Redfin overkill
I recently saw a pic a facebook friend had posted, from my home town in country Vic, of his catch of redfin for the day, which he had titled "tough day at the office". I was absolutely gobsmacked by the pic, because I counted 62 fish.. Yes you read right, 62 fish. WTF is someone going to do with 62 fish?? The region has been in severe drought for 10 years, the lakes have been empty and only received considerable rainfall last winter, therefore the fish have just started to re-populate. While redfin can breed to plague proportions in suitable conditions, surely fisheries need to better manage this situation. The fishing this month may be fantastic, but next month, with people keeping catches of numbers like this, will be "a tough day at the office". After seeing this pic it just made me appreciate the fishing available here in WA. Fisheries here are obviously doing something right :)
CBKINETIC
Posts: 62
Date Joined: 14/11/11
Why would you do it
I Know they are a pest but thats fukn rediculous
Likc
Posts: 363
Date Joined: 09/08/09
As far as I know, you are not
As far as I know, you are not allowed to put them back here either.
grantarctic1
Posts: 2546
Date Joined: 03/03/11
In the West
In the West , Redfin are a pest species , your not supposed to return them to the water even if you dont want to keep them.
If they were 62 trout, then i would understand your post.
championruby
Posts: 459
Date Joined: 20/01/11
Trout are a pest species all
Trout are a pest species all over Australia!!
Whats the diff here apart from the fact we have to pay for trout to be stocked
grantarctic1
Posts: 2546
Date Joined: 03/03/11
Difference
The difference is Trout have a bag limit, RedFin dont . I only stated Trout as an example.
tailor marc
Posts: 2979
Date Joined: 27/09/06
because they are a pest 62
because they are an introduced pest 62 seems a good effort, give natives a chance
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Andy_b
Posts: 633
Date Joined: 19/10/11
62 not a bad days fishing.
62 not a bad days fishing. their a pest anyway so he is doing a good job :)
Mitch300491
Posts: 166
Date Joined: 21/03/11
Man introduced the pest, so i
Man introduced the pest, so i guess we should get rid of people first... lol
pale ale
Posts: 1755
Date Joined: 02/01/10
PEST! Kill em all
PEST! Kill em all
Tony Halliday
Posts: 2500
Date Joined: 14/06/07
they taste good in the
they taste good in the pan,
good cat food too
even better craybait, so whats the issue...
if he caught 620, then he gets a gold medal...
Tony Halliday: ~Meals on Reels ~
It takes a strong fish to swim against the current. Even a dead one can float with it
"It is always in season for old men to learn." Aeschylus (525-456 BC)
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Ryan C
Posts: 1575
Date Joined: 08/07/10
fish stocking
i wish they would stock some cod, bass and golden perch over here in W.a so we have some better sportfishing options in fresh water!!!!!!!!
Fathom
Posts: 622
Date Joined: 18/04/08
Why stop there, I want more
Why stop there, I want more feral cats, foxes, pigs, rabbits etc for "sportbowhunting" it's only the natuaral eco systems we will destroy but we will have so much more fun.
snappermiles
Posts: 2102
Date Joined: 05/11/10
great effort
one weekend we caught 143 between three of us! he is doing a great job the more you kill the better
ALL FISHERMEN ARE LIARS EXCEPT YOU AND ME! AND IM NOT SO SURE ABOUT YOU!
Graeme76
Posts: 287
Date Joined: 03/10/11
Nothing wrong with taking 62
Nothing wrong with taking 62 Redfin. For one it is against the law to return Redfin to the water alive or dead as they are categorised as a noxious pest. Secondly Redfin are voracious eaters that will strip a waterway of almost all of the available food. Keep in mind that that food includes the young of native species like Murray Cod & Yellowbelly. The Redfin themselves benefit from thier numbers being thinned out because of thier eating & breeding habits. Once the Reddies have stripped most of the food from a waterway, there is no longer enough food to support thier continued physical growth but they still continue to breed at a rapid rate which only makes the food shortage worse & leads to even more stunted fish. Before the drought most of the lakes & rivers in Victoria which held Redfin had massive populations of stunted fish which would be lucky to be 15cm long. There were still many places you could catch them at good sizes but you had to know what bodies of water were good for the big ones. Lastly the entire Redfin population in Australia started with a measley 7 Redfin which were introduced into Lake Wendouree in Ballarat. From those 7 fish we ended up with Redfin in plague proportions. They are not going away in any great hurry & taking 62 of them out of a lake or river would be similar to taking 62 Blowies out of the Swan, it isn't even going to scratch the surface.
