“Go Fishing in Victoria” event - Lillydale Lake to host free family fishing day

Lillydale Lake will host the inaugural family fishing day, as part of the Go Fishing in Victoria initiative. This initiative aims to promote recreational fishing and tourism opportunities throughout Victoria. If you or someone you know would like to try fishing, (even if you have fished before) then come along and bring your family to the free event at Lillydale Lake on Saturday 16 September between the hours of 9am to 3pm.

To avoid disappointment, Fisheries Victoria strongly encourages participants to register for the event through the Department of Primary Industries Customer Service Centre. This will guarantee a place in the various workshops and activities held during the day. Please contact our Customer Service Centre on 136 186 to register. Activities and workshops for all ages will be offered throughout the day to give participants all the knowledge and confidence they need to start fishing and fish into the future.

Activities will include:

• Bait and rigging instruction,
• Casting clinics,
• The chance to catch a rainbow trout during instructed fishing activities,
• Cooking demonstrations,
• Shows for small children including Flathead Fred, and
• A jumping castle.

A detailed timetable of this event will be published in Fish-e-Fax Issue 180 to be issued on 14 September 2006.

Family fishing events will be held on a regular basis at five Premier Lakes throughout Victoria: Lillydale Lake, Eildon Pondage, Kennington Reservoir (Bendigo), Jubilee Lake (Daylesford) and Hyland Lake (Churchill).

Reminder for abalone fishers

Recreational abalone fishers are reminded that as of 1 September 2006 the daily bag limit for Victorian western and eastern waters will reduce from 10 to 5 abalone per person per day. These changes will result in consistent recreational abalone bag limit regulations state-wide for Victoria.

Also, the first open day of the 2006/07 recreational abalone season for Victorian central waters, will be on 18 November. For a full list of the 60 open days and further information on abalone regulations, please refer to our website www.dpi.vic.gov.au/fishing.

Trout season in rivers opens for business

From midnight Friday 1 September freshwater anglers will once again be able to fish for trout in Victorian rivers. This announcement was recently made by the Minister Responsible for Fisheries, Bob Cameron.

Last year the trout season opening weekend proved to be a popular and an exciting time for Victorian anglers, with good captures of trout recorded.

Trout fishing in Victorias rivers is closed seasonally with the intention of protecting populations during their spawning period. Anglers are reminded however, that trout fishing is permitted year-round in most of Victoria’s lakes and impoundments.

For more information on salmonid regulations, please visit our website www.dpi.vic.gov.au or refer to your Victorian Recreational Fishing Guide 2005-2006.

June stocking figures

Victorian waters stocked between 7^th and 29^th June 2006.

Location:	Species:	Number:
Alexandra Lake	Rainbow Trout	200
Allans Flat Dredge Hole	Rainbow Trout	250
Arboretum Dam	Rainbow Trout	200
Bannockburn Lagoon	N/A	0
Beaufort Lake	N/A	0
Berwick Springs Estate Lake	Rainbow Trout	1000
Blue Rock Lake	N/A	0
Bullarto Reservoir	N/A	0
Bullen Merri Lake	Rainbow Trout	5000
Calembeen Lake	Rainbow Trout	200
Cato Lake	Rainbow Trout	300
Caulfield Racecourse Lake	N/A	0
Colbrook Reservoir	N/A	0
Cosgrove Reservoir	N/A	0
Cummins Reserve Lake	Rainbow Trout	200
Dean Reservoir	N/A	0
Euildon Pondage	Brown / Rainbow Trout	200/100
Emerald Lake	N/A	0
Esmond Lake	Rainbow Trout	200
Ess Lagoon	Rainbow Trout	500
Fosters Dam	Rainbow Trout	200
Gillear Lake (Warrnambool)	N/A	0
Glenmaggie Lake	Rainbow Trout	2000
Gong Gong Reservoir (Ballarat)	Rainbow Trout	500
Gong Gong Reservoir (Ballarat)	Brown Trout	1000
Gyatt Lake (Sale)	N/A	0
Jack Roper Reserve	Rainbow Trout	250
Jubilee Lake (Daylesford)	Rainbow Trout	200
Heyfield Racecourse Lake	N/A	0
Holland Creek	Brown Trout	1500
Hopkins River	Brown Trout	2000
Hyland Lake	N/A	0
Kennington Reservoir	Rainbow Trout	300
Konongwootong Reservoir	N/A	0
Lilydale Lake	Rainbow Trout	1500
Macalister River	Rainbow Trout	2000
Macalister River (D/s of Glenmaggie)	Brown Trout	2000
Macalister River (U/s L. Glenmaggie to Basin Flat)	N/A	0
Marysville Lake	N/A	0
Merri River (Warrnambool)	Brown Trout	3000
Morwell Lake	N/A	0
Mount Emu Creek	Brown Trout	2000
Moyne River	Brown Trout	2000
Purrumbete Lake	Rainbow Trout	8000
Rowville Lake	N/A	0
Ryans Creek	Brown Trout	200
Sambell Lake	Rainbow Trout	500
Seagull Lake (Geelong)	N/A	0
St Arnard Old Swimming Pool	Rainbow Trout	200
St Augustines Water Hole	N/A	0
Tea Tree Lake (Mortlake)	N/A	0
Tom Thumb Lake	Rainbow Trout	100
West Lake (Melton)	N/A	0
Victoria Lake	Rainbow Trout	400
Yarrambat Lake	Rainbow Trout	300

Revitalising fishing in the Lower Avon River

The Minister Responsible for Fisheries, Bob Cameron, recently announced funding of $60,000 to upgrade a popular fishing spot on the Lower Avon River in Gippsland.

The money will be used by the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority to build four new fishing platforms, an access track and more parking facilities at the site in Springberg Lane.

This project is one of 25 across Victoria that has been funded through the Recreational Fishing Grant Program – which invests Recreational Fishing Licence revenue into projects that support the State’s anglers.