Blood moon barra

[Member]

I've been a bit busy, an understatement.  One of my diversions over the past few months has been the collection of broodstock for our Lake Kununurra restocking program.  We had the males already domiciled in their tanks but the girls had been a bit shy in making an appearance.  Add to that a mountain of red tape, the strictest relocation regulations in the country which do not allow the translocation of stock from any other river system and there was plenty to consider.

The initial thinking was that the females (fish over 80cm) would come in ones and twos and take a month or so to collect so an eight metre square by three metre deep cage was assembled on the Lake hold the fish until they all could be transferred the 1,000 kilometres to the hatchery where the males awaited.  In fact it took a little less time once we found a reliable source of fish that matched the criteria.

 


The site selected where big fish could be come by relatively easily and quickly was not all that close to anything civilised. No roads in and no access by boat that left chopper only.  The transport vehicle could get as close as 31 kilometres but no closer so that last section was done using a chopper.  This meant anglers, equipment and tank needed to be airlifted in.  In all there were three successful trips, two of which were done overnight, the last being on the night of the eclipse hence the title.  There was plenty to consider, the amount of water the chopper could carry, fuel loads, the amount of fish a tank could carry and not the least the two hour trip back to town by vehicle in the rapidly increasing day temperatures of December 











The fishing was what you'd expect; on the three trips we got four suitable fish each time that filled the tank with the water restrictions governed by the lift.  We got plenty of smaller fish as well; enough to give Bradman and Taylor's run tally a good nudge.














That last night we watched the moon disappear and the stars come out whilst several storms raged on the horizons from east around to the south and to the west.  We had the best seat in Australia.








Back in the cage no bony bream or mullet is safe with 12 of these looking for a feed.

[Member]

My left foot is an understatement 

[Member]

Great work to you & your team Dick. A bit (alot in this case) of effort should produce some BIG spinoffs for local fishing & tourism; the effects of which will hopefully be long lasting.

congrats on the foresight & drive to follow through.   

Cheers,

fitz..

[Member]

Great post and info on your "job" many would kill to be doing but I imagine it wouldn't be all "beer and skittles" Must be damn hot up there at the moment. The cage set up looks like a major construction I'm sure the barra appreciate the bit of shade and protection it provides. Keep up the good work cheers Pat.

[Member]

I like your office Dick.

[Member]

This is volunteer work, worked in around my job.  The back yard looks like a jungle atm through neglect.  Day temps have been around 36 to 42, water temps 30 to 33.  Transporting the fish and stopping the water from overheating has been a problem that neeeded some work to refine.  We wen't able to get the chopper in early one morning due to rain in Kununrra, we were stranded for a couple of hours as the morning heated up with no option but to do another water exchange to keep the tank as cool as possible.  We insulated the tanks after the first run to keep them cooler.

[Member]

This is volunteer work, worked in around my job.  The back yard looks like a jungle atm through neglect.  Day temps have been around 36 to 42, water temps 30 to 33.  Transporting the fish and stopping the water from overheating has been a problem that neeeded some work to refine.  We wen't able to get the chopper in early one morning due to rain in Kununrra, we were stranded for a couple of hours as the morning heated up with no option but to do another water exchange to keep the tank as cool as possible.  We insulated the tanks after the first run to keep them cooler.

How many nuts have said that!!!

[Member]

Thanks for sharing as always Dick! 

[Member]

 

 

[Member]

Oi Mugs

You up for a white Christmas?


here's one form this arvo

[Member]

Dick you will recieve a large package soon just giving you the heads up ill be in it comming for a chrissy fish !

Have a merry one sir

Steve

[Member]

THAT is a proper horse of a fish Dick 

white christmas ... sincerely hope not mate  saw enough last year to last me the rest of my life