The salmonid stocking season is wrapping up and, despite conditions limiting water availability, 360,000 salmonids have been stocked into 115 Victorian waterways since July 1st.
Estuarine stockings began in November with Australian bass and estuary perch stocking across the Gippsland region and select waters in the State’s west including Rocklands Reservoir and the Moyne River.
Stonker stockings were a big success again this year – 1,000 large rainbow trout were spread across 17 of Melbourne’s most popular fishing lakes giving urban fishers the chance to catch the fish of a lifetime, while a further 1,500 were stocked into the Goulburn River between Eildon and Molesworth. September school holiday stockings have been delivered in full after some much needed rain. 35,000 on grown rainbow trout were stocked across 78 waterways, including the Arcadia Native Fish Hatchery’s fish out pond, and seven waters received an additional boost of fish prior to Gone Fishing Day in October.
The crater lakes received 18,300 Chinook salmon across September-October and have been fishing well. 9,000 were stocked into Lake Bullen Merri while the remaining went to Lake Purrumbete. This year’s Chinooks were stocked at a larger size, on-grown to 50g and these stockings complement the tiger trout that were delivered in mid-July (Bullen Merri: 3,500, Purrumbete: 3,300).