Fishing Victoria Forum

Did you guys see this trophy brown trout pulled out of Purrumbete last weekend? What an absolute beast!
I didn't even know they grew this big in Australia...

Wow! What a beauty

Is that glued to his hands, just saying, cheers davo

A great fish that more hours than imaginable went into catching.

davek wrote:Is that glued to his hands, just saying, cheers davo

Just a fat fish being held by someone who knows what they're doing davo

This is what the crater lakes are re-knowned for, producing trophy sized fish. Fastest growth rates in the southern hemisphere. I believe survey nets back in the 70's pulled a 22lb rainbow hen said to be a 3y.o., and a 24lb rainbow buck said to be a 4y.o. Unfortunately we don't see those figures nowadays due to mis-management. Very sad imo. Fishos seem happy with fish half that size being the "ultimate", because that is what we're told and led to believe. Trout can nudge 40lb overseas, and we strive for a 10lber. Something is wrong there...

Great fish

Redhunter wrote:This is what the crater lakes are re-knowned for, producing trophy sized fish. Fastest growth rates in the southern hemisphere. I believe survey nets back in the 70's pulled a 22lb rainbow hen said to be a 3y.o., and a 24lb rainbow buck said to be a 4y.o. Unfortunately we don't see those figures nowadays due to mis-management. Very sad imo. Fishos seem happy with fish half that size being the "ultimate", because that is what we're told and led to believe. Trout can nudge 40lb overseas, and we strive for a 10lber. Something is wrong there...

A 22lb 3 year old...that's absolute madness!!!

Very nice fish.

With the lake full off bait fish they grow fast

Yeah those lakes really can produce good fish., as long as they don't go into a summer algae bloom that can kill things off. Caught a nice chinook salmon out of Bullen Merri some 20 years back which was 3.9kg. Since the algal blooms started I haven' t been back for a while....maybe time to give them another go....

Joe

Redhunter

I don't think Lake Purrumbete has been mismanaged. It used to produce phenomenal rainbow trout, a typical fish being about 4 kg back in the 1970s. When the Chinook Salmon were restocked the growth of trout went backward a bit. What really trashed it was the arrival of redfin. With their arrival they soon got stuck into the minnow population and trout growth plummeted.

If my memory is correct the record for brown trout in this country was 29 pounds. When introduced to many streams trout trout grew very fast initially but as they impacted on food supplies the growth rate declined. In most instances overseas high trout growth rates are associated with rivers with access to the sea. Food supplies in the form of small fish can migrate upstream from estuaries and the ocean and maintain high growth rates. Here in Victoria the Merri River for that reason produces some of the best trout growth rates.

Some lakes on nutrient rich soils can maintain high growth rates and Purrumbete falls into that category. Unfortunately in this country we introduced carp and redfin which have severely impacted on trout productivity.

We might get some relief from the carp if the virus is released but redfin are still going to be a problem.

Best Wishes

Truedogz