Salmonid Fish Releases 2010

Note Number: FN0611
Published: May 2011

Victorian Fish Stocking Program

Fisheries Victoria's native and salmonid fish stocking program is designed to enhance recreational fishing opportunities for anglers. Annual stocking plans are developed utilising information provided at five regional angler consultation meetings (known as Vic Fish Stock). Fisheries Victoria recognises the importance of stakeholder participation in this process. The meetings use input from recreational fishing representatives, resource managers such as the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning DELWP (former) Department of Environment and Primary Industries, Catchment Management Authorities, Water Corporations and Fisheries Victoria staff to develop the current year's stocking plan.

The development of the annual stocking program takes into account the performance of the various fisheries, the existing stocking program, results of stock assessment, angler and creel surveys, prevailing environmental conditions, impacts of land and water management regimes and other issues that may impact on the fishery. Requests by stakeholders to vary current stocking programs are also considered. Fish stocking in 2010, marks the final year of a 4 year government initiative to increase fish stocking by 30%. In 2010, Fisheries Victoria stocked 706,282 salmonid fish into Victorian waters, including 459,912 rainbow trout and 246,370 brown trout and exceeded this commitment.

In addition to the stocking program, 2010 saw two major initiatives regarding extra trout stocking. Funds were released for additional fish stocking to assist regions affected by bushfires by supporting in their recover through enhancing recreational fishing and associated tourism.

Excellent rainfall in spring 2010 and summer of 2011 broke the drought and filled many previously dry waters (predominantly in the south west) that historically supported high quality stocked fisheries. The demand for stocking to reinstate these fisheries was above the supply from Snobs Creek and funds were sourced from the Recreational Fishing Licence revenue to purchase additional trout for stocking to capitalise on the production of these newly flooded lakes. As a consequence more than 187,000 trout were stocked into suitable drought recovering lakes in 2010. This stocking strategy aimed to encourage rapid growth in the absence of predatory fish.

Stocking Plans may be subject to 'last minute' variation due to natural factors i.e. flood, fire, low water level or quality, algal blooms or manmade impacts such as major works on storages.

2010 Salmonid Stockings - total numbers

	Brown Trout	Rainbow Trout	Totals
Fry (5gs) ATF Release		10,000	10,000
Fingerlings (50g+)	225,600	229,591	455,191
Drought Recovery Waters Fry (2gs)		90,000	90,000
Drought Recovery Waters (50g+)	10,000	76,000	86,000
Drought Recovery Waters (150g+)		1,500	1,500
Advanced Yearling (150g+)	10,329	50,099	60,428
Premier (1Kg+)		2,309	2,309
Ex Brood Stock (2Kg+)	441	413	854
Totals:	246,370	459,912	706,282

