Heaps of trout to go around

Over a two-week period in mid-May, Fisheries Victoria stocked more than 81,000 trout and salmon into 14 inland waterways to improve recreational fishing opportunities thanks to funding from the State Government's $16 million Recreational Fishing Initiative and recreational fishing licence revenue.

Trout and salmon stockings will continue through the winter while water temperatures are low and better suited to the release of cold-water species. For more about fish stocking, including stocking summaries from last year, go to: www.depi.vic.gov.au/fishing-and-hunting/recreational-fishing/fish-stocking

Also thanks to the funding, access for recreational fishers has been improved with a new floating jetty on the Hopkins River at Lyndoch.

The regular use of the jetty by visiting and local anglers just two months after its completion, is proof the Initiative is delivering on its pledge to improve recreational fishing opportunities.

Warrnambool City Council and local contractors installed the new jetty, which replaced an old wooden one that had fallen into disrepair and become unsafe. Lower sections of the Hopkins River are very popular with anglers who pursue estuarine species such as black bream, estuary perch and mulloway.

Meanwhile, freshwater anglers should take note that the trout fishing season in rivers officially closes at midnight on Monday June 9, after the Queen’s Birthday long weekend and re-opens at midnight on Friday September 5. The closure protects spawning trout and gives wild stocks a better opportunity to reproduce.

Although the streams and rivers close during winter, anglers can still fish for trout and salmon in Victorian lakes and reservoirs, which remain open year round.

Fisheries Victoria stocks more than 130 lakes annually with trout and salmon so there are still plenty of great inland fishing opportunities on offer while the rivers are closed.

Recreational fishers are also reminded that the daily bag limit for brook trout is five per person in all Victorian waters. Recent false information being circulated in social media claiming there was no bag limit for brook trout in the Rubicon River in North East Victoria is completely false and without foundation.

Brook trout are not a listed species of trout as they belong to the genus of salmonid fish known as char, which originates from North America. However, brook trout are subject to specific regulations that place a bag limit and possession limit of five fish per day, with no minimum or maximum size as opposed to other listed trout species.

Rules and regulations governing the fishing of trout and salmon in Victorian waters can be found at www.depi.vic.gov.au/fishing