Anglers told to go home at Lenthals

[black_sheep]

Lucky to fish Lenthals on Sat. Rocked up at 6am with 6 other boats all waiting at the gate. The security guy on duty was instructed to not let any boats on the dam with ANYTHING over a 15HP motor irrespective of whether they had an electric visible. All the boaties that were there had 30-50HP motors (and electrics) but none made it through the gates.

We may have been lucky as we had an 18HP motor but disconnected the fuel line and left the fuel tank at home so couldn't possibly use the petrol even if we wanted to, so he let us in without having to unbolt the motor. It wouldn't have been a major drama for us to unbolt but not exactly practicle for someone with a 30HP or more.

In saying this, the guard at the gate coped a fair bit of abuse from the anglers (some of them had just driven 3hrs from brisbane like us) and really, he is just there doing the job he has been paid for. So, I suggest Anglers contact Michael Weaver (4197 4110) whose name is clearly displayed at the signs at the main gate. I think he is from the waterboard.

As for the fishing - only 2 other boats made it on and a canoe.

Managed to hook a good barra in the first 10 mins but pulled hooks. The wind then picked up and we only managed 2 small bass on the troll between spots.

Thanks to Warrior for the feedback on using spinnerbaits.

Cheers
Navi

[Big_Ren]

Nav

You would have been right mate if you got kicked out ;D...just drive up the road, meet us at Monduran and still catch sfa like us ;D ;D.

Lenthalls is sounding more and more like an exclusive club :-X

Cheers
Paul

[black_sheep]

Don't think so Paul, I would have at least got a few Monduran trout ;D ;D and my knots aren't dodgy :-X :-X doh!

Lenthals - With the amount of serious Bass/Barra fishermen and new boats becoming available for this type of fishing, 15hp outboards are no longer the norm and most of these boats are being rigged up with 30hp minimum and as we've seen, some of those American style boats have over 200hp motors. As you say, this leaves a very small group that can fish Lenthals legally. They are going to exclude a huge majority of anglers that can promote the fishery and throw a lot of dollars into it.

I guess it all starts when a few tossers can't respect speed restrictions and stuff it for everyone.

What I don't understand is, if they going to spend the dollars to have a guard on duty all day, why not have someone patrol the dam and issue fines for people doing the wrong thing - good way of stopping the idiots, getting the message across and a bit of revenue raising from the fines they hand out!

[warrior]

navi,from what i can gather is the guard will only be there till the construction wirk is finished and then he willbe goooooooone.then the local boys will take over again and the new rules will come into effect,what those rules will be is anybodies guess.

[bigdan123]

navi,from what i can gather is the guard will only be there till the construction wirk is finished and then he willbe goooooooone.then the local boys will take over again and the new rules will come into effect,what those rules will be is anybodies guess.


very true
then we get a ranger on site ;) to police the hole dam :)
and i believe that the rules will allow larger 4strokes
and 2strokes will be phased out
but the 4knts will stay


Dan

[black_sheep]

Dan,

Only way to do it and I'm sure most will be in support and abide by the changes.

I'm in full support as I only have a 4-stroke ;D ;D

[Herby13]

so whats the go? your aloud on now with up to a 15hp as long as you only go 4 knots?????? ive got a 15 and dont want to travel all that way for nothing.

[bigdan123]

so whats the go? your aloud on now with up to a 15hp as long as you only go 4 knots?????? ive got a 15 and dont want to travel all that way for nothing.

no mate 6hp
and yes I'm pissed off >:( I'm VP of the fish stocking at the dam and i can't take my boat and go fishing at lenthalls ether >:( >:(

Dan

[Brad_H]

[quote and i believe that the rules will allow larger 4strokes
and 2strokes will be phased out
but the 4knts will stay Dan[/quote]
Dan, If the engine restrictions proposed for other dams is used as a guide, then the speed will and should stay at 4 (maybe 6 knots) depending on the regulating authority, but they will not be able to ban 2 strokes. The laws only allow authorities to ban I/C engines based on emissions not technology, therefore they can ban any motor not compliant with EPA/CARB/????? current standards which means that even some older 4 stroke 6hp engines can be banned whilst a 2006 60 etec would be allowable.