2010 Salmonid Stockings

Water Stocked	Month 2010	Fish size (g)	Brown Trout	RainbowTrout
Aringa Reservoir (Port Fairy)	May May	55 57	500	1,000
Banimboola Lake (Dartmouth)	June Aug Aug Aug	50 73 82 68	3,000	5,000 4,000 1,000
Barkers Creek Reservoir (Harcourt)	July	48	1,000
Bellfield Reservoir (Halls Gap)	May June	50 50		5,000 7,000
Blue Rock Lake (Willow Grove)	June Aug Aug	50 53 56	6,290 3,710	7,000
Bullen Merri Lake (Camperdown)	Apr May May May June July July Aug Oct Oct	72 54 60 55 65 48 68 73 150 147	5,000 4,000 1,000	5,000 5,000 5,540 4,955 5,000 2,750 778
Cairn Curran Reservoir (Maldon)	Oct	64	5,000
Cartcarong Lake (Winslow)	Oct	56	1,000
Corryong Creek (Corryong)	Sept	76	500
Cosgrave Reservoir (Creswick)	Sept Sept	66 138	1,000	1,000
Dean Reservoir	July July	39 80	500	500
Devilbend Reservoir (Moorooduc)	June June Nov Nov Nov	31 54 583 200 200	11,600 1,029 600 3,600	6,660
Eildon Lake (Eildon)	Apr May July	35 63 50	20,000	10,000 25,000
Eildon Pondage Weir Premier Lake (Eildon)	July Aug Sept Oct Oct Nov Dec	1,900 2,000 2,100 2,200 2,200 2,200 2,500	50 50 50 50 75 50 116
Elingamite Lake (Cobden)	Oct Oct	59 130	2,000	1,000
Fyans Lake (Halls Gap)	May Aug	50 56	6,000	6,000
Gillear Lake (Allansford)	May May	55 57	1,000	1,000
Glenmaggie Lake	July	95		2,000
Goldfields Reservoir (Maryborough)	Sept	59	500
Goulburn River (Eildon to Molesworth)	Mar Mar Apr	180 180 218	500 2,500 1,000
Goulburn River (Eildon to Molesworth)	Aug	72	6,000
Goulburn River (Eildon to Alexandra)	Oct	100		1,000
Greenhill Lake (Ararat)	Sept Sept	76 138	2,000	1,000
Hamilton Lake	Aug Aug	65 66	2,000	3,000
Hopkins River (Kent Ford Rd Bridge to the Junction with Mount Emu Creek)	Apr	57	4,000
Hume Lake (Tallangatta)	Apr Apr June June June June June July July July Aug Oct	72 60 50 53 68 63 63 48 66 49 58 56	6,730 3,530 5,715 5,715 7,500 5,450 8,285 6,200 875	5,000 5,000 19,000
King River (Edi Cutting to just above Cheshunt)	Aug	77	2,500
Konong Wootong Reservoir (Coleraine)	Aug Aug	68 73	2,000	1,000
Lauriston Reservoir (Lauriston)	Aug Aug	58 65	3,750 3,750
Lilydale Lake (Lilydale)	Aug	73	1,000
Macalister River (Above L. Glenmaggie to junction with Wellington River)	Aug Aug Aug	76 90 77	2,000	2,000 5,114
Macalister River (D/s L. Glenmaggie)	July	66	2,000
Malmsbury Reservoir (Malmsbury)	Oct	62	4,000
Merri River (Grassmere to Wollaston)	June	56	2,000
Merri River (Below Weir to Dennington)	May	58	6,000
Mount Beauty Pondage (Mount Beauty)	Mar Oct Oct Dec	256 62 214 130	1,000	500 500 900
Mount Emu Creek (Below CastleCarey Bridge to Panmure)	May	60	2,000
Mount Emu Creek (Skipton to Darlington)	July	298	1,100
Moyne River (Rosebrook to Toolong North)	June	56	2,000
Narracan Lake (Moe)	Oct Oct Oct	66 59 136	3,500 3,500	3,000
Newlyn Reservoir (Newlyn)	Aug Aug	68 73	1,000	1,000
Nursery Reservoir (Macedon)	Sept Sept	59 119	500	500
Purrumbete Lake (Camperdown)	Apr May May May May July July July Aug Oct Oct	52 55 63 69 58 80 67 70 82 70 151	6,900 2,794 5,000 5,000 5,306	3,274 4,875 5,375 5,570 4,750 1,156
Rocklands Reservoir (Balmoral)	July July	39 80	2,500	2,500
Ryans Creek (Tatong)	Oct	59	500
St. Georges Lake (Creswick)	July July	39 80	1,000	1,000
Stanley Ditch Dam (Stanley)	Sept	138		1,000
Talbot Reservoir (Evansford)	Sept	59	1,000
Upper Sandy Creek Dam (Upper Sandy Creek)	Sept Sept	76 100	500	1,000
Wartook Lake (Halls Gap)	June Aug Aug Sept	50 55 55 77	5,000 5,000	10,000 5,000
West Barwon Dam (Forrest)	Sept	133		3,000
Wombat Reservoir (Daylesford)	Sept Sept	66 138	1,000	1,000
Wurdiboluc Reservoir (Winchelsea)	June Sept	50 70	4,000	4,000
Totals:			236,370	214,197

