Fisheries Victoria scientists are currently surveying fish stocks at Lake Nagambie and its anglers to gauge the success of recent stockings. Native fish were reintroduced into Lake Nagambie in 2008 when 200,000 golden perch and 100,000 Murray cod fingerlings were released.
By the end of this summer, more than 600,000 golden perch and 150,000 Murray cod will have been stocked into Lake Nagambie over a three year period. The scientists are evaluating how the fish have survived and grown – using two different approaches. The first involves interviewing anglers between December and Easter about their catch, time spent fishing, their target species and level of angling satisfaction. The second approach involves directly sampling the fish in Lake Nagambie to quantify the survival, growth and proportion of stocked fish within the overall populations.
If the stocked fish are abundant, it indicates that fish stocking has been successful so far and anglers can look forward to better fishing in years to come. Fisheries Victoria hopes the angler interviews might also reveal keen individuals who are willing to play a bigger role in monitoring stocked fish.
The stockings and fisheries assessment are well supported by the Nagambie Angling Club whose members are keen to see the fishery return to its former glory as a regional fishing hotspot for locals and visitors.
