Permit a rip off

[JAS]

Hi all,

I thought to put this post up for all the day trippers how go to somerset & wivenhoe to fish or enjoy a day's boating. I think that we are been ripped off in that we are forced to pay for a weekly permit at the price of $15 when all the other dams around S.E QLD are either free or the most $5.50 a week. I know that it would be cheaper to get a yearly permit but for those people who just go a few times a year its not worth it. I myself e-mailed them and recieved no response on the matter. I think that $5.00 for a day is fair with a self registry system like the one at Baroon pocket, they would end up with the same amount of money in there pockets and fairer for the people who just want to go for the day. They could still keep the weekly and yearly permits as well for those how go more. Pros or cons your thoughts on this post I would be interested to see what the felling on this subject is.

Thanks
Jas

[macca]

Jas

I agree mate.

The organisation that is running these dams are in it for profit, not only do they sell a permit for a price, they are also selling the water.

It would be good if they extended all the ramps while their out of the water and then you could see where all the money is going to.

I am wondering how much longer it will be before this SEQ Water realise they will be running short of water, before we get substantial rains.

I am concerned that there has not been some water restrictions introduced!

How much lower will Wivenhoe and especially Somerset get? Has it been this low before?

I think Cressbrook is great value at $2 per day


Macca

[Paul_C]

How much lower will Wivenhoe and especially Somerset get? Has it been this low before?

Macca

Somerset is currently at around 31.5% and was around the same level early last year, no water is being let out at the moment and it is purely evaporation causing the approx .2% drop each week.

PC

[Jeremy87]

Yep somerset is a rip.
Plenty of other dams that are just as good as somerset that are free.

[DeeGee]

Their camping fees are a rip-off too, unless they have changed them in the last couple of years. I and several of my work mates used to go up there for long weekends, but if we went in separate cars, which we sometimes needed to, we would each be charged the same as a family of 5 or 6 who went in one car.
When you add up the S.I.P., the camping fees and the boat permit, it got pretty exy for a couple of days freshwater fishing, so we have given it the flick and don't go to either of these dams any more.

DeeGee.

[Daintreeboy]

Are those two dams the water supply for Brissy area or for irrigation?
Thanks, Mark.

[Paul_C]

Are those two dams the water supply for Brissy area or for irrigation?
Thanks, Mark.

Yep, mostly Wivanhoe, also supplies Ipswich, Kilcoy, Esk and in the not to distant future Toowomba & the Gold Coast.

PC

[Daintreeboy]

I'm not too sure of the rest of the state but here in Cairns Lake Morris which is the Water Supply is banned from all forms of water activities. There has been a push for some time to introduce some forms as it will bring revenue to the local council but at this stage remains closed.
I wonder how many other lakes are closed off because of this?
Cheers, Mark.
PS, perhaps the permits are higher as extra testing needs to be performed on these waterways being our drinking water supply. If Lake Morris was opened, more testing and monitoring would need to be performed (more than a non drinking dam).
Cheers, Mark.

[meoldchina]

I reckon we don't know how lucky we are in Australia as I just checked the fees for the major stocked impoundments run by Anglian Water in England and they range from 12 pounds ($29AUD) for a half day/4 fish permit for one reservoir to 679 pounds ($1658AUD) for 300 days access to four reservoirs.

In my case I gladly parted with $35 for the local SIP (even though I knew I'd only get to Wivenhoe or Somerset a few times during the year) because it is my understanding that a fair whack of the fee ends up being distributed to the Fish Stocking Groups involved with the 29 Lakes covered by the scheme.

Please, however, correct me if I am wrong in assuming that most of the money gets re-invested in fingerlings.

[Paul_C]

Please, however, correct me if I am wrong in assuming that most of the money gets re-invested in fingerlings.

That's right, i'm a member of SWFSA, and in the last 4-6 weeks I have released 18,000 Yellas, 73,000 Silvers and 100 Saratogas (@ $40 each) into Somerset, and all of this is funded by your SIPS permit, and before anyone can say what about the Bass, they could not be sourced for love nor money this season due to problems the breeders had.

PC

[meoldchina]

Thanks Paul, I thought that was the case.

The other way of looking at it is that, if I drive from Brisbane to Somerset, the SIP fee becomes insignificant compared to the fuel I use, the lures I lose, the food I buy along the way, and the beers I have when I get home.

So, if my annual $35 puts a further 100 Yellas or one Saratoga into Somerset, then I say it is money well spent !

Regards,

Ross

[aussiebasser]

Hi Ross,
Like Paul C, I'm also involved with SWFSA. Rest assured, your SIP money is put to good use. This year we received in the vicinity of $67,000 from the SIP scheme for Somereset and Wivenhoe. That's a lot of fingerlings.

[macca]

Yep, you guys do a great job, Dale and Paul and others.

I totally support the SIP idea and I think it's extremely good value considering the results the stocking groups achieve.

Macca

[finga64]

Good call PC
I'd pay twice the rate if I knew I was going to get a feed.
Stocking is not cheap and if you want fish and ammenities pay the fee.
How much did it cost SWFSA to buy stock for that last release??
Maybe Sommerset charges more because they have to stock more and there is more cleaning up after all the people.. don't know the reason, but there would be a reason.

[JAS]

Hi all,

The post was more directed to the boating permit not the sip. The sip is one of the best thinks the goverment did in that 29 dams around QLD are having fish put in as people take then out. This is more about the extra cost just to go to these to dams. At Hamon cove on wivenhoe it doesn't even have a proper toilet block and billy bay & hay's bay are closed to the public, Fig tree point is now a closed road and so on. It won't be long before there will only be one ramp at these places and you will pay though the nose to fish them from your boat, when it is your money that is stocking these dams.

JAS.