Mangrove Jacks to be added to Clarrie Hall Dam? MADNESS!

[arpie]

Hi guys

I have just read this news story about the introduction of Mangrove Jacks to Clarrie Hall Dam (on the Tweed River.)

http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/dam-bass-may-be-jack-fodder/2040832/

Clarrie Hall is famous for it's bass fishing & I could only imagine that any fingerlings or smaller bass in there would be fair game for sharp toothed Jacks to chase around the paddock for a snack ......... and they are using OUR Licence money to do it!! Expensive snack, considering it already 'costs' to put the bass fingerlings in there in the first place??>

There already seems to be a healthy stock of Jacks in the Tweed River already - so if they were going to introduce more - why not just put them in the river & let them compete with the naturally hatched ones if they feel the need to breed them up in numbers!??

I thought they were salt water fish anyway, not fresh? I know that Jewhunter & his boys catch them quite readily from his back yard ...... so it is hardly as if they are in short numbers??

What do you reckon??

Roberta

[Jewhunter]

Thanks for posting this Roberta.

Pity I don't have as much pull as a University!

They could pay me $81,600 to tell them what a stupid idea this is.

They have jacks in Lake Monduran, along with barra & bass. The difference is

the huge abundance of food such as bony bream & gar to keep them fed.

There is not enough natural tucker to keep the jacks happy so they will eat bass.

As much as I like the idea of chasing jacks in a dam close to me, I just couldn't justify

it at the expense of all the hard work the seq bass association has put in over the years

& the destruction of my beloved bass!

Stupid idea.

Why not put sarotoga in there & have a similar fishery to Lake Borumba??

I'll speak to the relevent people & keep you informed of any updates.

Cheers,

Grant.

[arpie]

Good on ya, Grant - I knew you'd know someone!!

Hmmm .... Saratoga - what a brilliant idea!! That would really spice the dam up!!

I find it hard to believe that it appears to have almost gotten to the 'fait acomplis' stage, without YOU hearing about it!!!!

cheers & have a great long weekend!

Roberta

[bassboy888]

I'm 50/50 about this idea, I'd love too see a successful stocking of mangrove jacks in the fresh water environment, unfortunately from previous record (lake monduran and peter faust) stocking jacks in the fresh seems foolish. I would love to see some extras put into the salt to improve its fishery.

Roberta, Along with the Saratoga I have heard they have successfully started to breed Jungle perch in captivity and would love to see some of these beautiful fish released into a dam environment to become a legitimate dam species!

[arpie]

Seems they are already in Tinaroo & Awoonga as well!! No wonder I didn't see any bass when fishing Awoonga a few years back!

It just doesn't seem economical to me - to pay to put bass fingerlings in a dam, then pay to put jacks in a dam that will eat the bass fingerlings!

If that part of the river hadn't been dammed - would they have gone up that far 'on their own'? I doubt it.

Definitely, put extra fingerlings into the river below the dam - the top part of which will still be fairly 'fresh', then it is survival of the fittest ...... but they reproduce naturally there already & don't seem to be in short numbers ........ can't quite work it out, to be honest!

It will be interesting to see what Grant comes back with regarding it!! Hadn't thought about Jungle Perch!! Aren't they more a NT fish? Tropical, almost? How big do they get, Bassboy!?

cheers

Roberta

[slinkymalinky]

I'm all for stocking species in appropriate waterways for recreational fishing... but it has to be the right species in the right place. Just because Jacks could be stocked in Clarrie Hall doesn't mean that they should be.

Clarrie Hall is a dam full of smaller bass because its full of insects frogs and mosquito fish instead of yabbies and bony bream. Putting Jacks in there would probably be the end of the bass fishing... the smaller bass and fingelings will just become Jack snacks. I've not heard anyone anywhere asking for them to go in. Saratoga seem like a much more appropriate choice if another species is warranted. The environment up at CH is just made for them... lilly-pad central. And they coexist with Bass very well in places like Borumba and Hinze.

If I want to catch Jacks there are no end of waterways near the Tweed valley to get them, including in the Tweed itself.

There was probably someone somewhere in a university who thought that Cane Toads represented an exciting new opportunity to control cane beetles too!

[bassboy888]

Hadn't thought about Jungle Perch!! Aren't they more a NT fish? Tropical, almost? How big do they get, Bassboy!?

I would Say they are a northern fish but they did extend down south at some stage (not sure how south)

Some of those tropical streams in north QLD that run through the rainforests get quite cool so i would not be surprised if they could handle the climate on the Tweed either.

In terms of size I have seen them around 40cm (and reports of going to 50cm) but if they are anything like jacks the further south they go the bigger they get