Fishing festival at Lake Wendouree

The opening of the 2017 trout fishing season was celebrated with free family friendly event in Ballarat on Saturday 2nd of September.

On the shores of Lake Wendouree, Waterwatch provided information on waterway and catchment health. There was great interest in the diversity and abundance of aquatic macro-invertebrates in the lake providing us with information on water quality. The anglers were also interested in the lifecycles of the local waterbugs to inform how they tie their fishing flies.

The local anglers had great conversations about a taxa of mayfly in Lake Wendouree, Atalophlebia australis, a favourite of trout and trout fishers.
Community members were able to take tours of the Ballarat Fish Acclimatisation Society’s trout hatchery and families enjoyed the experience of releasing trout in the lake. The festivities are part of the Victorian Government’s Target One Million plan aiming to get more people fishing.

What can the community do to improve waterway condition? Get involved as a citizen scientist and become a Waterwatch monitor. You will gain skills in monitoring the water quality and develop knowledge of waterway and catchment health. The next waterbug ID training event in Ballarat will be Wed 15^th November. For further information contact waterwatch@ccma.vic.gov.au