The worsening drought...

[big Neil]

Thought I'd have a look at Lake Wyangan yesterday. I expected the water levels to be down a bit but was quite surprised by the reality I encountered. In the past this lake, located near Griffith, NSW has provided me with many hours of fishing fun in the tinny. The Council has spent a lot on providing a great boat ramp and even a 20mtr floating jetty. I sorta expected half the jetty to be still in a few feet of water but the entire jetty is about 50 feet from the water's edge. Here are a few pictures.

The water level is usually near the foot of the EMERGENCY ASSEMBLY POINT sign.

Most of this is usually submerged.

At least a sense of humour prevails.

With no long term forecast for decent rainfall predicted, this mecca for Summer recreational activity is likely to become a graveyard for yachties and tinny anglers. For how long? Anyone's guess. This is Big Neil reporting from West of the Great Divide. bn

[DerekD]

Hi Neil,

I heard from a friend in the Hunter valley how bad it is but it doesn't hit home till you get out to some of these places or see the photos.

The only positive I can think of is you can go to all your favourite haunts and get lots of photos to record all the structure and deep holes for when the water does come back.

Hope all is well with you and that you are still planning to get to Sydney for the kingfish season.

Regards.

Derek

[masterfisho7]

The rain is not getting to these places need a lot of rain 

[Hoods]

Thanks for the report Neil. Spent my formative years water skiing on the lake. Its a terrible predicament shared by many. Hopefully Lake Eucumbene receives some significant inflows by November for the Anglers Reach PPFC crew.

If its any consolation many on tank water on the mid north coast are also out of water and the coastal rivers are barely flowing.

My son fished above Wingham recently and caught a Bass, Jewfish and Flathead all in the same spot while a Platypus watched on (all released).

[big Neil]

9 hours ago, DerekD said:

Hi Neil,

I heard from a friend in the Hunter valley how bad it is but it doesn't hit home till you get out to some of these places or see the photos.

The only positive I can think of is you can go to all your favourite haunts and get lots of photos to record all the structure and deep holes for when the water does come back.

Hope all is well with you and that you are still planning to get to Sydney for the kingfish season.

Regards.

Derek

Certainly will be there when circumstances permit Derek. Looking forward to catching up again with a few of you city slickers. Meanwhile, the holes are in the memory bank, waiting for the water to return. Cheers mate, bn

[Rebel]

I had to go to Wellington ( NSW ) to pick up a new puppy of all things. The land was barren, dead animals every where. Couldn't get out of there quick enough, just felt sorry for the people who are doing it tough.

[Ryder]

Hi Neil,

Thanks for the report. I, like many others can't imagine how bad conditions really are, your pics make it hit home.

 

[TAZ]

On 9/17/2019 at 5:02 AM, big Neil said:

Thought I'd have a look at Lake Wyangan yesterday. I expected the water levels to be down a bit but was quite surprised by the reality I encountered. In the past this lake, located near Griffith, NSW has provided me with many hours of fishing fun in the tinny. The Council has spent a lot on providing a great boat ramp and even a 20mtr floating jetty. I sorta expected half the jetty to be still in a few feet of water but the entire jetty is about 50 feet from the water's edge. Here are a few pictures.

The water level is usually near the foot of the EMERGENCY ASSEMBLY POINT sign.

Most of this is usually submerged.

At least a sense of humour prevails.

With no long term forecast for decent rainfall predicted, this mecca for Summer recreational activity is likely to become a graveyard for yachties and tinny anglers. For how long? Anyone's guess. This is Big Neil reporting from West of the Great Divide. bn

Dont look good mate. Dont look good here in Vic in most places north of the Divide either. After a long cold damp winter many places are just over 50% capacity. The few odd ones full but most not. Some even have blue green algae, not even hot let alone warm yet! 

[big Neil]

14 hours ago, TAZ said:

Dont look good mate. Dont look good here in Vic in most places north of the Divide either. After a long cold damp winter many places are just over 50% capacity. The few odd ones full but most not. Some even have blue green algae, not even hot let alone warm yet! 

