Track repairs on Snowy lakes
Monaro Acclimatisation Society has been successful in its bid to get funding from the NSW Recreational Fishing Freshwater Trust to repair various tracks leading to lakes Eucumbene and Jindabyne. The recent wet years have taken a toll on many tracks and they are in a poor state of repair.  

Many of the Eucumbene tracks MAS planned to repair are currently inaccessible due to the high water. However members will still be working to do as much as they can to ensure that anglers have safe access to the water. Snowy Hydro is partnering with MAS in this venture and they too have made a substantial commitment to the project.

This week the first of the repairs began with the entry section of the Middlingbank track being graded and rock drainage channels installed (pic above). This repair is shorter than originally planned - work has not gone all the way to the lake as the water is still rising and MAS needs to wait until it stops before doing more.

As anglers move around the lakes you will see this work being undertaken and it is an example of your licence fees at work through the Monaro Acclimatisation Society and its partnership with the Recreational Fishing Freshwater Trust and Snowy Hydro.

MAS will not be able to do all the tracks this year, and some of the bigger tracks will require substantial funding beyond what was available from the Recreational Fishing Trust funds, but MAS is seeking options to have these repaired. MAS sees this as the start of a long term plan to keep access tracks viable and safe year round for anglers and other visitors.

Steve Samuels
President, Monaro Acclimatisation Society Inc

Changes to rigged rods regulations
Anglers in NSW can now carry additional fishing rods and lines rigged with artificial flies or lures when fishing in non-tidal waters. Currently, the number of lines permitted differs in trout waters and general inland waters. This can create confusion when fishing in or travelling between waters with different rules. To make fishing rules easier to understand, trout fishers can now use two rods and lines in general trout streams, consistent with the rules for general trout dams and the number of lines permitted for use in general inland waters.  
  
There are also increased opportunities for freshwater anglers using artificial flies/lures, with rules now allowing fishers to possess additional fishing lines rigged for use. In general inland waters, fishers may now possess up to four lines rigged with artificial flies/lures, with only two lines in use at any time. In general trout streams and dams anglers can now possess up to four rods and lines rigged with artificial flies/lures, with only two rods and lines in use at any time. In artificial fly and lure waters or trout spawning streams, fishers can now possess up to three rods and lines with artificial flies/lures attached, with only one rod and line in use at any time.  

The rule changes have been designed to reduce complexity and allow freshwater anglers to enjoy easier, more productive fishing. The rules make it more convenient for artificial fly and lure fishers to swap between lines rigged with artificial flies /lures, if fishing conditions change.

Anglers using bait in non-tidal waters cannot use or have in their possession more than two attended lines at any time.  

Fish stocking update 
It’s been a productive year for fish stocking from NSW DPI’s Departmental fish hatcheries.

Narrandera Fisheries Centre has so far stocked over 1.15 million Murray cod with two ponds left to harvest. Highlights include 90,000 to each of Blowering, Burrinjuck and Copeton Dams, 112,000 to Burrendong Dam and 136,000 to Wyangala Dam. Murray cod stocking will conclude next week with the team set to move into golden and silver perch stocking from mid-February until late April. 

Gaden and Dutton Trout Hatcheries have also been busy with almost 3 million brown and rainbow trout stocked across the state. These have included some ex-brood stock getting up to 10 kg.

Rainbows stocked in Googong Dam

Another batch of sub-adult rainbow trout were released into Googong Dam at the end of January.  This stocking of 1,500 fish complements a similar release earlier in the year. The stocked fish ranged from 200 to 250 mm and they should stand a great chance of avoiding redfin predation.

Steve Samuels
President, Monaro Acclimatisation Society Inc

Carp blitzed at Sofala

Late last year more than 180 adult and junior anglers competed in the 2022 Sofala Carp Blitz, held on the Turon River in the NSW Central West.
 
