Stocking Fish In Private Dam

[robgps20]

Gday,
I have a dam in my backyard which is about 30 metres in diametre. I was looking to put some natives in there for a bit of sportfishing. I can get 5cm yellowbelly for $1 each, and was looking at about 100. Do any of you know places where i can buy fingerlings to stock in my dam? The guy i spoke to said there would already be an ecosystem set up in my dam seeing its been there for around 15 years, even though i can't see much aquatic life. Should the dam be alright as it is or should i put some food in the dam for the fish? Also should i feed them chicken pellets or the like as glassy's fishing world does? I would prefer bass than yellas but the place that i was talking to aren't getting them for another 3 months. Also at about what rate would the fish grow?
Thanks in advance
Rob Russell

[imported_admin]

Hi

Check out http://www.ausyfish.com/introduction.htm they should be able to help out

[Luke]

Hey Rob,
you could try Australian Native Fish Enterprises aswell on 0403 043 819. There is a guy at Holmeview-steer clear as he offered a cousin of mine some bass and pay on arrival and threatened to blow his house up if he didn't pay up. Long story short my cousin ordered and the wally never turned up anyway. Some mothers do have em.
Cheers Luke

[Fitzy]

Hi Rob,
Some recommended reading for stocking private dams.

http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/fishweb/1261.html

Cheers,

Fitzy..

[Silver_RX]

I hope your dam doesn't flood to much. I've ended up with someone elses silver and spangled perch

[Finnie]

Rob,

When I was younger we stocked one of our farm dams with 100 Yellowbelly and they did very well (down in Forbes - Central West NSW though, not Armidale!). They grew to that magic "pan" size of around 30 cm in a year or a year and a half, and due to some creative "shag exclusion" by me and my brothers, ended up with about a 70% return ever the years. In a drought a few years later we could see the last few fish's backs, and so we dragged it before they all died. Funnily enough we ended up with a couple of catfish, a redfin, and a river blackfish that my brothers had lobbed in there over the years on the way past!

We didn't go about too much feeding them. I think the old fella might have thrown in some chook pellets at different times, but nothing regular. We did anchor a few old tyres in the dam for the fingerlings to hide in at the early stages though.

Interestingly, even though the water was the classic milky brown with basically no visibility for the fish at all, we used to pull the fish out on lures. Celtas worked well, but my favourite was a floating deep-diving lure, dragged slowly enough across the surface to give a little wriggle but not to dive (hey, I'd never seen a surface lure back then!). Here's a tip though. If you are a little kid fishing with a few worms and decide to go back to the house to get a drink, don't stick your rod in the mud and leave it......the cows like to knock things down, sniff them, and then walk all over them. Scarred me for life that did!

But, I recommend you do it, especially if you have kids that can wander on down and throw in a line of an afternoon. I loved it!

Cheers,
Finnie

[goodoo_man64]

you should probably stock less fingerlings [80] due to the golden perch being very territorial.
before stocking your dam with fingerlings, make sure there is a bit of structure in the so the fish have a place to hide out.
this will benefit the fish and you as it will provide more of a challenge to catch the fish and it will provide cover for the fish. and try to stock the dam with plenty of yabbies of different sizes.

hope i could help
goodoo man64

[bassmansrc]

Below are some quotes taken from the NSW fisheries website & gives you some great information on stocking farm dams, the full page gives you stocking rates, growth rates & ow to combat predatory birds & undesireable fish like carp & eels. The link is http://www.fisheries.nsw.gov.au/aqua.../fish_dams.htm .

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Quote-
The past 20 years has seen a growing demand for freshwater fishes to stock farm dams. Several million fish have been sold to farmers throughout New South Wales. The stocked fish have had various fates, with reports varying from 100% survival and growth of 1 kg a year, to anecdotal reports like "I didn't see a sign of the fish ever again".

Quote-
Suited to the coastal and inland plains and the lower slopes of the Great Dividing Range, most native species can tolerate water temperatures of 4-30° C. The catfish, and perhaps the silver perch and the Murray cod occasionally breed in dams; however, the young often die from inadequate food, parasites, or through predation by insects, birds and other fish. To spawn, the other fish need complex environmental stimuli not easily reproduced in farm dams.
Silver perch or bidyan (Bidyanus bidyanus)
The silver perch may be the best warm-water fish for stocking in western drainage dams, because it is an omnivore (eats animal and plant matter); it lives on shrimps, insects, plankton and algae, and so can exploit a greater range of food sources than the carnivorous fishes. Good to angle and excellent to eat, it can reach plate size within two years. Silver perch may be stocked in dams on the eastern drainage, but only where there is no chance of escape into local waters.
Golden Perch, callop or yellowbelly (Macquaria ambigua)
An excellent angling and table fish. In warm areas where food is plentiful, it may reach eating size within a year, but usually takes two years. It is a carnivore, feeding on yabbies, insects, shrimps and small fish. Because of its different diet, it may be stocked together with silver perch. Golden perch may be stocked in dams in the eastern drainage, but only where there is no chance of escape into local waters.
Australian bass (Macquaria novemaculeata).
Native to coastal streams of the eastern drainage, it is one of the best known recreational freshwater sportfish, as well as being excellent to eat. Its diet includes a wide range of fish, yabbies, shrimps and insects, and it adapts well to farm dams. It can exceed 4kg in dams, but cannot breed there. Adults migrate downstream to estuaries to breed and the juveniles move back upstream into the freshwater streams. Because of this, weirs and other barriers on coastal streams have impeded movement of the bass to a lot of its essential breeding habitat.
Most of the existing fishways were copied from salmonid designs, and were unsuitable for our native fishes. Research by NSW Fisheries has produced better-designed fishways that are beginning to allow bass to move back into their former habitats.
Having been bred in quantities suitable for stocking only in recent years, the Australian bass is the preferred fish for farm dams east of the Great Dividing Range. It must not be stocked into western drainage dams

Quote-
Food
The natural food for fish in farm dams is plankton, insects and yabbies. Animals that are not usually found in farm dams, such as freshwater shrimp and small fishes, can be added; they will breed and increase the food supply. Shrimp, caught with scoop nets from permanent streams and lakes, can breed to large numbers in dams with aquatic plants. Small native fishes such as gudgeons and smelt or even bony bream can supplement natural food.
Inorganic fertilizers are not usually needed as nutrients are often plentiful in farm dams. The food chain, including plant growth, usually depends more on light penetration.
Supplementary feeding with artificial food is not recommended. Fish tend not to eat the extra food, which can decay and pollute the water, resulting in poor water quality, disease and excessive plant and alga growth.


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Take a look at fisheries NSW site, it is great info & should assist with your decision on what fish to stock. The above are only quotes from the site. if you need more detail check the full site out.

Hope this helps.

Regards
Steve

[chrisjon65]

how large would a dam need to be
to be deamed suitable for stocking
and is vegetation and structure
needed for survival