North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

As some of you know already AFANT has been working with the Palmerston Council and local MLA Lia Finocchario to stock the Durack lakes with Barramundi fingerlings. 9000 in total will be stocked at a length of 150-200mm and will be placed in lakes 5, 6 and 10 at the end of the wet season next year. These Barramundi should reach legal size within three years. I have attached a map of the lakes for reference.

Official media release link is below.


http://newsroom.nt.gov.au/mediaRelease/17085

Politics aside good on everyone involved. Tristian what is the current status for the stocking of Manton Dam? It would be good to get some more restocking happening there and as others have suggested stocking Darwin River Dam.

Hi Dannett, AFANT is pursuing this with government. At this stage we are hoping excess fingerlings from the Palmerston stocking project can be put into Manton Dam with a specific stocking program in the new year, depending obviously on available government funding. We also have some corporate sponsors that may be willing to contribute fingerlings.

Your not allowed to fish Darwin river dam though. Manton definitely...

Well no your not but be nice to have them come out when the gates get opened like in qld. I've got some spots out there that would go off

Just one question Tristan. Is there any thing to stop those fish from leaving the Palmerston lakes when they flood?

It seems like a waste of time stocking them unless they are going to remain in them and grow to a decent size. I guess the effort wont be going in vain any way as they will all end up in the harbor but........

If the program is going to be continued every year with fingerlings then it may have some merit as brooding ponds allowing the fingerlings to get to a decent size before being released into the harbor with the wet season.

No barriers will be in place cuddlescooper so technically these fish may travel downstream to the Elizabeth river when the lakes flood. Though in saying so from electrofishing results in the lakes the majority of fish stocked in 2012 which are now around the 60cm mark have stayed in place.

Brendan wrote:Your not allowed to fish Darwin river dam though. Manton definitely...

Like Scottie said the hope is that they would come over the wall at Darwin River Dam in times of flood and these would end up in Darwin harbour. But yes stocking Manton Dam (and Lake Bennett) should be the priority.

Excellent

Stock anything that holds water year round I reckon. Lake Bennet would be a good one but there's already a heap of barra in there including some of the biggest fish I have ever heard caught of up here.
Last year one of the guys that live there got one around 140, no one seemed to hear about it though. Cherabin in there are huge too some over a foot.

Scottie5.3 wrote:Stock anything that holds water year round I reckon. Lake Bennet would be a good one but there's already a heap of barra in there including some of the biggest fish I have ever heard caught of up here.
Last year one of the guys that live there got one around 140, no one seemed to hear about it though. Cherabin in there are huge too some over a foot.

Too true old mate with everything you say. I got shanghaied out to Lake Bennet for a weekend last year (wetseason) so never let a chance go by I took cheribin pots and caught some monsters from the back deck then proceeded to feed them to hugh powertails in the lake. I did take a few out to Marraki crossing on the back road from Lake Bennet early one morning and they soon got taken by some keen Barra's.

Cheers

Not a bad way to spend a weekend sitting on the back deck live baiting lake Bennet. I hear marrakai was level with the track last couple of days too hope it says that way for a while. There's some awesome fishing if you time it right there

Cheers
Scott

Scottie5.3 wrote:Stock anything that holds water year round I reckon. Lake Bennet would be a good one but there's already a heap of barra in there including some of the biggest fish I have ever heard caught of up here.
Last year one of the guys that live there got one around 140, no one seemed to hear about it though. Cherabin in there are huge too some over a foot.

No reason why you couldn't poor a few thousand fingerling up in Mary river bridge, or the top of the Adelaide at the town ship, Yellow waters or Bynoe and Darwin harbour upper reaches etc.

I'm not sure how much these fingerlings cost, but 25 yeas ago we bought some Yellow Belly to put in a Private Dam, in NSW. I think we paid $1 each. We bought 100.
I think many people would put up money, to stock fish everywhere.
Maybe the Government might go $ for $, or maybe better.