Cooloolabin Dam.

[hardb8]

Hi all,
# # # ##1...Can anybody on board tell me when this lake was last stocked?
# # # ##2...I'd also like to know.What species were put into this lake?
# # # #
# # # #I'd also appreciate any other info you'd like to share with regards to this lake.


# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Thanks for your time. # #;)

[nuggstar]

will anybody please tell us somthing about #this dam, it look to fishy to me and its killing me knot knowing what is in there, can anyone help at all please please please. the only thing i know about the place is that it use to be a u.s. army saw mill in 1935 then thay made it in to a dam. i wonder if theres any rouins of the old mill under the dam that make wicked snag to bash

[Sniper]

Just went for a drive up there this afternoon for the first time. Yes looks very fishy. Have no idea if its ever been stocked officially. Looks great for Bass. Has anyone been on there with a kayak of or canoe? Going to try and con a mate who fishes Baroon a lot to go up there and have a looksee.
Billyboy

[Bill_Klein]

suppose to be all species in there and they be big to
15 or 20 years since it was stocked i think

[hardb8]

Hi Outdoor,
Thanks for gettin back,Been doin some research...Recently seen some pics of truly MONSTER Yellas from this dam.And I mean MONSTERS!

Billyboy,
Ya been in there yet?

[Fitzy]

From my knowlege it hasnt been stocked with anything for a looong time.
I believe only yellowbelly ever got released as bass werent bred in those days.

Officially no boating / canoeing in there.

I've been there a few times & would love to get a fish stocking program up & going, but with limited access, facilities, parking etc I would think the local council would baulk at it. Never know tho...

I'm in the final stages of getting a program started on Kurwongbah, once this is done I've got it on my list to look into it.

Cheers,

fitz..

[Fitzy]

A perty little pond :D

[Tim_01]

fitzy,

what have you got planned for stocking into Kurwongbah? the usual yellowbelly, bass, silvers, etc? Will public boating access be permitted in the future?

thanks,
Tim.

[hardb8]

Barra and Jack! C'mon Fitzy...You know you wanna. :)

[gidget]

Cooloolabin yella caught over 15 yr ago. Caught some horse silvers. This dam needs a midnight toga and barra stocking to get round the council/dpi never never land.

[hardb8]

Hi Gidgit,
I have had varying responces to my question from locals,Tackle staff,And here at Ausfish,Through my own research on the computer,I've found HEAPS of government stuff on this dam.They mention the migration of Bass at this location,And how the dam will effect it,But I coundn't find anything on a stocking.

I've heard a bit on Bass being in there,So I'm starting to think that only wild fish already present were trapped there before the walls construction,And these are the fish that are encountered?

Is my thinking logical?Or do you know of an official,Or midnight stocking?

I know Fitzy is very well schooled,And knowledgable on all dams.I'm also aware of your position,And being a local,Thought you may also be able to help?Anything else would be appreciated.

[gidget]

Any wild bass originally in the area above the wall would have theoretically have died of old age. I beleive that the original yandina social fishing club had a hand in stocking yella's in the era when bass propagating was in the experimental stage. The stocking was probably not endorsed by any officialdom. I have been told by a hatchery operator that used to be prominant in the area that whenever he had an excess of silvers or yella's after his yearly season he would dump them in cooloolabin which was about 15 minutes from where he lived. His theory was that he wouldn't have to go far to net broodstock each year.Because I have caught silvers and yella's I strongly beleive his story. The maroochy shire and the water selling officialdom want everyone to stay out of this dam. It would be a fantastic bass fishery because bass have a 90 percent return on fish stocked. Because I stock ewen/baroon with bass I see no need for another bass fishery. Saratoga are self propagating and we are in dire need of a decent barra fishery on the coast. Cooloolabin doesn't flood that often and would be a boon fishery for the coast. Tackle store gurus tend to hype themseves up and rarely contribute to the stocking of fisheries . They are the true fishers ..... guaranteed to tell you everyones secrets from the sanctity of the store.They never check their sources or locations . If they did they woudn't say anything.......Here's a photo of how I used to get to cooloolabin

[gidget]

This is the fun part.... impassable in wet weather.....

[gidget]

Here's the spindly sticks following one of the flooded bitumen roads ,,,, note my old american sears electric motor...... those were the days ,,,, I think an eggbeater would have been just as fast... thank god for minnkota bow mounts... Still the old motor might be worth something on ebay

[Fitzy]

fitzy,

what have you got planned for stocking into Kurwongbah? the usual yellowbelly, bass, silvers, etc? Will public boating access be permitted in the future?

thanks,
Tim.

Tim,
On the draft Management Plan for Kurwongbah I've put all permitted species. Bass, Silvers, Yellas, Mary Cod, 'toga & added mullet.

Once (IF) the plan & the permit to stock have been ratified by local council & DPI&F, the day to day management of the Kurwongbah fishery will be done by the Pine Rivers Fish Management Assn. It will that group (and its Kurwongbah Sub-Comittee) to decide if all species will be stocked. I would advise anyone who is interested, to go along & become a member of this group.
http://prfma.tripod.com

A great bunch of fellas they are.


Boating.
There is currently no boating permitted on Lake Kurwonbah except for Ski Club members with a licence.
IMHO we should not even mention boating on there at this time as we need to get fish in there first. That hurdle out of the way we can look into the possibilities of a phased in scheme there. Local council are very weary of the idea so its a case of crawl before we can walk & then maybe run. :-X

Cheers,

Fitzy..