Drought Recovery Waters

Water Stocked	Month 2010	Fish size (g)	Brown Trout	Rainbow Trout
Barkers Creek Reservoir (Harcourt)	Nov	72		4,000
Batyo Catyo Lake (Rich Avon)	Nov	83		4,000
Beaufort Lake (Beaufort)	Nov	60		2,000
Bolac Lake (Lake Bolac)	Nov	75		5,000
Bostock Reservoir (Ballan)	Oct Nov	160 82		1,500 3,500
Burrumbeet Lake (Burrumbeet)	Nov	72		5,000
Cairn Curran Reservoir (Maldon)	Nov Nov Nov	72 72 68	2,500	5,000 2,500
Deep Lake (Derrinallum)	Nov	60		2,000
Greenhill Lake (Ararat)	Nov	75	1,000
Hepburn Lagoon(Newlyn) Australian Trout Foundation release	Nov Nov Dec	69 60 2		3,500 6,500 10,000
Newlyn Reservoir (Newlyn)	Nov	68		5,000
Rocklands Reservoir (Balmoral)	Nov Nov	72 72		5,000 5,000
Teddington Reservoir (Top) (Stuart Mill)	Nov Nov	49 70	1,500	1,500
Teddington Reservoir (Bottom) (Stuart Mill)	Nov	70		1,500
Tooliorook Lake (Lismore)	Nov Nov	72 72		5,000 5,000
Tullaroop Reservoir (Carisbrook)	Nov Nov	71 71	5,000	5,000
Wendouree Lake (Ballarat)	Nov	2		90,000
Totals:			10,000	177,500

Family Fishing Lakes and Premier Lakes

Fisheries Victoria undertakes an annual program of stocking on-grown or advanced yearling rainbow trout into small waters (normally less than 5 hectares surface area) in or adjacent to population centres, with the waters being accessible for juniors and anglers with limited mobility.

The majority of these stockings coincide with the second and third term school holidays when water temperatures are best suited to trout. Rainbow trout are stocked as they are normally bigger than the available brown trout at that time of year and are reputedly easier to catch by inexperienced anglers.

Some Family Fishing lakes are stocked outside of the school holiday period for special events.

Five of the Family Fishing Lakes have been developed as Premier Lakes to encourage families and new anglers to go fishing. These five lakes have been stocked at least four times per year (subject to suitable water conditions) with rainbow trout of varying sizes. These include advanced yearlings (approximately 200g) and larger 'Premier' rainbow trout (> 1kg).

