Lake primed for anglers
For the first time in more than 25 years, Victorian Fisheries Authority has released fish into Dock Lake near Horsham.
The lake has been stocked with 5000 rainbow trout yearlings – the first stocking at the lake since May 1997.
An authority spokesperson said with the lake full, it was an ideal opportunity to stock rainbow trout.
“Rainbows can grow quickly in the right conditions and with an abundance of food in Dock Lake, we expect they will be catchable size and provide great fishing in winter next year,” the spokesperson said.
Wimmera angler Chris Spence said trout stocked in Dock Lake would put a smile on the faces of anglers who remember just how good the lake was.
“When it was last full, many decades ago, Dock Lake was probably the Wimmera’s most productive rainbow trout fishery, with superbly conditioned fish, some over six pounds,” he said.
The trout were grown at Victorian Fisheries Authority’s Snobs Creek fish hatchery, near Eildon.
VFA also stocked 300 catchable-size rainbow trout and 20 ex-broodstock brown trout from the Snobs Creek hatchery into Lake Wallace at Edenhope, last week.
A spokesperson said now was the perfect time to wet a line at Lake Wallace.
“To ensure there was plenty of fish for families to catch, we stocked 320 catchable-size trout – some as big as five kilograms,” the spokesperson said.
VFA also released 50,000 rainbow trout fry into Lake Wallace.
The rainbow trout fry, averaging about 0.4 grams each, were available on the back of a strong production season at the Snobs Creek hatchery.
The fish will grow to a catchable size in years to come.
The VFF spokesperson said nearly 17,000 trout and 5000 silver perch have been stocked in Lake Wallace since 2019.
With good winter flows into
Lake Wallace and plenty of food on offer for the stocked trout, conditions were identified as being suitable for stocking.