North Pine Dam Hot

[Poseidon]

Great looking afternoon with some healthy looking bass, top day.

[Little grey men]

Cracker bass there mate! would love to tangle with em. I might have to go out soon and walk around have a flick and not catch fish like usual.

Cam

If you took one Sunday afternoon off, I'd get you on to some no worries Cammy.
You'd smile for a week

[Roo]

nice work brian, gotta luv the hot bite.....you should've taken the baitcaster and a banana bomber!! they're the gun lure ya know.

I was out on Clarrie hall dam Sunday.....all day....very tough fishing. hard to find them around the usual haunts. eventually found a couple hugging the bottom deeper and further out from the edges than previous recent form. but still very slow fishing here. but far out the couple we got were absolute Pigs....fat as i've ever seen a fish get, one was only 27cm long and nearly as round.

[BR65]

cheers fellas, its a great little spot that takes a wee effort to get to at the moment, so the worm danglers are generally few and far between.
Would love to try a dawn session, but theres no way in the world Im wadeing thru that grass in the dark.

cheers
brian

[Cammy]

If you took one Sunday afternoon off, I'd get you on to some no worries Cammy.
You'd smile for a week

Yer i am meaning to do that with you i just need to tell work. It cant be next sunday or this sunday as im taking the day off and going camping at Double Island. Im free on saturdays though? I bet i would smile for a week it would be my new avatar aswell!

Cam

[Little grey men]

cheers fellas, its a great little spot that takes a wee effort to get to at the moment, so the worm danglers are generally few and far between.
Would love to try a dawn session, but theres no way in the world Im wadeing thru that grass in the dark.

cheers
brian

I escaped from work yesterday arvo and headed there....bloody hell it was a hard slog wearing waders. But it would be c c c c cold without them.
Stood on a little brown snake when I hit the first gully. Did the crazy dance for a few seconds.
How thick is that stuff on the bottom ? It's a real battle dragging them through it.
I started flicking at the point and worked my way back . Didn't find them until I hit the same spot that you found them....they're still there mate....we left a couple for you

[rayken1938]

All NPD dam fishos please be aware that there is an outbreak of salvinia on the dam. Please ensure that you clean your gear so that you do not translocate it to other waterways.
Cheers
Ray

[BR65]

I escaped from work yesterday arvo and headed there....bloody hell it was a hard slog wearing waders. But it would be c c c c cold without them.
Stood on a little brown snake when I hit the first gully. Did the crazy dance for a few seconds.
How thick is that stuff on the bottom ? It's a real battle dragging them through it.
I started flicking at the point and worked my way back . Didn't find them until I hit the same spot that you found them....they're still there mate....we left a couple for you

appreciate that mate, though they can have a week or so of peace and quiet, Im off to annoy some trout and reddies next week

Crikes, if that was me standing on the joe blake, ya would have heard the girlie scream of terror all the way to Redcliffe, dont like snakes, uh uh.
cheers
brian

[Cammy]

salvinia whats that like blue/green algea? that contaminates other water and stuff and is hard to get rid of?

Cam

[nuggstar]

awsome post brian. good to see im not the only one willing to get wet for a lure. it must just be a thing fisherman with the name bryan do hehehe

[rayken1938]

salvinia whats that like blue/green algea? that contaminates other water and stuff and is hard to get rid of?

Cam

This is from Victorian DPI website .
It is pretty nasty stuff as it grows so quickly. They had a small outbreak on the dam about 4 years ago and it took ages to eliminate. They were spraying from the water and land based. This outbreak seems much larger as its quite thick upstream but more isolated at Bullockies and Forgans.
Cheers
Ray

Salvinia is one of only fourteen weeds proclaimed as State Prohibited Weeds in Victoria. This is the highest category to which a noxious weed can be allocated and means that salvinia is to be eradicated if possible from the State.

Origin
Salvinia is native to south-eastern Brazil. It has been distributed worldwide and probably throughout Australia by use in aquariums.

Description
A perennial aquatic fern with most leaves floating on the water surface, forming mat-like growths. The plant has different forms depending on its density. The leaf stems, which are rhizomes, and modified leaves which act like roots, are submerged, but they both float and do not “take root” in any substrate.