Water Stocked	Month 2010	Fish size (g)	Rainbow Trout
Alexandra Lake (Ararat)	June Sept	216 175	200 200
Allans Flat dredge Hole (Allans Flat)	June Sept	178 243	350 350
Anderson Lake (Chiltern)	Oct	180	300
Aboretum Dam (Euroa)	June Sept	178 243	200 200
Bannockburn Lagoon (Bannockburn)	June Sept	184 182	250 250
Berwick Springs Estate Lake (Berwick)	June	205	1,000
Calembeen Lake (Creswick)	July Sept	205 138	200 200
Casey Fields Lake (Cranbourne)	June Sept Oct	162 211 189	500 500 500
Cato Lake (Stawell)	June Sept	216 188	300 300
Caulfield Racecourse Lake (Caulfield)	Mar Sept	255 243	300 300
Cobden Lake (Cobden)	July Sept Nov	205 211 200	100 100 200
Coleraine Lagoon (Coleraine)	June Sept	216 175	250 250
Darlingsford Lake (Melton)	June Sept	184 182	300 300
Don Lake (Healesville)	June Sept	162 188	250 250
Dunkeld Old Arboretum (Dunkeld)	June Sept	216 175	200 200
Eildon Pondage Weir Premier Lake (Eildon)	Jan Feb Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Apr Apr Apr May May July July July July Aug Aug Aug Aug Sept Sept Sept Sept Oct Oct Oct Oct Nov Nov Nov Dec Dec	808 1,000 1,000 1,000 2,000 1,200 255 255 1,300 2,000 869 321 2,000 188 842 96 68 212 100 1,700 2,300 1,100 92 181 158 2,300 1,000 1,000 71 1,200 2,100 1,100 2,200	120 120 100 100 10 100 200 200 200 20 150 100 20 100 100 5,000 5,000 100 100 20 20 150 5,000 100 100 20 100 150 5,100 100 20 197 23
Emerald Lake (Emerald)	Sept	243	500
Esmond Lake (Ballarat)	June Sept	216 175	200 400
Ess Lagoon (Casterton)	June Sept	216 175	500 500
Felltimber Creek Wetlands	June Sept	164 170	200 200
Foletti Caravan Park Lake (Donald)	Aug	198	300
Forest Lake (Kangaroo Flat)	July Aug	205 198	200 200
Fosters Dam (Glenrowan)	June	178	200
Garfield Lake (Garfield)	June Aug	178 198	250 250
Glenlyon Dam (Glenlyon)	July Sept	205 175	200 200
Golf Course Dam (Longwood)	Sept	243	200
Great Western Racing Rec Reserve Lake (Great Western)	Sept	188	200
Guthridge Lake (Sale)	June Oct	178 147	250 250
Haddon Reservoir (Haddon)	June Sept	216 175	200 200
Hanging Rock Lake (Woodend)	Sept	211	300
Heyfield Racecourse Lake (Heyfield)	June Aug	178 198	200 200
Hyland Lake Premier Lake (Churchill)	Apr Apr May June June Sept Sept Nov Nov Nov	786 284 786 924 2,500 1,000 2,500 180 1,000 2,100	50 500 100 100 30 125 35 300 125 35
Jack Emmett Lagoon (Rupanyup)	Sept	188	300
Jack Roper Reserve Lake (Campbellfield)	July Sept Oct	205 200 213	300 300 300
Jubilee Lake Premier Lake (Daylesford)	May June June June Sept Sept Oct	792 950 200 2,000 1,100 2,300 180	75 100 250 30 100 40 600
Jubilee Lake (Skipton)	Sept	175	250
Karkarook Lake (Moorrabin)	Mar June Sept Oct	255 156 211 189	750 1,250 1,000 1,000
Kennington Reservoir Premier Lake (Strathdale)	May June June June Sept Sept	1,300 950 2,000 200 1,100 162	100 100 30 300 100 550
Les Stone Park Lake (Wodonga)	June Sept	164 170	100 100
Lethbridge Lake (Lethbridge)	Sept	182	200
Lilydale Lake Premier Lake (Lilydale)	Apr Apr Apr June June Aug Aug Sept Sept Sept Oct	1,000 1,002 836 1,000 200 1,000 2,000 2,300 181 1,100 189	120 62 68 180 800 120 30 50 800 140 380
Marysville Dam (Marysville)	June June Aug Oct	384 162 198 189	150 350 350 50
Mooroopna Rec Reserve Lake (Mooroopna)	July Aug	205 198	100 100
Morwell Lake (Morwell)	June Aug Oct	178 198 147	750 750 500
Navan Park lake (Melton)	June Sept Oct	184 182 213	300 300 300
Nhill Lake (Nhill)	Sept	188	200
Old Hamilton Reservoir (Hamilton)	June Sept	216 175	200 200
Petobe Lake (Warrnambool)	July	205	300
Police Paddock Dams (Horsham)	Sept	188	300
Quarry Street Reserve Lake (Trentham)	July	205	200
Rabl Park Lake (Murtoa)	Sept	188	300
Rowville Lakes (Rowville)	June Sept	156 243	550 550
Roxburgh Park Lakes (Roxburgh Park)	July Sept	205 173	250 250
Sambell Lake (Beechworth)	June Sept	178 243	750 750
Seagull Lake (Geelong)	June Sept Oct	184 182 151	800 800 600
St. Arnaud Old Swimming Pool (St. Arnaud)	July	205	200
St. Augustines Waterhole (Geelong)	June Sept	184 182	400 400
Tchum Lake (Birchip)	June Aug	245 198	1,000 1,000
Tea Tree Lake (Mortlake)	July Sept	205 211	200 200
Tom Thumb Lake (Eaglehawk)	July	205	200
Victoria Lakes (Ballarat)	June Sept	216 181	400 400
Wodonga Racecourse Lake (Wodonga)	Sept	170	1,000
Yallumba Drive Lake (Wodonga)	June Sept	164 170	100 100
Yarrambat Lake (Yarrambat)	July Sept Oct	205 200 213	400 400 400
Totals:			68,215

Weight

	Brown Trout (kg)	Rainbow Trout (kg)	Total kgs
Fry (5gs)		200	200
Fingerlings (50gs+)	14,442	16,954	31,396
Advanced Yearlings (150gs+)	1,549	9,575	11,124
Premier (1Kg+)		2,600	2,600
Ex Brood Stock (2Kg+)	983	909	1,892
Total:	16,974	30,238	47,212

Transport

Kilometers travelled	Total man days
88,873	226

Key

1	Fry	1-5g
2	Fingerlings	30-50g
3	Yearlings	50-100g
4	Advanced yearlings	150g+
5	Premier	1kg+
6	Broodstock	1.5kg+

Notes

Premier Lakes
Fin Clipped Waters ~ RV
Glenmaggie Lake fin clipped RV/AD
Eildon Pondage not stocked in June ~ Low Water
Goulburn River ~ Fin Clip AD
Excess Rainbow Trout

Acknowledgements

This Agnote was developed by Ewan McLean , Fisheries Victoria – Fisheries Management. March 2011.