Theresa Creek Dam (DPI Press release)

[Fitzy]

23 June 2003

Theresa Creek Dam a future barramundi drawcard
ENTHUSIASM is running high amongst members of the Clermont Fish Stocking Group who are well on the way to creating a viable barramundi recreational fishing resource in Theresa Creek Dam.

Department of Primary Industries Queensland Fisheries Service senior extension officer Peter Long teamed up with 11 Clermont Fish Stocking Group members on June 12 to conduct a netting survey in the 250-hectare impoundment.

Mr Long said the group members had initialled introduced 14,000 barramundi into the dam on December 14, 2002 and had now placed hatchery orders for a further 50,000 fingerlings for the 2003-04 summer season.

“The principal purpose of this month’s survey was not just to check progress of the barramundi population but to assess the survival of three late 2002 introductions of bony bream, a native fish species that provides the ideal food source for barramundi,” Mr Long said.

Preliminary surveys of Theresa Creek Dam revealed there were no bony bream in the impoundment but there was a significant population immediately downstream of the dam wall. DPI subsequently provided a permit to enable members to capture and transfer hundreds of bony bream into the dam.

“From the nine nets set over a three hour period, the recent survey caught 114 bony bream ranging in size from 70mm up to 250mm which indicates the fish are breeding successfully.

“Despite the onset of the cooler weather, we scored a bonus by netting an 1105 gram 420mm barramundi, a remarkable growth rate considering the fish was just seven months old. These stocked barramundi should grow to the legal length of 58cm by December this year. The survey also recorded 11 jewfish and seven spangled perch,” Mr Long said.

The Clermont Fish Stocking Group was only founded in February 2002 but with the support of the Belyando Shire Council, Blair Athol Coal and the wider community, group members had raised more than $20,000 in cash and contributions.

Group secretary Paul Wilson said the members had worked to extend the length of the boat ramp, expanded the picnic area and barbeque facilities and used rock fill to develop a casting platform for anglers.

After reaching a critically low water level in January this year, timely February rains filled the dam which remained near capacity at just 1metre below the spillway.



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Further information: Peter Long, senior extension officer, Rockhampton
Ph 07 4936 0253 Mobile 0428 799 574
Media Officer: Russ Boadle. Ph: +61 7 4936 0320, Mob: 0418 789939
Department of Primary Industries Media Unit
Central Region Office, PO Box 6014, Rockhampton Mail Centre, Qld 4702. Fax: +61 7 4936 0317
DPI Call Centre 8am-6pm weekdays on local call 13 25 23

[big_george]

Fitzy.
Have a look at the Faust web.They recomend that the big girls be taken.What do ya reckon.
cheers george.

[lordy]

According to latest scientific research it a choice of taking the big ones out or having very few but very large fish (they found just 58 in electofishing 30 runs each about 1.5 km long, avg fish size around 1m). About 80%+ of the fish in Tinaroo are over 80cm, so you know the fingerlings are not surviving.

The management strategy comes down to,

1. Family fishery: take the big ones and have a balanced family fishery, with more avg sized fish

2. Trohpy fishery: leave the big ones, much less chance of catching a fish but chances are it will be a trophy fish if you do.

[Fitzy]

Fitzy.
Have a look at the Faust web.They recomend that the big girls be taken.What do ya reckon.
cheers george.

I lean towards taking the really big catadromous (can't breed in dams) fish from stocked lakes. They aren't part of a breeding population. They've done their job & they look really good on the wall. Fish can learn (I know bass do) & a big fish that's been caught a few times may well learn to avoid getting caught. If that idea holds water, then these fish are just turning food into poop & are of no use to anglers or the fishery. There's also a really big chance that a big fish that gets caught/picked up out of the water for a piccy is going to cark it anyway so......

I guess its your choice. I support anyone who wants to take a trophy fish from stocked lakes, but I don't do it myself.
BTW- I think we will be hearing the term "trophy fish" alot more in the future as our stocked lakes produce bigger & bigger fish.

Cheers,

Fitzy..