For myself, well if they dont stick with a speed limit, then I wont be ticking the box on SIP and will drive straight past to fish Monduran for Barra and visit Maroon/Macdonald/Borumba for my surface Bass fix.

Cheers Brad

[bigdan123]

brad heres what going to happen in the future.


Wide bay water corporation commences developing a lake lenthall recreational management plan for implementation once the recreational area upgrade is complete. The recreational management plan is to include:

a. Educational program for safe boating on Lake Lenthall.

b. Employment of ranger to:

- Carry out on-site operational duties

- Deliver the recreational management plan

- Enforce four knot boat speed restriction

- Introduce a change of policy to allow four-stroke engines up to 60 hp boat motor size

- Maintain policy to only allow two-stroke engines up to 6 hp boat motor size

- Introduce a change of policy to allow only four-stroke engines from 1 Jan 2010



Thats from the horse’s mouth ;) :(

Dan

[rayken1938]

Dan
I have no beef with the speed limit/hp restrictions.
I think that it is terrible that apparently the water board has not seen fit to consult with other groups that have been affected by the current restrictions.
Do you know whether public consultation will take place for imput to the proposed management plan or are they going to develop it themselves.
If public consultation is going to take place could you make a post so that as many as possible ausfish members can contribute.
On site camping would be attractive to me and other travelling fishos.
Another thing to concider will be the hours of opening. There are a lot of impoundments that only allow dawn to sunset access.
Hopefully some ranger supervision will sort out a lot of the previous problems.
I am planning a trip there in February and am going to stay in the van park at howard as I need a powered site to charge my batteries and hopefully things will have settled down by then and the council may even have graded the road in.
In the meantime lets all use a bit of discression and not accuse each other of being idiots and power mongers. A lot of the recent angry posts could have been avoided if the water board had advertised their intentions more widely in advance. I empathise with people who drive a long way and find that they have no access but have no time for people who do not obey the posted limits after gaining access.
It is not the stocking group who have implemented the current restrictions and I understand their concern of the fishery being shut down.
Having had my little spray/sermon
Ray

[Sniper]

Brad, I agree with you in regards to the type of motors supposedly being banned. The technology of the new age 2 strokes have lower emmitions than most 4 bangers. I'm about to buy a new rig with a 60 E-tec which has the highest rating for emmitions, 3 stars. They should take into consideration the new technology of motors before labelling all 2 strokes as smelly and environmently damaging. Will have to wait and see what the powers to be do and whether they will look at this. Hopefully heading up there tomorrow for a fish. Will see what happens.
Bill

[rick_k]

Where does the water in Lenthal's go?

I can see how an old style 2 stroke puts more oil in the water than current 4 strokes and current 2 strokes, although a fair bit is burned. Is it enough to be an environmental concern? How much of the catchment includes sealed roads? How much oil comes from the roads.....etc.

[castamasta]

hi dan......thanks for the info mate, but could you clarify one detail for me please?......is the motor restrictions up to" 60hp 4stroke "actually mean up to and including 60hp or must be below 60?....thanks,casta.

[bigdan123]

hi dan......thanks for the info mate, but could you clarify one detail for me please?......is the motor restrictions up to" 60hp 4stroke "actually mean up to and including 60hp or must be below 60?....thanks,casta.

60 and below mate. but that wont come in till the ranger is there (about April maybe longer)

rick-k the water is the supply for the wide bay region, and the only sealed roads is at the car park at the dam wall.

Dan

[rick_k]

I can see why they want to take extra care then Dan.

[Tropicaltrout]

So what about the so called pro's with there americanised bass boats?

[Roo]

TT,
I'd say they applied for and received special permission for their tournament.

roo.

[castamasta]

cheers dan,thought id better check :)....

[5litrebmx]

Spoke to Wide Bay Water today and it is not only the tournament boats but also the fishing guides who have applied for exemption to the motor limit, which I think is discriminating against the recreational anglers who have fished there way before any of them, I have been going out there since 1990 and was stopped on Saturday while taking some friends out there who saw it on the AFC show on Ten. I have been in touch with our local member and suggest others do the same otherwise we may lose this top bass and barra impoundment to the powers that be. 8-)

[NormC]

They would do best to just make a rule and stick with it. No exemptions.

