban on introducing fish from other countries to Australia would never see Pike introduced here. From the catches I have made it appears that Redfin feed almost exclusively on Marron yet despite this there are still plenty of marron in the dams for people to catch. Dams like Harvey which appear to have greater Redfin populations you see less marron but they tend to be of a much larger size which is why fisheries manage them as trophy waters. Any introduced east coast species would have the two food sources (Redfin and Marron) so I could not see how they could impact on the marron population any more than what is already occurring. And not being able to breed would mean that their numbers can be kept under control.

aajay, dont give up hope mate you get all sorts on forums like these and some will always disagree with others opinions and thats fair enough. Your idea of setting up a facebook page is a good one and I am sure on there it wouldnt take long to establish a large group of followers that are like minded. As Perths and WA's population continues to grow there is going to be more and more fishing pressure on the oceans so what is the solution?? You cant keep reducing bag limits all the time so it makes sense to establish at least some of the plentiful amount of freshwater impoundments in WA into productive fisheries. I mean if people could go up to the Perth Hills and target 10kg Golden Perch or 30kg Murray Cod how popular would that be?? Things like this take time though, just look at Qld, they were the last of the east coast states to really stock public dams with fish and now they are even allowing fishing on many of their water supply dams and arguably have the best impoundment fisheries in Australia. Within a 200km drive of Brisbane one can choose to fish over 20 different dams for either Murray Cod, Golden Perch, Bass, Silver Perch, Mary River Cod, Barramudi, Saratoga...........................

Murray cod would eat plenty of Redfin, Carp, Tilapia Id say. We already have tested the water on Murray Cod. 1000s stocked around the WA. The test case is already there.

To those that were after a facebook page on this subject there is one.

www.facebook.com/groups/1196812083726124/

It looks like the guy running it is starting to make some progress so fingers crossed something will come from it.

 Heard whispers of them in Drakes brook weir Waroona over there years