As for the Trout thing, they generally live in different parts of rivers & streams to our native fish & over east at least if it were not for Trout being in many of the rivers there would be nothing worthwhile to fish for. Trout are much more demanding than the likes of Redfin or Carp & they do not breed as readily so thier populations are much easier to control & do not represent a threat to natives. As much as you might not like it ChampionRuby, Trout are an important part of the fishery over east & if you lived in those parts you would be gratefull for thier presence.
At the same time I do agree that WA should have many of it's waterways stocked with natives instead of Trout as the environment is much more suited to them & they should breed more readily than Trout, which should (not would) cut licence costs to freshwater anglers here in WA.
pale ale
Posts: 1755
Date Joined: 02/01/10
Reddies also are responsible
Reddies also are responsible for the spread of the EHN virus which is now affecting the likes of endagered macquarie perch and other natives. Killing every redfin is advantagious as you are helping the natives get re established and also the average size of reddies may increase, as they will not be stunted due to overpopulation.
Kill every carp too
mako magic
Posts: 5785
Date Joined: 03/08/05
if its still the same you
if its still the same you dont have to return redfin to the water in victoria, was like that when i lived there so to me thats a fkn overkill, yes they ainttoo bad eating but thats just a bit wrong imo
allrounder
Posts: 1853
Date Joined: 10/11/08
kill them all
.
So tell me have you got your info from years on the water or hours on the internet?
southcity104
Posts: 1659
Date Joined: 27/01/09
feral pest.
damaging native stocks.
this is a tough argument????
"Its a life style job"
AlwaysFishin
Posts: 644
Date Joined: 13/11/11
I understand they are an
I understand they are an introduced species but back home they are about the only fish, apart from carp, that thrives. The lakes aren't suited for trout as they need running water to breed, and as far as I'm aware fisheries have never had a native re-stocking program. Which basically leaves the humble redfin as the sole angling fare.. It is a 4 hour drive to the Murray river and a 3.5 hour drive to the nearest beaches so as far as local options go it seems that redfin are it. I also spoke to my folks back home and they informed me that there is now a bag limit of 30 for redfin.
Graeme76
Posts: 287
Date Joined: 03/10/11
I assume from the sound of it
I assume from the sound of it that your hometown is somewhere out towards Lake Hindmarsh, Nhill, Charlton at a wild guess? That's the same region I was raised & I agree that there are not really any species other than Redfin & Carp that thrive in many of the lakes through those areas. There's Tench in many of the lakes but they are about as good as Carp to eat. Unfortunately fisheries in Victoria has not seen the wisdom of stocking natives into the impoundments in those areas. I still don't think taking 62 Reddies is a bad thing though given thier tendency to overpopulate an enclosed system resulting in severe stunting. In some of the rivers over there like the Wimmera & Avon there used to be reasonable populations of Cod & Yellowbelly but I don't know what state those rivers are in anymore. I don't know about you but I'd rather catch a dozen dinner plate size Reddies in a day than 100 stunted fish that are too small to get a good fillet off. My best Reddie was 5.25lb from a very small, very heavily fished quarry just outside of Charlton. There's no way I would catch a Reddie that size in a place that the population hadn't been controlled. I'll post a pic of it in a seperate thread seeing as I don't seem to be able to attach one here. Just so you know there is no bag limit on Redfin in Victoria & anglers are "encouraged" not to return any Refin to the water. That's according to the Victorian Recreational Fishing Guide 2010/2011 on the Department of Primary Industries website.
I agree that they are a valuable fishing asset in central/western Victoria but given that keeping or culling large numbers is actually beneficial to the Redfin themsleves & offers the angler better quality fishing, I think taking 62 is actually a good thing, even at this early stage of thier recovery. The numbers will still rise so I wouldn't be worried about it.
Thomo 85
Posts: 105
Date Joined: 19/10/11
Marron
They're a pest that love chewing on Marron so it's a tough argument to suggest the fisheries should employ bag/size limit measures on Redfin. 62 is a massive amount but think of the damage those 62 fish could've done to any native freshwater aquatic species not to mention the amount they would have bred. It'd be nice to have a better native freshwater fish system over here in the west like they do in the east..
West Aussie Fisho
scottland
Posts: 3045
Date Joined: 10/05/10
if they eat marron
i support two teams eagles and whoever is playing the dockers