Hey TAZ thanks for the report from down South. Our major dams are all in the 20 to 30% range and that's likely to get worse before getting better. Not looking brilliant for the upcoming Murray Cod season but we'll manage somehow eh? Cheers, bn

[jeffb5.8]

I was at KeepIt Dam (Tamworth) and it is so low now that it doesn't even flow through the turbine room, so it must be down to less than 5%

 

[big Neil]

4 hours ago, jeffb5.8 said:

I was at KeepIt Dam (Tamworth) and it is so low now that it doesn't even flow through the turbine room, so it must be down to less than 5%

 

Thanks for the report jeff. I have fished Keepit a long time back. I worry that towns in the West are going to suffer beyond recovery. Our local rice mill has just laid off another 20 people last week. Things like this have a massive impact on rural communities. We can only plod on. bn

[Rebel]

There is a Farmer in QLD who has just sent the last of his milking cows to to the gallowes.

60 years on the land, all gone.

[Rebel]

Hi,

I have just written to the Prime Minister about the Drought. I know there will be some knockers on this Forum, who will say it is a waste of time, but, I was one of the Silent magority who put the Liberal Party in into office. 

Start complaining to the Government to do some thing.

Cheers.

[big Neil]

4 hours ago, Rebel said:

Hi,

I have just written to the Prime Minister about the Drought. I know there will be some knockers on this Forum, who will say it is a waste of time, but, I was one of the Silent magority who put the Liberal Party in into office. 

Start complaining to the Government to do some thing.

Cheers.

G'day Rebel. I think that the Government is doing something by way of drought relief for farmers. However, they can't make it rain other than in the top end where it's a natural phenomenon. I live in an area affected by the MDBP. That "brainwave" of Gov't making is seriously flawed and is responsible for much wastage of water and corrupt handling of this valuable resource. Long and short of the debate is that if we don't get some large amounts of rainfall many rural communities will (most likely) be unable to recover. That is going to be very hard to make good. Cheers, bn

[Rebel]

Hi big Neil,

I know what you are saying. I use to work on my Uncle's farm when I was younger. I saw the good and the bad. As I said in another post, I was out at Wellington and I couldn't believe what I saw and how bad it is. The Government can't make it rain, but the can call the Drought a National Disaster and get things moving.

Cheers.

[big Neil]

5 hours ago, Rebel said:

Hi big Neil,

I know what you are saying. I use to work on my Uncle's farm when I was younger. I saw the good and the bad. As I said in another post, I was out at Wellington and I couldn't believe what I saw and how bad it is. The Government can't make it rain, but the can call the Drought a National Disaster and get things moving.

Cheers.

Too right they can  bn

[Rebel]

We live in hope.

[TAZ]

On 10/4/2019 at 11:49 AM, big Neil said:

Hey TAZ thanks for the report from down South. Our major dams are all in the 20 to 30% range and that's likely to get worse before getting better. Not looking brilliant for the upcoming Murray Cod season but we'll manage somehow eh? Cheers, bn

Wow mate, 20 to 30%, not looking good there. Here its all over the place. Was just talking to a bloke from one of the water catchment's thingys, met him at a res. He was saying how strange it's been here in Vic in the past few years. Some places getting a fill, others missing out altogether. So much so that a number of small catchment reservoir's have become so unreliable, used to be 100% reliable, that they are becoming decommissioned. Water now pumped in to the areas via pipelines from underground reserves. Here's the thing. Those older res's had the water treated then distributed via treatment facilities. But the new supplies are salinated, so they needed to scrap the older method, gear, and replace it all. Naturally at a significant cost. So now he said, even if these now decommissioned res's fill the water wont be used and is usless as the new facilities are geared for salinated ground water treatment. I asked him are they still going to stock those decommissioned res's. He said some yes but many no because of the unreliability of them now.