Hinze dam is about twice the size of Lenthalls I think. Electrics only permitted. Comps are electric. Guides are electric. You simply can't go on the dam if you have a petrol motor on the boat. The only 'exemption' is the Gold Coast council boat, but I've seen it on the water only twice in about 20 visits.

Of course I'd rather use my outboard. But with a consistent rule that everyone understands there is no problem.

Many of the regulars with good boats run two electrics. One on the bow and one on the stern. If just covering water the run both but just steer with bow mount.

Once you start allowing exemptions you set up two classes of citizens and that leads to trouble.

Just my view.

[bigdan123]

Spoke to Wide Bay Water today and it is not only the tournament boats but also the fishing guides who have applied for exemption to the motor limit, which I think is discriminating against the recreational anglers who have fished there way before any of them, I have been going out there since 1990 and was stopped on Saturday while taking some friends out there who saw it on the AFC show on Ten. I have been in touch with our local member and suggest others do the same otherwise we may lose this top bass and barra impoundment to the powers that be. 8-)



If I read this right, you have more rights to fish Lenthalls dam because you fished the dam for 17 years. Give me a break!!!!!!!! How much time have you put in to fish stocking????
I know the guides and both contribute monies towards the stocking and maintenance of the fcfsa’s hatchery.
One in particular (Paul Dolan) has spent more time over the last 10 years fishing the dam and of those four years with the fish stocking of the dam. He has also volunteered many hours feeding fish in our hatchery as well going to meetings etc etc etc. The restrictions the guides have been put under by WBW for the exemptions are unbelievable.

We in the fcfsa are not allowed to go fishing with our boats either, you are not the only one.
We accept that because it’s only temporary that’s the way it is.
The reason all this has happened in the first place is to many people did not comply too the rules of the dam.


Dan

[BOMBER]

Hi All,

Re: Guiding exemptions I believe that these exemptions are only till the end of March anyway, then the guides will be just like all others and have to abide by the same rules. I also believe that they should be allowed these exemptions in the short term as they take bookings some 12 months in advance so at that time there was no talk of this closure at Lenthalls and if stopped they would have a loss of income which could leave Wide Bay water open to court action. And if my memeory serves me right Paul Dolan has a 50 HP 4 stroke and am unsure what Nat Bromhead has so Paul Dolan would be fine if these new measures are brought into force.

Regards,

The Bomber

[aussiebasser]

Spoke to Wide Bay Water today and it is not only the tournament boats but also the fishing guides who have applied for exemption to the motor limit, which I think is discriminating against the recreational anglers who have fished there way before any of them, I have been going out there since 1990 and was stopped on Saturday while taking some friends out there who saw it on the AFC show on Ten. I have been in touch with our local member and suggest others do the same otherwise we may lose this top bass and barra impoundment to the powers that be. 8-)


If you've been fishing it for so long, you would be aware that the speed and horsepower regulations are not new. They've been there a long time, and are only now being enforced because too many people were doing the wrong thing. Sometimes the idiots of this world need to be protected from themselves, and the rest of us must follow the same rules. I'm sure the couple of guides who've been given exemptions are not likely to flout the rules as they derive their income from this. As Dan said, Paul is very actively involved in the stocking group and has spent a lot of his money and time on the place. Without him, I doubt there'd be Barra there at all, and without his earlier successes there most people wouldn't even know Lenthalls existed. My boat is out, 'cause I've got a 150 4st, and I wouldn't tow it over the goat track they call a road there anyway.

[5litrebmx]

I didn't say I was unaware about the motor and speed restrictions, that's why I have the electric, to use the same as if you go fishing at Lake Macdonald where there is no petrol motors allowed but you can still have it on your boat.
As for some doing higher speeds around the dam there are a few that know better now but a few years ago were not abiding by the 4 knot limit

[warrior]

i come from the brissy area and am planning on a move up to your paradise soon, i have fished this dam regularly ,it seems to me that there is a lot of sour grapes from the people who have not had much involvment in this fishrey that not want much change,i would be pleased to see the idiots who have damaged this place to be banned for good,you stuff up dont come back,simple!!!. the ranger will be good for the area with the amount of people coming into qld each week and the number of new fishos with that we dont need yobbos and d---k heads ruining it for those who do the right thing.i met paul once at monduran, very passionate man about his fishing and i can understand where he is coming from about this place.