Aimed at reducing the number of invasive European carp and redfin in the river, the popular event raises funds for Sofala Central Acclimatisation Society (CAS) to purchase native fish to restock the Turon catchment via the NSW DPI Dollar for Dollar Native Fish Restocking Program, which is funded by the Recreational Fishing Trust.

A total of 242 carp and 85 redfin were weighed in with competitors Jake Pollard and Christy Healy taking out biggest carp honours with 6.895 kg and 5.216 kg fish respectively.

As well as providing funds for native fish restocking, the 2022 Sofala Carp Blitz also raised funds to help support Daffodil Cottage Cancer Care.

Yarrawonga Weir fish relocation

During a recent patrol of the Yarrawonga Weir fishing closure, a group of recreational fishers alerted Fisheries officers to some stranded fish. This information was also reported to local Fisheries officers by the owner of the local tackle store.   

As a result, a large number of native fish were successfully saved from an isolated pool of water below the northern gates of the Yarrawonga Weir. Many thanks to Goulburn-Murray Water, DPI Fisheries Compliance and Research teams for quickly acting to relocate the stranded fish. 

DPI research staff deployed an electrofishing boat and successfully moved 92 native fish including Murray cod, golden perch, trout cod and silver perch, into the Murray River below Yarrawonga Weir. Six of the relocated Murray cod measured over one-metre in length.
 
Fisheries Officers regularly patrol the fishing closure below Yarrawonga Weir. The fishing closure extends 150 m downstream from the weir face on the New South Wales bank and 130 m downstream on the Victorian bank. A line extends directly across the Murray River between the two downstream points. Recreational fishers are reminded that heavy penalties apply for fishing in the closure. 

The community is encouraged to report any fish kills or illegal fishing to the Fishers Watch Phoneline on 1800 043 536 or via the online form at this link: https://fal.cn/3gJWh. 

Politics interferes with science as KNP feral horse cull fails
The NSW government's Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan has failed dismally, with the feral horse population in Kosciuszko National Park increasing  by 31 per cent in just the past two years, and very little chance that the target in the management plan of reducing the population to 3,000 by 2027 will ever be met. At this rate of growth, the herd could reach 50,000 in the next seven to eight years, according to the Invasive Species Council.

Numerous experts are again calling for aerial culling by shooters - a view supported by even the RSPCA - but aerial culling was ruled out in the 2021 management plan.

The latest survey by New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) in November last year estimated 18,814 wild horses remained in the park. This is 31 per cent up from the 14,000 horses they estimated in 2020 following the Black Summer fires.

But it could be even worse: NSW NPWS head Atticus Fleming says "The scientific report indicates the best estimate is 18,814 horses and states there is 95 per cent confidence that the population is between 14,501 and 23,535 horses."

Control methods allowed in the current plan include passive trapping, aerial and ground mustering and rehoming. Under those methods, only 859 feral horses were removed between February and December last year. Pregnant mares and mares with young foals are currently released from the trap yards back into the park.

Mr John Gough from the Invasive Species Council said aerial culling should be considered. "When it comes to feral animal control, we need all options to be on the table and that includes aerial culling," he said.

"We know that aerial culling is safe — it can be done professionally and humanely and is one of the tools that should be available to land managers to reduce the number of feral horses in Koscisuzko National Park."

Professional shooters are already culling deer, pigs and goats in the park from helicopters while avoiding the feral horses that are doing most of the damage.

Ongoing maintenance of the herd by any methods to keep it to small numbers is pointless. It would require ongoing monitoring and endless shooting. In the end, more animals would be killed over time than if the current herd was eradicated immediately.

NSW Environment Minister James Griffin issued a statement that the government was delivering wild horse control in line with the requirements of the plan. 

In late 2022 he appointed members to the Wild Horse Community Advisory Panel, which is meant to provide advice to the Minister or the National Parks and Wildlife Service on matters relating to the identification of the heritage value, and the management of, sustainable wild horse populations within Kosciuszko National Park.

