Drought recovery fish stockings

Image of a lake

Excellent rainfall in spring 2016 significantly improved water levels in several Victorian lakes and reservoirs, which have since been stocked.

In October 2016, fisheries managers met with anglers and local Fisheries Officers at Ballarat to fine tune plans for 'drought recovery' fish stockings, which are summarised below:

Waterway Rainbow trout Brown trout
Greenhill Lake 4000 2000
Lake Bolac 8000 -
Lake Burrumbeet 15,000 -
Lake Beaufort 3000 -
Lake Elingamite 4000 1000
Lake Wallace 4000 1000
Bostock Reservoir 4000 1000
Deep Lake 1000 1000
Tullaroop Reservoir 20,000 3000 (already received 7000)
Lake Tooliorook Already received 5000 Already received 3000
Teddington Res (bottom) 4000 -
Teddington Res (upper) - 2000
Moorabool Reservoir Already received 6000 Already received 6000. Further 30,000 fingerlings.
Image of a man from The Victorian Fisheries Authority standing in a lake releasing fish stock from a net into the water

These fish stockings were in addition to substantial trout releases through winter 2016.

All of the trout in the table were released before Christmas 2016.

Trout were sourced from The Victorian Fisheries Authority's hatchery at Snobs Creek, near Eildon, while others will be purchased from private hatcheries still holding 'late season' stock.

Increasing fish stocking is a key commitment of the State Government's Target One Million plan for recreational fishing, which aims to get more people fishing, more often.

Fish stocking is also supported by funds raised through the sale of recreational fishing licences.

Lake Toolondo

With the transfer of up to 10mg of water from Rocklands Reservoir to Lake Toolondo, The Victorian Fisheries Authority released 5000 rainbow trout yearlings and 2000 brown trout in October.