Good news for Ross River Dam

Ross River Dam has been in the sights of the Townsville Barramundi Restocking Group for quite a few years and they recently came one step closer to being part of the stocked impoundment permit scheme and creating a world class barramundi fishery in the dam.

While Townsville City Council are primarily concerned with water quality and rightly so, the restocking group have been working hard to tick all the boxes required to appease the council and establish a SIP (stocked impoundment permit) scheme fishery in the Ross River Dam, for tourists and locals alike.

While assisting with the release of fingerlings at the dam, I was able to collar Rhyce Bullimore from the restocking group, to explain what is actually required to get a project like this off the ground.

Turns out they’ve been working on the Ross River Dam stocked impoundment permit scheme project for about 2 years now, and have already completed several steps;

1. They have conducted a pre-stocking survey at a cost of $6000 to ensure the fishery will be viable and enough food species for the barra to feed on.
2. Giru barramundi and crayfish ramped up production to supply local fingerlings that are bred for survival in the wild (as opposed to those bred for the table).
3. Engaged with the council regarding a Ross River Dam management plan to ensure water quality is not compromised and appropriate infrastructure is in place
4. And importantly, once all the boxes are ticked the dam will be part of the stocked impoundment permit scheme ensuring regular (user pays via permit) funding into the future.

For more info on the SIP’s scheme and progress towards fishing the Ross River dam, check out video with Rhyce below;

While many would say impoundment barra are not the “real thing” as they’re not WILD, in my opinion impoundments take pressure off the saltwater fishery and provide an easier opportunity for the average angler to tangle with a big barra. In my experience they are a bit easier to catch in an impoundment.

If you’d like to get involved helping with restocking efforts around Townsville, you can get in touch with Rhyce and the guys on their facebook page; Townsville barramundi restocking group.

Visit our previous blog post to know exactly what rigs and tackle we use to catch big barra in northern Australia, or get the cheat sheet using the button below.