An announcement about the appointments is on the Department’s website - it names the chairman of the panel, but mysteriously does not name the other appointed members. The NSWCFA queried their omission at the time but did not receive a reply.

NSWCFA Interclub Fly and Lure Fishing Meet 2023

The NSW CFA and the Central Coast Fly Rodders club will be running a Fly and Lure Fishing Interclub Meet on behalf of the NSW Council of Freshwater Anglers at Lake Glenbawn, Friday and Sunday 17-19 March 2023. The Meet will be based at the Scone Amateur Fishing Club club room at Diamond Point North on Lake Glenbawn. Further details are at this link.

Next meeting of NSW CFA
The next quarterly general meeting of the NSWCFA will be on Saturday 18 February at 10.00 am via Zoom. Notices and agenda etc will be sent to delegates and members prior to the meeting.

Thank you to our Foundation Members
These Foundation Members have generously made a special financial contribution to the NSW Council of Freshwater Anglers in the interests of all freshwater anglers in NSW.

Australian Trout Foundation, Damian Balfour, The Barrington Club, Don Barton, Bill Blair, Ken Chapman, David Connon, David Copperthwaite, Richard Cottam, Radge Diakiw, Fred Dunford, Dan Frogan, Stefan Fuchs, Peter Gibson, Michael Hall, William Hall, John Harris, Max Harris, Kevin Kai, James Mackie, Rob Marich, Peter Mason, Neil McAully, Mark Newton, NSW Rod Fishers' Society, David Pinsent, Wayne Power, Greg Prowse, Ian Roache, Don Salter, Paul Sanders, Joe Searl, David Sheers, Bob Stevenson, Mike Timbrell, David Tinworth, Steve Tizard.

Freshwater anglers are invited to make a special contribution to the NSW Council of Freshwater Anglers (NSWCFA) in the interests of all freshwater anglers in NSW.

You will be well aware of the challenges freshwater anglers face in sustaining the freshwater fishery in NSW, especially regarding the preservation of angler access. The NSWCFA constantly strives to overcome those challenges but we need your financial support to meet the costs of that work.

We are appealing to members who can afford to make a small extra annual contribution to become NSWCFA Foundation Members to help meet our operating costs. Foundation Membership is just $25 per year—less than the cost of a NSW fishing licence.

Foundation Members are recognised on a special page in the NSWCFA website and at the foot of NSWCFA newsletters.

Your contribution will help meet the cost of hiring meeting venues across NSW and out-of-pocket expenses for committee members who attend meetings on your behalf (such as train, taxi, bus and parking). Your contributions will also be used for the production of our monthly email newsletters, which are sent to hundreds of members, for stationery, copying, postage, internet and telephone costs, insurance to cover the personal liability of committee members, affiliation fees to the Recreational Fishing Alliance of NSW and corporate return filing fees.

Click here for website with payment form and PayPal link.

NSW Angler Access website 

The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) has launched the Angler Access website, which provides thousands of locations across inland NSW where rivers, streams and lakes can be legally accessed for fishing. DPI worked with the NSW Council of Freshwater Anglers, over the past six months to fine tune the site. The website provides recreational fishers an easy-to-use map showing more than 4,000 verified sites to fish for native species including Murray cod, golden perch and Australian bass, as well as brown trout and rainbow trout. For more information about Angler Access, and to view the map, visit the DPI website at this link. 

Fishing season reminders

Bass
Zero bag limit for bass and estuary perch starts 1 May and ends 31 August. Catch and release is allowed. The zero bag limit does not apply to fish in stocked freshwater impoundments, including Glenbawn Dam and Glennies Creek Dam in the Hunter Valley, Brogo Dam near Bega and Clarrie Hall and Toonumbar Dams in the northeast; anglers may continue to fish for these species in those waters all year round.