Stems - up to 30 cm long, 1 to 2 mm thick, multiply branched. Stem length decreases with increasing plant density. In dense infestations the stem length between leaves is very short.

Leaves - are of two kinds, emergent (floating) and submerged. Emergent leaves have two leaflets growing on opposite sides of the leaf stem. There is significant variation in size and shape of floating leaves depending on the growth stage of the plant. Leaves of isolated plants are oval to heart-shaped, flat and as small as 10 mm by 5 mm. In dense infestations the leaves are crowded together, oblong in shape, deeply keeled, and up to 3 cm by 6 cm wide when opened flat. The floating leaves are green, non-wettable on the upper surface and have complex waxy hairs about 1 mm long. The submerged modified leaves which act like roots are short brown hairy stalks ending in hairy filaments up to 50 cm long which look like wet hair.

Roots - absent.

Being a fern salvinia does not produce flowers. Ferns generally reproduce by spores but salvinia is a sterile hybrid. It produces spore capsules on submerged stems but any spores produced are incapable of germination.

Life Cycle
Reproduction of salvinia is vegetative and results from buds shooting at stem nodes and the continual creation of daughter plants. Daughter plants are the invasive form of salvinia. In order to grow they require nutrients and an area of clear water surface amid, or on the edge of the infestation.

Figure 1. Invasive growth form of salvinia

Figure 2. Dense infestation of salvinia.

Dispersal
As salvinia only reproduces vegetatively by division, dispersal is by invasive growth or physical transfer of parts of the plant. Daughter plants break away from the parent and may be moved with water currents and the wind. Careless disposal of aquarium contents could result in salvinia being deposited in freshwater and must be avoided. Salvinia has also been used as an ornamental in garden ponds.

General
When conditions are suitable salvinia can spread very rapidly and completely cover water surfaces. Its growth can block waterways including irrigation and drainage systems and smother dam and reservoir surfaces. Masses of salvinia carried by flood waters can destroy fences and other structures. Dense infestations significantly decrease water quality and reduce penetration of sunlight. Masses of decaying salvinia de-oxygenate the waters on which they are growing, resulting in the death of fish and other aquatic fauna. Infestations also increase the rate of water loss, because the plants use water faster than it normally evaporates. Access to water by stock and wildlife can be restricted. Infestations have occurred in rice fields overseas.

Distribution in Victoria seems to be limited to aquariums and garden ponds. In other states salvinia has become a major problem in water storages and rivers.

Control
Salvinia plants found in aquariums should be dried and burned or buried so they cannot enter the storm water system. Tanks which contain the weed should be emptied onto lawns and gardens, not into sinks, drains or waterways. Mechanical removal of large infestations is extremely difficult. Early detection of this weed is therefore very important.

Chemical Control
Under Victorian legislation there are controls on various aspects of the uses of agricultural chemicals. Some particular uses are prohibited and some require permits. Users of certain agricultural chemicals are required to obtain an Agricultural Chemical User Permit (ACUP) or work under the direct supervision of an ACUP holder. Additional restrictions on the use of some herbicides apply to particular geographic areas known as Chemical Control Areas (CCA).

It is the responsibility of chemical users to familiarise themselves with these controls. See Agriculture Note: Agricultural chemical user permits (ACUP) and chemical control areas(CCA) for further information.

Contact the Regional Chemical Standards Officer of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment if further advice is required.

You should read the product label and follow all label instructions carefully before using any herbicide.

Use a product containing the following active constituent that is registered for use in Victoria to control salvinia in the particular situation in which you need to use chemical control. Consult the product label for detailed information.

• DIQUAT DIBROMINE MONOHYDRATE

This list of chemicals is based on information supplied to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment by the National Registration Authority for Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (NRA). The State of Victoria through the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has not assessed or checked the accuracy of the information supplied to it from the NRA as that responsibility rests with the NRA.

Important
Any person who believes they have located an infestation of salvinia, regardless of the area, please notify a Catchment Management Officer at a local office of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

[Little grey men]

Thanks for the info Ray,

I came across some between Bullockys and Forgans a few weeks back. The wind blows it all over the dam. Went back the week after and it was gone.
Small patches of it here and there.
It's not much fun wading through it because you can't see the bottom.... neck deep holes are no fun whilst wearing waders.