Fishing & Aquaculture

		Angling Waters of the Bunyip River Basin
			BUNYIP RIVER BASIN MAP (PDF 153Kb)
			ARARAT CREEK
			AURA VALE LAKE
			BALCOMBE CREEK
			BERWICK SPRINGS
			BUNYIP RIVER
			CANNIBAL CREEK
			CARDINIA CREEK
			CARDINIA RESERVOIR
			DANDENONG CREEK
			DEEP CREEK
			DEVILBEND RESERVOIR
			DIAMOND CREEK
			LABERTOUCHE CREEK
			LANG LANG RIVER
			LYSTERFIELD RESERVOIR
			MAIN CREEK
			MONBULK CREEK
			PATTERSON RIVER
			ROWVILLE LAKES
			TARAGO RESERVOIR
			TARAGO RIVER
			TOOMUC CREEK
			DWARF GALAXIAS

A Guide to the Inland Angling Waters of Victoria
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Bunyip River Basin 28
MANAGEMENT | DIVERSIONS | HERITAGE | RAMSAR | FISH STOCKING | BEST FISHING WATERS | THREATENED FISH | ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS | DWARF GALAXIAS

Main Creek

Almost all of the waterways carry good populations of small-sized native fish, particularly galaxiids, but there are few angling opportunities except in the upper Bunyip River, which carries some small brown trout and some good sized river blackfish, and Tarago River with brown trout and river blackfish. Tarago Reservoir is the largest water storage but is closed to angling. The closure is currently (November 2002) under review.

Management

Fisheries Victoria, DPI, manages stocking and fisheries policy. Gippsland Fisheries, DPI, manages angler contact and compliance with fisheries regulations for the Bunyip River above the Princes Highway. Port Phillip Fisheries, DPI, manages the same activities for waters in the rest of the Basin. The Victorian Inland Fisheries Strategy has classified Bunyip River as a native fish water, Lang Lang River as a mixed fishery and the Tarago River upstream of Tarago Reservoir as a salmonid water and below the reservoir as a mixed species fishery. Port Phillip Catchment and Land Protection Board is the Catchment Management Authority. Gippsland and Southern Rural Water Authority manages water for irrigation and farm diversion and the Melbourne Water Corporation is responsible for urban water diversion. A Streamflow Management Plan for Main Creek is to be started in 2003.

Diversions

Water is diverted from Cardinia Creek into the Cardinia Reservoir (capacity 289,000ML) then to Melbourne, from Labertouche Creek to Drouin. From the Tarago River into the Tarago Reservoir (capacity 37,500ML) and to Neerim South and Warragul.

Heritage River Areas, Natural Catchment Areas and Representative Rivers

There are none in this basin.

Ramsar Sites

Western Port, which is the receiving body for most of the water flowing out of this Basin, and the Edithvale-Seaford wetlands are listed as wetlands of international significance under the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran 1971).

Fish Stocking

The Department of Primary Industries' (DPI) fish stocking program is designed to enhance recreational fishing opportunities for:

• Desirable introduced species such as brown trout, rainbow trout, Chinook salmon and Atlantic salmon, and
• Desirable native fish species such as golden perch, Murray cod, Australian bass and silver perch.

Stocking Plans for desirable species are developed annually as part of the regional consultation process involving VRFish representatives and various arms of DPI including Fisheries Victoria and Primary Industries Research Victoria (PIRVic).

Up to date information can be found on the Fish Stocking section in Fisheries and Aquaculture.

Best Fishing Waters

Freshwater Fish in the Basin

The most significant feature of the fish populations in the Basin is the predominance of native species in large sections of some creeks and throughout the entire length of others. There are also numerous streams on the Mornington peninsula with up to four galaxiid species present. Carp are also absent from most of the rivers, occurring only in a few creeks draining into Port Phillip Bay. Australian grayling and dwarf galaxias also occur in the Basin. The Gippsland spiny crayfish, Euastacus kershawi, and the smaller Yarra spiny crayfish, Euastacus yarraensis, are present.

Threatened Fish Species

The Department of Sustainability and Environment has listed Australian grayling as Vulnerable and Yarra pygmy perch and dwarf galaxias as Lower Risk-near threatened. All three species are also listed under the Flora & Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.

Environmental Condition of Waterways

The upper reaches of the Tarago and Bunyip Rivers, located in forest, are in good condition with reasonable summer flows, forest riparian vegetation and habitat for larger-sized fish. They provide an enjoyable fishing experience in natural surroundings which are suitable for a range of fishing methods. The remainder of the larger rivers, together with their tributaries, are classified as being in very poor condition (41% of river length) with the rest in poor to moderate condition.

The minor streams are generally in better condition with 47% of stream length still in good environmental condition. This includes most of the creeks on Mornington Peninsula which have good riparian vegetation and stable banks as a result of changing from grazing (with reduced stock access to the creeks) to cropping. Summer flow can be low but the larger creeks flow all year. Unfortunately these creeks carry few angling species and are not worth a special fishing trip. The Bunyip, Lang Lang Rivers and most creeks on Mornington Peninsula show marginal levels of salinity (300-1,000EC).

© The State of Victoria