Trout
Spawning season starts 1 May in the Snowy Mountains and special rules apply to the Thredbo River and its tributaries and the Eucumbene River and its tributaries (upstream of the Lake Eucumbene dam wall and including Providence Portal). A minimum size limit of 50 cm, daily bag limit of one and possession limit of two trout will apply to these rivers from 1 May to the end of the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.

Annual closure on fishing in trout streams for NSW will be in place from Tuesday after the Queen's Birthday weekend and re-opens on the October long weekend. Trout dams remain open to fishing throughout the year.

When the season opens again in October, a minimum size limit of 25 cm, daily bag limit of two and possession limit of four trout again applies to the Thredbo and Eucumbene Rivers and other fly and lure only waters in NSW.

Murray cod
Season closed in NSW from 1 September to 31 November, except Copeton Dam.

Eastern Freshwater Cod
The annual three month fishing closure of the Mann and Nymboida Rivers and their tributaries comes into effect 1 August to 31 October. All fishing in the specified area is prohibited to enable the endangered Eastern Freshwater Cod to spawn uninterrupted during its breeding season. Eastern Freshwater Cod are totally protected throughout NSW regardless of where or when they may be found.

Murray crayfish
Closed all year other than the following waters between 1 June and 31 August each year inclusive: (a) Murrumbidgee River between the Hume Highway road bridge, Gundagai and Berembed Weir near Ganmain and (b) Murray River from 130 below Hume Weir near Albury to the Newell Highway road bridge at Tocumwal

Fish Habitat Network on Facebook
FHN has a Facebook page that frequently carries news about fish habitat events and projects as well as links to news items from other states and countries.
Go to http://www.facebook.com/fishhabitatnetwork and Like their page to stay in touch.

Who represents anglers?

Recreational Fishing NSW Advisory Council
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/recreational/recreational-fishing-fee/licence-fees-at-work/rfnsw

Recreational Fishing Freshwater Trust Expenditure Committee members and minutes
https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/recreational/recreational-fishing-fee/licence-fees-at-work/rfftec

Recreational Fishing Saltwater Trust Expenditure Committee members and minutes
https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/recreational/recreational-fishing-fee/licence-fees-at-work/rfstec

Recreational Fishing Alliance of NSW Facebook page
www.facebook.com/RFANSW

NSW Council of Freshwater Anglers Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/NSWCFA

Is your club a member of the Council of Freshwater Anglers?
The NSW CFA is the main umbrella group for freshwater fishing organisations in NSW and enjoys a productive relationship with the NSW Department of Primary Industries and other agencies and recreational fishing organisations. We welcome all freshwater fishing clubs as members and as visitors to our meetings. Member organisations are able to send voting delegates to our quarterly meetings. For information about joining the NSW CFA, visit our website www.freshwateranglers.com.au or contact Mr Radge Diakiwv at diakiwv@live.com or (02) 9449 3539.|

Council of Freshwater Anglers Members
ACT Fly Fishers; The Barrington Club; Bass Kempsey; Canberra Anglers Association; Canberra Fisherman's Club; Central Coast Flyrodders; Clarence Fly Anglers; Council of Southern Districts Angling Clubs; Hastings Fly Fishers; Hunter Native Fish; Illawarra Fly Fishers; Lakeside Fly Fishing Club; Monaro Acclimatisation Society; New South Wales Rod Fishers' Society; Orange Trout Acclimatisation Society; Southern Bass Fishing Club; Sydney Fly Rodders.

Handy links
NSW Council of Freshwater Anglers Peak freshwater fishing body in NSW www.freshwateranglers.com.au
Recreational Fishing Alliance of NSW Peak recreational fishing organisation in NSW www.rfansw.com.au
NSW Department of Primary Industries www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries
Fisherman's Watch Report all illegal activities Free call 1800 043 536
 
Privacy
Subscriber details collected for Freshwater Fisher are used only for this newsletter and are not used for any other mailings by the NSW CFA, nor are they revealed to or used by any other organisation.