Geelong & Bellarine Update
The Geelong and Bellarine group has maintained its pace over the past month with several new groups and schools engaged. Facilitator, Mitch McMaster attended the Hooked on Lakes events in Lakes Entrance that was hosted by the Victorian Fisheries Authority. This event was fantastic with lost of fish caught from the 130 participants that registered for the event. The highlight of the event was the fishing. Participants caught great numbers of sweep, mullet, and juvenile snapper. It was great to see the lakes system alive and thriving.
The group also hosted a fantastic day of fishing on the Barwon River at the Barwon Valley Fun Park with Clairvaux Primary school. They held four sessions with 88 kids in total. Before the fishing started, they ran through rules and regulations and why we can’t return carp back to the water. It was a great day with some very large carp caught and fantastic weather.
They ran some events with a new group of participants from You and The Paddock Crew through the Fishability program. Back on the Barwon River in Geelong, the group held two sessions. The first was fantastic with lots of fish caught including Carp, Redfin and Estuary Perch. However, lightening doesn’t strike twice, and the second session featured lovely weather but very slow fishing. We look forward to working with them again.
The Barwon River has been the hero of our fishing season. Its featured very consistent fishing, although not so much for our lovely native species. We have been catching lots of Carp and Redfin which are both introduced from Europe. They do provide lots of fun with our largest Carp weighing in 5.74kg and allowing participants the ability to learn how to properly fight fish. We have however managed to see some fantastic signs with good numbers of Estuary Perch, Eels and much to our amazement, we caught a gorgeous Tupong, also known as Congoli. Its great to see these because they require connectivity to the sea for breading. This is in part due to the new fish ladder that the Corangamite CMA has constructed at the second break above lake Connewarre.