[Fitzy]

Barra and Jack! C'mon Fitzy...You know you wanna. :)

;D
Of course I would like to, but we have to go through the correct channels for the long term benefit of a managed fishery.

The Barra south of Lenthalls is as much a politcal issue as it is for any real ethical or conservation purposes.
I big part is the Mary River Cod, they dont want (&I partly agree on this) another arex predator in that river to compete with the endangered MRCs.

BUT, IMHO there were, still are & always have been barra & MRCs in the Mary River, often side by side. Barra arent the problem with MRCs it the piss poor farming practices, clearing of riparian vegetation, desnagging, regulation of the waterways & the resulting caving in of bankside habitat from the above + domestic animals being permitted to cave in the banks while drinking that are the biggest hurdles to saving the MRCs.

However, south of the Mary I cannot see why the Barra empass exists. They were & still are well south of the Sandy Straights (aka the Barramundi DMZ). A REstocking (note emphasis on the RE) program should be done to re-establish the barra populations that once were present in the Maroochy(s), Noosa, Mooloola, Caboolture, Pummictone etc down to the bottom on Moreton Bay where they are still caught on an irregular basis.


Off my box now.

Cheers,

fitzy..

[gidget]

I feel like I want to throw up again. These councils work for the people yet even after we form a public group and get a 5 year stocking program organised in conjunction with the dpi who give us a permit to stock each year, we still have to be subject to the particular councillors whims who presides over the catchment area. Has FFSAQ ever pointed out the unfairness of this subservient system to anyone? I grew up in the pine shire and used to row on lake kurwongbah. My first freshwater fish were caught there in 1972 . What a shame it was not stocked and a boat ramp included then. Cooloolabin dam and ewen maddock don't run into the Mary so MRC can't be used as an excuse for these dams wrt barra stocking. As far as the MRC being endangered..... that was just an excuse for certain people in the dpi to receive funds to do the studies that were needed at the time. Dont get me wrong about MRC. They are agreat fish but are put too easily on a pedestal by those that liked bignoting themselves back then and still use MRC as a means to an end today. The unfortunate thing is that piles of greenies that think that it is cruel to hook any fish have also jumped onto the MRC bandwagon because of the self righteous DPI conservation machine.

[oztrav]

South of the mary could happen but couldnt the barra immigrate north to join up their local population (if they are stocked in a open river)Seq water or the relevant authority prob dont want barra cause every fisherman and his dog would strain the waterquality etc etc. Of the dam but who knows how government works somebody needs to coax the local members out on a fishing charter and give them the bug

[shayned]

Popped into a PRFMA meeting last wednesday night and Fitzy is right they are a good bunch of blokes who have achieved some amazing things so far, just take a look at some of hardb8's nth pine photos to check out the fruits of their labour. That said getting Kurwongbah sorted will take even more work, if you are community minded and love the idea of a top notch fresh water fishery on our door step why not chuck your hat into the ring and give the blokes some support.

[tiges]

Was out near Cooloolabin today and popped in and had a peek. What a great looking bit of water, I was instantly mind fishing it. That place has got the potential to be anything, shame to see it go to waste. Some reasonable looking shore based spots easily accessible. So I think I'm gonna have to go and have a flick there one day, just to sate my curiosity.

[Barraless]

If I get a chance I will let you know how it fishes in a couple of weeks

[tunaticer]

I have fished Coololabin for the past 20 yrs on and off. Truly amazing the size of the fish encountered there. Yellowbelly to 20ish pounds roughly, silver perch to about 3 lbs but have hooked and lost one about 5 lbs. I have caught only two bass in there and that was nearly a dozen yrs ago. Saratoga were there early in the piece buty I have not seen or heard of one for about 15 yrs. Eel tail catfish are in abundance there also.
I belive it is now open to boating with paddle or electric power only, I havent fished there for about 4 yrs.

Jack.

[tazzydevil]

caught 2 bass there 3 weeks ago

[cranic]

we actually live next to the dam wall now, and in recent floods, and the water going over the wall, there were heaps of fish going over, and most were very reasonable in size. your not meant to fish it using lead or live baits, but heaps do.

[tunaticer]

You been catching much from the dam Cranic??

I've been meaning to get back up there sometime again for a canoodle around.

I guess most of the flooded timber is falling over these days?

I normally fish the northern end launching from the old loggers track.

Biggest Yellowbelly I have ever seen was in Cooloolabin, almost beyond description.

Jack.

[cranic]

na, not into freshwater fishing, only salt, But i chat to heaps of locals and visitors, and they are catching huge fish, wouldnt say huge numbers, but great quality. The council has recently started putting up new steel gates etc, and started clearing trees from the dam wall itself. Have got to say it has got to be one of the best loooking dams around, probably because it is so rarely visited

[cranic]

so what are peoples thoughts on redclaw in this area. If it was to be accidently stocked with redclaw, would they survive? The dam is a fair bit higher than most in altitude, so maybe the cooler water could be detrimental? Anyones opinions would be great

[tunaticer]

Cranic, I would not dare introduce any redclaw into this dam, the whole area is very sensitive. If there was one crustacean I would release there it would be the blue spiny crayfish found in two creeks in the Pomona area. It would be good to give them a chance to establish elsewhere just in case the Pomona area suffers a problem like the two headed fish water poisoning that is close by. BTW, these crays are fully protected for very good reason.