160,000 Fingerlings for Awoonga

[the_matrix]

Hi all, just a heads up that this weekend will see roughly 160,000 Barra fingerlings added to the Awoonga catchment.
Well done Kurt and the hatchery staff from GAWB, we all really appreciate the effort and time you guys put in to provide us with a sensational impoundment so heavily stocked.
Im sure I'll see some of you regulars out there assisting in the spread.
Grow you little blighters.
Cheers
Jas

[Big_Ren]

Im sure I'll see some of you regulars out there assisting in the spread.

Awesome sh*t Jas. What size are the fingerlings....35-50mm?

Trev might have to swim around with his bucket, as I hear he is boatless atm Like me

Cheers
Paul

[the_matrix]

Paul,
Yeh 50mm mate, as well as some 300mm leftovers and as Kurt calls them, "bits and pieces"
Jas

[Awoonga]

Yes boatless....but all is not lost as l should be helping Scotty [Vet] ..We have a special place for them....

[two fold]

well done hachery guys thats a lot of fish!
purcho

[BARRAkid]

thats great fellas more the better
one question how do use think they will go so late in the season ???


cheers bK

[NAGG]

Hi all, just a heads up that this weekend will see roughly 160,000 Barra fingerlings added to the Awoonga catchment.
Well done Kurt and the hatchery staff from GAWB, we all really appreciate the effort and time you guys put in to provide us with a sensational impoundment so heavily stocked.
Im sure I'll see some of you regulars out there assisting in the spread.
Grow you little blighters.
Cheers
Jas

Shhhhh Jas ...... In 9 months time the meatoes will be lined up to catch those fish once they reach legal size Like restocking the supermarket shelves!

great News though

Nagg

[the_matrix]

Shhhhh Jas ...... In 9 months time the meatoes will be lined up to catch those fish once they reach legal size Like restocking the supermarket shelves!
great News though
Nagg

Although it pains me to say this, without the meato's, quite simply we wouldnt get a stocked dam.
Be careful what you wish for guys, because the flipside is much worse than the status quo.
I have been seeing meato's hack into the resident population for over 5 years.........cripes, it hurts.
But hatchery commitment is NOT driven by catch and release, we'll make them redundant by banning fish being taken.
Somewhere in between lies the answer, but we're a ways off it yet.
Stocking the hell out of dams is the answer I reckon, the more the merrier.
Jas

[Steve B]

Thanks for the heads up on the release Jas. Thats a heap of fingerlings!!!!

Future is good.

Steve

[Awoonga]

Although it pains me to say this, without the meato's, quite simply we wouldnt get a stocked dam.
Be careful what you wish for guys, because the flipside is much worse than the status quo.
I have been seeing meato's hack into the resident population for over 5 years.........cripes, it hurts.
But hatchery commitment is NOT driven by catch and release, we'll make them redundant by banning fish being taken.
Somewhere in between lies the answer, but we're a ways off it yet.
Stocking the hell out of dams is the answer I reckon, the more the merrier.
Jas

Somewhere in the middle.. yes ... Slot limit ..legal size to 80cm Nothing over 80 cm to be taken thats my thoughts then you have to police it...Maybe by education with signs at the ramp... There are ways and means..

[Little grey men]

Great news, I've been lucky enough to be involved with a little bit of fish stocking after kind invites by members on this site......my young bloke got such a kick out of it.
It really makes you think differently about fishing and how precious a resource these animals really are.
How long before these little guys come exploding out of the water, to start some anglers knees a shakin' ie....how long does it take for a barra to reach the metre mark in a food rich environment such as Awoonga ?

P.S Jas, I've finished that ''thing''

[Az]

great news, has there been any studies done on success rate, ie how many of those will make through to maturity?

[warrior]

when you see the size of the bonies the big girls eat i reckon they would eat a couple of dozen in one hit,we found one bony at christmas floundering on the surface it was close to 300mm long and was completely scaled where it had been sucked in and spat out.

[the_matrix]

Guys,
Roughly 30% survival rate, depending on weather, release area and a host of natural variables.
Its an interesting time to be releasing fingerlings, but kurt has way more experience in this field and if he says its a good time then I believe him.

Michael, again weather and food dependant, but 50mm to legal in a bit over 12 months, then roughly 3kgs per year depending on available digestable proteins.
Barra as young as 4 years old have made the magic metre mark, but it seems averaging out a bit more than that.

Trev, slot limits? Nah, Im not for that personally. These dams are stocked waterways with put and take ethos.
Maybe lets look at bag limits, but limiting people to slot limits will see a gap in year class and confusion more than anything.
Im not saying for one minute I agree with some of the blatant harvesting of these magnificent fish, it hurts me to see it, and I'd rather not know about the freezer brigade.
Thing is, whilst people are taking fish out, we will continue to get fish put in.
If it gets to the point where there are slot limits and or no takes, the fine work our stocking groups do may eventually dry up, as may the funding by GAWB and the like.
We need to find a happy medium, where familys/individuals can enjoy the opportunity to come and fish for a feed regradless of what you or I think they taste like.
They also should be able to do this without strange looks at the ramp, or whispers at the van park.

I'd hate to see an "elitism" at our favourite impoundments, where only catch and release is practised, and younger generations cant learn the basics of fishing/fish handling and hopefully eventual catch and release attitudes.
These dams are great places for these all important lessons, after all none of us are born with catch and release instinct. It comes with time, experience and concern for the future.
What better place to learn those valuable lessons?
Cheers
Jas

[TinarooTriumph]

Grow you little blighters.

Here here to that... Bloody rats!!!!

160,000 is a fair number of fish - as you say, well done to the blokes at GAWB. 700 footies are to be released into Tinaroo within the next week and a bit... nothing like the number that go into Awoonga but fingers crossed most, if not all stay fit and healthy for me to catch. We have some cold weather ahead of us but fortunately the Dam is full to the brim so there is plenty of water they can play in.

Cheers

Theo